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

[CRUZMISL]

Here's my order. I make dough. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 20. Roll out 2 disks - back in the refigerator while I prepare apples. Prepare the apples as wuickly as possible, no lemon juice or anything and mix with sugar and spices and then into the pie and bake immediately.

I had initially thought it was my apples so I switched today using 4 fuji's and 4 granny's. Everything else remained the same. Low and behold damned watery pie again. I have a theory though. I may be overstuffing my pie's. Too many apples for such a small space. I have to say though it's a lot of liquid for 1 or 2 extra apples.

I want to try the cooking of the apples first idea. This may help. Any thorough tips out there?

[Ling]

I've made a good 8 or 9 appie pies in the last few weeks, experimenting each time. The best results I got were from 3 large Fuji apples and 1 large Granny Smith for a 9" pie. I cut each apple into 16 wedges (about 1/2 inch thickness) then toss with flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon. Finally, I saute the wedges in 3 tbsp. butter on medium heat for 7 minutes. There is just the right about of "juice" at the end, and the pie holds up beautifully on the plate--no leakage.

Edited February 2, 2004 by Ling (log)

[KarenS]

8 apples is a lot for even a 10 inch pie, I use 7 for a ten inch and bake the pie loosley covered for 40 minutes (I put it in the oven chilled). I cut pieces of 10 from a whole apple (i use all fuji these days, but would use galas as second choice). I use tapioca starch instead of flour (it thickens clear and is not "pasty" tasting). I use white sugar, salt, spices, and very often ,tart dried cherries.

[jschyun]

Whoah, I do things very differently from everyone. I kind of follow the cook's illustrated recipe, but I changed it to fit our family's tastes.

I usually use half Granny Smith and half something else, usually Pink Ladies. I have also used McIntosh (mushy, but okay here because GS is pretty firm), Golden Delicious (see McIntosh), and JonaGold (very nice). I'm lucky in that I can get ripe Granny Smith and not those bright green things you usually get. The bright green Granny Smiths at the supermarket tend to bake into green slices and have a weird texture, IMO. You might be able to find riper Granny Smith apples at a farmer's market. When I left them out and just used JonaGold apples, I heard complaints. I haven't tried a one apple pie since, though I'm tempted to do it with Pink Ladies or Rome Beauty, which are both beautiful apples.

I use 10 apples for an 11" pie, (I think that translates to around 4 apples for 9" pie) until the crust is made.

I don't cut/core the apples until just before I need them. I cut them really thick, about 1" slices, about 9-12 slices per large apple. I use only 5 tsp or less of flour for all those apples, lots of cinnamon, some sugar, and nutmeg, lemon juice.

Put it in the oven for 1 1/2 hours. When it comes out it is very juicy, but if you wait until it's not quite as hot, maybe an hour or so, the syrup thickens nicely. The crust is so flaky, it is all over the place, so I can' be worried about looks.

I would fail any pastry class with this pie, I'm sure. However, we like it.

-edited for mistakes

Edited February 6, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[artisanbaker]

it's all about the staymen winesap imo...

[Ling]

8 apples is a lot for even a 10 inch pie, I use 7 for a ten inch and bake the pie loosley covered for 40 minutes (I put it in the oven chilled). I cut pieces of 10 from a whole apple (i use all fuji these days, but would use galas as second choice). I use tapioca starch instead of flour (it thickens clear and is not "pasty" tasting). I use white sugar, salt, spices, and very often ,tart dried cherries.

OOps I was unclear...

I meant I made eight or nine different apple pies in the past couple weeks. (Each pie contained 4 or 5 large apples).

[iguana]

How serendipitous that this thread was revived now-- I just made a Valentine's pie for my husband from apples we had picked in the fall. I have made a few observations in my quest to produce the optimal pie, but from this thread, your mileage may vary substantially.

Just like a good wine has a balance between acid and sweet, I like my pie apples to have a good balance. I always include 1 or 2 Granny Smiths for acid. These are softened by one or more other varietals which add fruity notes. In this last pie I used Jonagolds, one Rome, a Mutsu, and a few stray small Winesaps. IMO, very few apple varietals have the acid levels and the fruitiness to make a good pie by themselves-- Winesaps may be one of the few exceptions.

As for the juice aspects, I use about 3 Tablespoons of flour for 6 or 7 apples in a 9-inch pie. I like a little juice exuding from the pie when you slice it-- maybe even a good amount. I usually get about 3 T. I've never had apples yield too much juice, but I do as one poster above suggested and prep the apples after rolling the crusts. I also find that a good pinch of salt perks up the filling immensely.

My other revelation, which may be old news to all of you, is that the standard butter/shortening-flour-salt crust can be improved by adding about 1T sugar and 2 teaspoons lemon juice. The sugar helps the crust brown, thus improving the flavor. The lemon juice likely relaxes the gluten-- it may also help browning.

I also made my most recent pie with King Arthur Mellow Pastry Blend Flour-- it made a dough that was easy to handle, and exceptionally tender.

</musings of pie-obsessed home cook>