Who is really good at making pies?

[dUSt]

I want to make a strawberry peach pie, but I don't know how. I can follow a recipe, but I feel a recipe doesn't really tell me how to make a pie. I feel like that needs to be a discussion first...

[Era Might]

So you need a philosophy of pie-making before you make a pie?

[LionHeartedCrusader]

You need to become one with the pie.

[dUSt]

No, but I imagine there is more to making a legit pie than simply following a recipe. Maybe I am wrong.

[CatherineM]

Buy pre made crust. Commercial companies can make it so much flakier. 

[dUSt]

Buy pre made crust. Commercial companies can make it so much flakier. 

This is such a slacker answer. lol

[Gabriela]

I was just coming in to say "Don't buy premade crust."

LOL.

If you have a food processor, work on perfecting your crust skills. Don't overmix. Don't add too much water. Don't touch it too much. Keep all the ingredients as cold as possible. (I put them all 100% prepped, separate, in the freezer for a while before mixing.)

Then, make sure you drain off as much liquid as possible, cuz more is going to cook out of the fruit as it bakes. If you don't drain well, it'll be all soggy.

General principle: Prep everything, put it in the freezer/strainer, then walk away for a good long while. Come back and put it all together and bake immediately.

Time. Time makes the best pies!

(FYI: I studied professional baking at a French school in Israel for a while. So listen to me. I was their star student, cuz I'm a process Nazi.)

 

Edited October 28, 2015 by Gabriela

[dUSt]

I was just coming in to say "Don't buy premade crust."

LOL.

If you have a food processor, work on perfecting your crust skills. Don't overmix. Don't add too much water. Don't touch it too much. Keep all the ingredients as cold as possible. (I put them all 100% prepped, separate, in the freezer for a while before mixing.)

Then, make sure you drain off as much liquid as possible, cuz more is going to cook out of the fruit as it bakes. If you don't drain well, it'll be all soggy.

General principle: Prep everything, put it in the freezer/strainer, then walk away for a good long while. Come back and put it all together and bake immediately.

Time. Time makes the best pies!

(FYI: I studied professional baking at a French school in Israel for a while. So listen to me. I was their star student, cuz I'm a process Nazi.)

 

Geez. The @CatherineM method is looking way better now.

[Sponsa-Christi]

Traditional pie crusts are notoriously tricky. My mother flat out refuses to try to make one after a bad pie-making incident when she was ten---and so every time I've wanted to try making one, I've had to hear her dire warnings!

Instead of making a pastry pie crust, could you make a graham cracker crust instead? All you do is crush some crackers with butter, and press it into the pie tin. You could also use oreos for a chocolate crust. 

My solution, though, would be to give up on altogether on the idea of pie; make a really good pound cake instead; and then top the pound cake with strawberries and peaches. You'll still have an impressive homemade strawberry-peach dessert, without the stress of pie-making. 

[dUSt]

But I love pie so much.

 

[Gabriela]

Dude, srsly: If you really love pie, take the time to learn how to make a homemade pie crust right. It's not hard. It's just that there are a lot of beginner errors most people make (like overmixing, overkneading, and adding too much water). Is there a foodie-oriented grocery store near you? Places like Whole Foods and Carrot Tops and local co-ops often having cooking classes that teach the basics/staples. For pie crusts, learning in person really is the best, cuz you need someone to point at the dough and say, "You see that texture change, right there?" Etc.

But alternatively, there's YouTube. And Allrecipes.com also has some great videos. Then there's America's Test Kitchen, which uses hardcore science (called "molecular cooking") to empirically verify which procedures actually make a difference and produce the best result. ATK is full of videos.

You're online right? Then you can make an amesome pie crust. Just click, try, and be patient.

[Sponsa-Christi]

But alternatively, there's YouTube. And Allrecipes.com also has some great videos. Then there's America's Test Kitchen, which uses hardcore science (called "molecular cooking") to empirically verify which procedures actually make a difference and produce the best result. ATK is full of videos.

America's Test Kitchen (and their connected magazine, Cook's Illustrated) is amesome! They walk you through all the trial-and-error they went through to get basically foolproof recipes. If you follow their instructions to the letter, it's almost impossible to mess up. 

[HopefulHeart]

I'm just an amateur baker, but I've had success with pies. My specialty is rhubarb pie with a crumb topping. In my experience, the two major challenges are making the crust and preventing sogginess in the filling. Gabriela already gave good tips about how to tackle those issues.

Look up some tutorials, follow the recipe, and make your pie! Even if it doesn't come out well, then at least you'll have had some practice for the next pie.

[dUSt]

Look up some tutorials, follow the recipe, and make your pie! Even if it doesn't come out well, then at least you'll have had some practice for the next pie.

This is the most convincing reason to make a crust from scratch that I've seen so far... bad pies lead to more pies. Brilliant.

[LionHeartedCrusader]

Buy pre made crust. Commercial companies can make it so much flakier. 

That's like buying DiGiornos Frozen Pizza and saying you made it yourself.