Flour or cornstarch for peach pie?

[MaryIsobel]

I mke a peach pie or two exactly once a year and don't really have a go-to recipe. As such, I don't remember if I used cornstarch or flour last time. Ina uses both, NYT uses flour. What's your preference and why?

[curls]

I like using ClearJel. https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/health-food-safety/agents-articles/what-is-clear-jel.html

 

Works perfectly and I get the texture that I want.

[AlaMoi]

we've used flour / cornstarch / instant tapioca (it's ground/pulverized 'pearls')

 

it's always a guessing game as to how much to use because fresh peaches can/do vary widely in juiciness....

@curls -

is the ClearJel more forgiving as to qty?

[Maison Rustique]

Not sure how I got to be an old lady and not heard of Clear Jel. Thanks--I need to check it out!

[curls]

1 hour ago, AlaMoi said:

we've used flour / cornstarch / instant tapioca (it's ground/pulverized 'pearls')

 

it's always a guessing game as to how much to use because fresh peaches can/do vary widely in juiciness....

@curls -

is the ClearJel more forgiving as to qty?

Yes, ClearJel is easier to use than flour / cornstarch / tapioca. It is a modified cornstarch. This website offers some additional uses and instructions https://hoosierhillfarm.com/hoosier-hill-farm-clear-jel-cook-type-1.5-lbs..html

[MaryIsobel]

I will have to check out ClearJel but I'm just about to start the pie. Going to use a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction because I like the idea of using chunks rather than slices of peaches and I find her recipes to be quite reliable. Her recipe uses flour OR instant tapioca. I have tapioca starch and apparently the two are interchangeable. I'm a bit afraid of tapioca due to childhood trauma of having to eat "tapioca pudding." The texture was gag inducing for me. So many recipes give a range of amount of thickener "depending on how juicy your peaches are" but that is crazyily ambiguous in my opinion. I like some texture left in the peaches and the chunks vs slices seems like a good idea. I'll try to take a picture of the finished product.

[curls]

@MaryIsobel will it be an open top / lattice pie? If so, if the pie is too liquidy after you have baked it and let it cool to room temperature, you can drain off most of the liquid, cook it up with some tapioca or cornstarch and add it back to the pie. It annoys me when I have to do that but it does work. One of the many reasons I switched to using Clear Jel.
 

Not matter what it will be delicious. I like the idea of peach chunks instead of slices.

[MaryIsobel]

Here it us just out of the oven. Ended up using tapioca flour/starch, we shall see. Made the apparently unwise choice of using demararra sugar to sprinkle on top as I was out of sanding sugar. Won't do that again, as it looks like burnt bits. I'm sure it will taste fine. Will try to post a pic of a slice but it is one of a couple of desserts for a family gathering so maybe to hectic to take photos.

[CookBot]

15 hours ago, curls said:

I like using ClearJel. https://www.johnson.k-state.edu/health-food-safety/agents-articles/what-is-clear-jel.html

 

Works perfectly and I get the texture that I want.

 

Count me among the ClearJel fans, but if it's not available I go with cornstarch.  Flour muddies the filling too much.

 

ClearJel is also the only thickener you can use if you're canning pie fillings.  The heat of the canning bath doesn't kill it's thickening ability.

 

I made a peach pie this past week -- the only baking I've done since the summer heat set in.  ClearJel will give you super-clean slices.

 

 

 

[CookBot]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

Made the apparently unwise choice of using demararra sugar to sprinkle on top as I was out of sanding sugar. Won't do that again, as it looks like burnt bits.

 

I kind of like the way your burnt demararra bits look.  Ultra-caramelization!

[MaryIsobel]

2 hours ago, CookBot said:

 

I kind of like the way your burnt demararra bits look.  Ultra-caramelization!

Thanks - that's the spin I'll put on it. Your consistincey of your pie is what I aspire to.

[MaryIsobel]

Well, it tasted great and I really like the chunks rather than slices of peach but it didn't slice terribly well - not horrible but no where nearly as neatly as @CookBot's pie. I will track down some ClearJel.

[AlaMoi]

I'm looking for a thickener that will work with 'really juicy' to 'meh.  dry' peaches.

I only do peach pie/cobbler/etc. with local fresh peaches.  they vary in 'liquid'

 

any x teaspoon/tablespoon per pint/quart/pound guidance type stuff is utterly useless - not because I can not follow 'it' - but because the underlying ingredients do not cooperate.

 

once more into the valley of death . . . anyone have a technique / ingredient that is 'self-adjusting' to the moisture content of the peach?

something like . . . thickens to the 'perfect' degree and ignores turning drier stuff to concrete mush?

 

or, alternately, some method to judge how much juice the peach-in-hand will produce, so one - using x tablespoons per quart/pound - will work?

 

[CookBot]

4 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

once more into the valley of death . . . anyone have a technique / ingredient that is 'self-adjusting' to the moisture content of the peach?

something like . . . thickens to the 'perfect' degree and ignores turning drier stuff to concrete mush?

 

I don't think you'll ever find an unalterable ratio for that.  It's always going to vary according to the moisture content of your fruit, whether it's stone fruits or berries.

 

Some judgment calls are unavoidable.

 

[AlaMoi]

sigh.  I was hoping one or the other new fangled stuffs would have a wider "working range"

obviously bakeries mass producing are not using local, just peeled peaches - and likely have a procedure to 'measure' free liquid and 'adjust' their recipes to make the perfect pie.