Lets talk about Pie fillings

[Beanie]

Blueberries contain natural thickeners, so they require less starch to set then other berries. That was your mistake.....you can't use the amount of thickener called for in a BB pie universally in other fruit pies.

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Thanks Wendy. I didn't know this. How much cornstarch would you recommend for 5 cups of mixed berries weighing about 1.5 lbs? I used tapioca flour because I had it available and figured I'd give it a try. Now I'm anxious to learn more about it. If I have time this weekend, I'll make a few pies using different thickeners and report back.

[Steven Blaski]

Blueberries contain natural thickeners, so they require less starch to set then other berries. That was your mistake.....you can't use the amount of thickener called for in a BB pie universally in other fruit pies.

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Thanks Wendy. I didn't know this. How much cornstarch would you recommend for 5 cups of mixed berries weighing about 1.5 lbs? I used tapioca flour because I had it available and figured I'd give it a try. Now I'm anxious to learn more about it. If I have time this weekend, I'll make a few pies using different thickeners and report back.

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Beanie, you might want to give Instant Clearjel a try for fruit/berry pies. It's a modified cornstarch that thickens fruit fillings beautifully. I think most commercial fruit pies contain it or something similar, such as Therm-Flo. A local Mennonite business near me sells read-to-throw-in-the-pieshell homemade pie fillings and they thicken theirs with Therm-Flo. There is absolutely zero runniness. Actually, it's a little TOO firm for my taste so I usually buy my own fruit and thicken it with ClearJel. I believe I recall that Cook's Illustrated recommends thickening berry pies with ClearJel.

Potato starch is my second favorite fruit pie thickener. I find the fruit in the pie is less cloudy and more pure tasting using potato starch rather than cornstarch. You can substitute it in equal proportion.

[Wendy DeBord]

I'd go with these proportions for a mixed berry pie:

5 1/2 c. fruit

1/2 c. sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Don't take it out of the oven until you see that it's come to a boil, to activate the thickener.

[Beanie]

I'd go with these proportions for a mixed berry pie:

5 1/2 c. fruit

1/2 c. sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

pinch of salt

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Don't take it out of the oven until you see that it's come to a boil, to activate the thickener.

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Thanks Wendy. I'll give it a try.

[Beanie]

Beanie, you might want to give Instant Clearjel a try for fruit/berry pies. It's a modified cornstarch that thickens fruit fillings beautifully. I think most commercial fruit pies contain it or something similar, such as  Therm-Flo. A local Mennonite business near me sells read-to-throw-in-the-pieshell homemade pie fillings and they thicken theirs with Therm-Flo. There is absolutely zero runniness. Actually, it's a little TOO firm for my taste so I usually buy my own fruit and thicken it with ClearJel. I believe I recall that Cook's Illustrated recommends thickening berry pies with ClearJel.

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Steven,

This is really interesting. I've heard good things about Clear-jel but never tried it. I have an account with the wholesale distributor that supplies the store in your link for Thermo-Flo. I just checked their online catalog and Instant Clearjel and Therm-Flo are both available at a fraction of the King Arthur price -- but only in 25 lb. bags . They will send me a free sample to try. If it works out, I may be able to split a bulk bag with some Amish families who just moved into my area.

I just found the following conversion on this website.

1 tblspoon cornstarch = 1.5 tbls Instant Clearjel

2 tbls flour or tapioca = 1 tbls. Instant Clearjel

This confirms that I didn't use enough tapioca flour in my berry pie.

Thanks for your help.

Ilene

[Beanie]

I just found the following conversion on this website.

1 tblspoon cornstarch = 1.5 tbls Instant Clearjel

2 tbls flour or tapioca =  1 tbls. Instant Clearjel

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By the way, the above link is related to canning, not baking, but I think the conversion ratios would be the same.

[helenjp]

Bump. Lots of good reading here!