Help! Blackberry Pie Filling too Raw and Floury

[Susie Q]

I made a blackberry pie from a recipe on line that had rave reviews. For a 9" pie the filling used 4 cups of fresh berries, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of flour to thicken. You mixed most of the berries with the sugar and flour, and mixed till there was no "white" on the berries. You put in in the pie plate then topped with 1/2 cup of reserved berries and a top crust then baked 425 for 15 minutes then 25 minutes at 375.

I made a 9.5 " deep dish pie and used 6 cups of berries. I added more sugar about 1/4 cup...still the filling is too tart. I dotted it with butter. Put a lattice crust on top.

Now. I baked the pie to the directions and it looked beautiful on the outside,the crust is good. The filling was runny, too tart, but more worrisome was the floury color and taste of the filling. It doesn't taste cooked.

I need this to be perfect for next weekend. What did I do wrong? What can I substitute for the flour? How much should I use for 4 cups of fruit and also for 6 cups of fruit? How long should I bake it?

I wondered about tapioca as I have minute instant and also tapioca starch powder that I got at the Asian market.

I appreciate any and all help.

[mgaretz]

I have used tapioca flour from the Asian market with good success. If you want it really firm, try 4tbs or so. I recently bought some Instant Clear Jel to try, but haven't played with it yet.

[Emily_R]

My tried and true method for thickening berry pies is 3 Tbs of flour and 3 Tbs of cornstarch, for pies with five or 6 cups of berries. No floury taste at all, and perfectly set, in my experience. I'd recommend 3&3 of flour and cornstarch, and then however much sugar you feel like you'll need.

A few other things -- when thickening with cornstarch, it is key that you let the filling actually boil within the pie - you should see the top of the pie heaving and make sure the filling is bubbling out of the air holes a little bit. Also, did you let the pie cool completely before cutting into it? Cutting into it when there is even a smidge of heat left in it will lead it to run...

[Blether]

It sounds like mostly, it's just undercooked. You went to deep dish from a recipe for "normal" depth pie ? Six pounds of fruit in the same diameter suggests it's 50%, or half again deeper than the recipe. The first 15 minutes to set the pastry will work the same, but you'd need to extend the bake time at 375, covering with foil if the pastry starts to get too brown. I'd guess a total time of 1hr 10m - 1hr 20m.

Another thought is, go back & bake a pie of the size & shape the recipe makes, then use the result to gauge the doneness later when you're going off-road.

[Emily_R]

Yes -- totally agree with Blether that for a pie with cups of fruit, you'd need at least an hour, but probably closer to an hour and ten minutes of cooking time. That said though, I really don't think straight flour is a good choice for a juicy pie like a blackberry pie. Cornstarch (or tapioca, though I've never used it) is key.

[scott123]

I make a roux with my flour for apple pie.

[Mjx]

I'd take ratings of most things online with a grain of salt, and I'm with the others who suggest using tapioca, and that the times given are too short.

The Best Recipe (which hasn't let me down yet, in over a decade of using it), recommends 3 to 4 tablespoons of tapioca to 36 oz./1021 g. berries (6 cups of berries) for its summer fruit pie recipe (two crust), with a baking time of 20 to 25 minutes at 400 F°/205 C°, followed by 30 to 40 minutes at 350 F°/177 C° (and a cooling time of 1 to 2 hours, to allow the juices time to do their final thickening).

[runwestierun]

I really like instant clearjel for berry pies. I buy it at kingarthurflour.com. It's a thickener that works without heat so you know exactly how thick your filling is going to be before you fill your pie. Also, it doesn't taste starchy. The only thing to remember is to combine the sugar in your recipe with the powdered instant clearjel before you add it to the berries to avoid clumping.

Seriously, this stuff takes the guesswork out of berry pies. I give bags of it as gifts. Sometimes people are disappointed that it's not cocaine. Just checking to see if you're reading this post.

[SylviaLovegren]

The sweetness of the pie really depends on how tart the berries are and that only comes with experience with those particular berries. A recipe, in that case, is only guideline. If your pie for next week is going to be made with the same kind of berries, up the sugar!

[HungryC]

I really like instant clearjel for berry pies. I buy it at kingarthurflour.com. It's a thickener that works without heat so you know exactly how thick your filling is going to be before you fill your pie. Also, it doesn't taste starchy. The only thing to remember is to combine the sugar in your recipe with the powdered instant clearjel before you add it to the berries to avoid clumping.

Seriously, this stuff takes the guesswork out of berry pies. I give bags of it as gifts. Sometimes people are disappointed that it's not cocaine. Just checking to see if you're reading this post.

Agreed---Instant ClearJel (aka modified food starch) is great. Made a fresh, uncooked strawberry pie using ClearJel last night.

[Chris Hennes]

Has anyone tried using one of the UltraTex products for this purpose? I'd think that UltraTex 8 would do the trick in much the same way ClearJel does.

[DianaM]

Hi Susie Q,

When I make pies, I always use cornstarch not flour. Also, I make sure to let the filling bubble up through the vents before I remove the pie from the oven - this, rather than the baking time suggested in the recipe, is my cue that the pie is done.

Diana

[runwestierun]

Has anyone tried using one of the UltraTex products for this purpose? I'd think that UltraTex 8 would do the trick in much the same way ClearJel does.

I've used UltraTex 8 for cold preparations but I've never baked with it. I remember reading somewhere that it didn't behave consistantly when heated. That, plus the fact that instant Clearjel is much cheaper and more readily available, made me not experiment. Chris, have you ever heated something you made with UltraTex 8? Maybe it can be heated just fine and that's some old prejudice I've hung on to in my brain.

[Lisa Shock]

Since Tapioca is what you have, I'd use that. Raw flour is the worst of all the starches for making fruit pie fillings. It will never lose the raw flour taste. It will also never have the glossy shine of the other thickeners.

[Chris Hennes]

Chris, have you ever heated something you made with UltraTex 8? Maybe it can be heated just fine and that's some old prejudice I've hung on to in my brain.

Yeah, I use it to thicken meat gravies.