Went apple picking and made a pie but......

[CRUZMISL]

I've gotten into this fruit pie kick a few weeks back and decided to get some fresh apples since it's one of the last weeks before the weather breaks. Anyway the orchard had Mutsu's and Empire's. I used half and half for my pie. I also added a few tablespoons of AP to the apples just in case there was some extra moisture.

The pie turned out wonderfully but when I cut into it there was literally 1.5C of liquid My measly 2 Tbsp of AP was pointless. So, I pulled the first piece out and tilted the pie over the sink to drain the liquid. The pie tasted good but I didn't care for the texture of the apples. Kind of rubbery. The taste was good especially since I used my Vietnamese cinn from Penzey's (yummy).

I am curious what could casue so much liquid to be released. Was it the orchard fresh apples, the type of apples? I normally use Mac's and Granny's which are purchased from the market. The texture is wonderful and zero liquid.

Any ideas? Just for kicks here is a pic mid bake

[elyse]

You threw the liquid down the drain? Are you insane?

[Jason Perlow]

Yeah, you could have used it as a pan sauce for some roasted pork loin or something.

[elyse]

Or drunk it from the pie plate.

[CRUZMISL]

True, true. I wasn't thinking straight. Either way though it's gone. No big deal though since I have a bushel of apples in my garage waiting for something but I want to find out if I'll have a lake inside my pie again before I venture to make another.

Joe

[Fat Guy]

Mutsu's and Empire's.

Not particularly good baking apples. You want to stick with Fuji, Granny Smith, Macintosh, Rome, Winesap, and various heirloom varieties that are similar to those.

[elyse]

You did cut vent holes, right? I couldn;t see it in the picture.

My sister in law cuts her apples VERY thinly like no more than 1/4" and macerates them for... an hour or so? Then she drains the liquid into a pan and reduces it. Then adds it back to the top of the apples in the crust. Worked pretty well, but I like my liquid.

[CRUZMISL]

Yes, there are 4 slits in the top of the pie to let the steam escape. Maybe the apples are better for a different task other than pies......

I really don't care for the liquid. If it's syrupy and in small amounts OK but this was literally like water.....

Joe

[elyse]

If you liquid comes out like syrup or glop, I'd be concerned.

[jwagnerdsm]

I tried a new technique that I read about in Joy of Cooking. I sauted the apples in butter with sugar and cinnamon for about five minutes over medium heat until the fruit got a little soft on the outside but was still toothsome. that allowed me to regulate the amount of liquid. It also prevented the pie from drooping when the apples cooked down. Might want to give it a try.

[kitwilliams]

Or drunk it from the pie plate.

Elyse: I think we were twins separated at birth.

[rickster]

Not particularly good baking apples. You want to stick with Fuji, Granny Smith, Macintosh, Rome, Winesap, and various heirloom varieties that are similar to those.

Macintosh are about the worst apples for pie. Only use them if you want to make applesauce. I like Fuji and Royal Gala.

One idea to reduce liquid is Rose Beranbaum's idea to let the peeled cut sugared raw apples sit in a colander for a while. They give up some liquid which she reduces to a thick syrup and adds back to the pie filling.

Edited October 22, 2003 by rickster (log)

[elyse]

Or drunk it from the pie plate.

Elyse: I think we were twins separated at birth.

rickster, I disagree. My mum makes an amazing apple pie, and she uses macintosh and granny smiths. No apple sauce in sight.

[snowangel]

Another great apple for baking and cooking is the Haralson (also good for just plain eating). I know that many of the orchards here who offer baked goods use Haralson's almost exclusively.

[Wendy DeBord]

Apple pies are one of the harder things to bake well then people realize. I taken part in many conversations on this topic. There's more techniques out there then you might think and many of us have our method we swear by and think all other methods pale in comparision. If you have the time check out www.chelftalk.com and look up apple pies and pie crusts and you should have more ideas then apples.

I've tried countless methods and for several reasons I have choosen this method over others.

If using fresh apples I lightly saute them with butter, seasoning and add sugar to taste. I then drain off the liquids and thicken liquids with cornstarch. Mix all back together and chill completely before filling my shells and baking.

When I have to bake apple pies in volume I buy frozen peeled and slice apples and mix that with (shockingly) bucket apple pie filling (you buy from bakery suppliers). Add flour (another shock), seasonings, butter and fill my crusts. Then I freeze the whole pie. I bake the pies straight from the freezer with-out any thawing. I believe that prevents the filling from over cooking while the crust needs more time.

HTH

[Ladybug]

Apple pies are one of the harder things to bake well then people realize. I taken part in many conversations on this topic. There's more techniques out there then you might think and many of us have our method we swear by and think all other methods pale in comparision. If you have the time check out www.chelftalk.com and look up apple pies and pie crusts and you should have more ideas then apples.

I've tried countless methods and for several reasons I have choosen this method over others.

If using fresh apples I lightly saute them with butter, seasoning and add sugar to taste. I then drain off the liquids and thicken liquids with cornstarch. Mix all back together and chill completely before filling my shells and baking.

When I have to bake apple pies in volume  I buy frozen peeled and slice apples and mix that with (shockingly) bucket apple pie filling (you buy from bakery suppliers). Add flour (another shock), seasonings, butter and fill my crusts. Then I freeze the whole pie. I bake the pies straight from the freezer with-out any thawing. I believe that prevents the filling from over cooking while the crust needs more time.

HTH

Wendy, when you bake apple pies in volume do you make or buy the crusts? When we lived in Delaware, our pastor's dad baked apple pies in volume for bake sales. He's no pastry chef, but his pies were very popular. He bought the crusts, peeled the sliced the apples with one of those apple corer/peeler/slicer things, and made a streusel topping. He probably made less than 50 pies at a time and enlisted help wherever he could find it. The most hilarious thing about it is that the woman who taught him to make apple pie was always grumbling that he did it wrong because he used "WAY" too much streusel topping.

[Wendy DeBord]

Umm I bet I'd like his pies, cause I'm a struesel kind of girl. I make my own pie dough.

BUT I will confess-at home for just me and hubby, I buy pie crusts (I use those for quiche, otherwise if I did make a apple pie at home I'd make my own crust cause that means company is coming).

(I don't like to bake at home at all...and have gotten very lazy about cooking too-although I will put some effort into cooking on weekends)

[JFLinLA]

Apple pies are one of the harder things to bake well then people realize.

I sense an eGCA class coming on.

[Rhea_S]

rickster, I disagree.  My mum makes an amazing apple pie, and she uses macintosh and granny smiths.  No apple sauce in sight.

I agree with Rickster that Mac's aren't good for pies, not on their own anyway. They do work well if mixed with a baking variety such as a Granny Smith like Elyse's mum's pies. I think the "best" apple pie recipe in Cook's Illustrated's "Best Recipes" uses a mixture. The pie I made last week was a mix of Jonathans and Idareds, both are baking apples. I did the RLB method of slicing thinly and macerating. This worked well, no excess liquid and good flavour, but I missed the rustic chunkiness from using apple wedges.

I hope LadyT adds something. I don't know if she makes apple pies, but the other pies she's made that I've tasted have been among the best pies I've ever had.

[Ling]

Apple pies are one of the harder things to bake well then people realize.

I sense an eGCA class coming on.

I would love a pie course!

[zilla369]

I will weigh in on this, because it was a crucial point in my baking final. I got an A while many others got a lot of points off for liquid-y pies.

Do EVERYTHING else first before you peel and slice the apples. Don't soak them in water and lemon juice; they'll be brownish in the pie in the end, anyway. Toss with the sugar, flour, cinnamon and whatever and put them directly into the pie crust, and directly into the oven from there. You did use a little bit of flour in your apple coating, yes?

Anyway, the people that scored badly on that final prepared their apples first, some of them left them floating in lemon-water while they made their pie crust; others just added the sugar and stuff to them before getting their crust together. In either case the apples released too much liquid during baking, resulting in runny pies. Mine cut and stood up on the plate like a dream. But i have to be honest and say i didn't realize i was doing it the "right" way - i just got lucky. Imagine my surprise when my pie came out the best. Naturally i acted as if i planned it that way from the beginning

Edited to say: ah, as i re-read your post i see you did use flour. It wasn't a measly amount, it's just possible you performed your steps in the wrong order. I'm curious to know if this is what happened.

Edited October 26, 2003 by zilla369 (log)

[Ling]

I just made my first apple pie tonight. I used a mix of Golden Delicious, Fuji, and Granny Smith. Used flour (a good 4 tbsp. for 3 lbs. of apples) in the coating too. I had about 1 cup of liquid, which I drained (very carefully) after the pie was baked, just by tilting the pie over a bowl (I made a lattice top crust). Then I reduced the liquid until I had only about a quarter of a cup, and carefully spooned it back over the apples through the lattice "holes". It worked well; my pie stood up and the syrup was thick and delicious.

But why did I have so much liquid anyway? I thought I was using the "right" apples?!

[rickster]

Did you use a lot of Granny Smith's in the mix? I have had erractic experience with Granny Smith's, despite their universal recommendation for pies. Sometimes they work great, somethimes they give up a lot of liquid and get mushy. It might have something to do with ripeness. Still, a cup of liquid seems a lot for these apples.

Regarding zilla's advice, I would agree that soaking apple slices in lemon water is a bad idea, since they will absorb up more water to be released in baking. On the other hand, I can't think it makes much difference when the apples are sugared, since the heat of baking will make the apples give up whatever moisture they will anyway. In fact this is contradictory to RLB's advice I quoted above, which is to sugar the apples long before assembling the pie, in order to force them to to give up liquid in the colander rather than in the pie dish.

Maybe we do need that pie baking course

[Ling]

Did you use a lot of Granny Smith's in the mix? I have had erractic experience with Granny Smith's, despite their universal recommendation for pies. Sometimes they work great, somethimes they give up a lot of liquid and get mushy. It might have something to do with ripeness. Still, a cup of liquid seems a lot for these apples.

I used:

3 Fujis

1 Granny Smith

4 Golden Delicious

[Katherine]

Golden delicious have a nice flavor, and are a little bit firmer than Granny Smiths. Braeburns and Fujis both cook up nice and firm. Besides pre-sauteeing them, you can poach in a heavy syrup (use apple cider instead of water, and spices, if you don't care about them turning brown. This is especially good if you're making apple dumplings, where too much liquid can ruin the project.)

My mother used to use red delicious, back in the days before they bred all the taste out of them. She quartered the apples, and the pies stood incredibly high. I wouldn't take red delicious now if somebody gave them to me.

My ex-MIL always used Macs for her pies, and they were always a soupy, mushy mess. I never acquired a taste for Macs, either for cooking or eating, but I'm sure the finished product could have been greatly improved by thickening (which the family rejected, preferring the pies soupy) and tinkering with seasoning.