Things bakers know: To avoid a soggy bottom, bake your pies like pizza (2024)
Please don’t panic about pie. Pie should be a source of joy, comfort, and camaraderie— not stress.
But it’s hard not to worry. We’ve all seen the Paul Hollywood squint as he looms over bakers on TV, prodding and pointing out “soggy bottoms.” While it’s entertaining to watch from the couch, that image isn't helpful to have in your head when you’re in the kitchen. So how do you avoid the dreaded soggy bottom once and for all? It’s easier than it seems.
Comin’ in hot
When it comes to pie, there are some basic moves that take you from an OK pie to a forkful of sigh. It’s particularly important to heat things up; specifically, bake your pie on a preheated pizza stone or baking steel.
Why? Wet pie fillings + raw dough are a tricky combination. If the bottom crust doesn’t set before the filling soaks in, it’s going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won’t soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom. (Using metal is crucial: Glass or ceramic pans don’t transfer heat as efficiently, so they can be accomplices to a sad, soggy bottom.)
Parbaking your crust on a preheated surface is another way to avoid a gummy bottom crust, as it helps the crust set before shrinking.
Line the pan with foil and weights (I use sugar; check out this previous post about toasted sugar for details) and bake on the hot stone or steel for 10 minutes to help the dough set before filling.You won’t be cooking the crust all the way, just giving the proteins a chance to set. PJ Hamel has more about that in her blog post on prebaking pie crust.
Don’t have a pizza stone? Put your biggest cast-iron skillet on a rack in the lower third of the oven when you preheat it. If it will lie flat upside down, do that. Put a half-sheet panunderneath the rack with the cast iron on it to catch drips. Plop your pie pan right in (or on) the hot cast iron pan to bake.
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
Be thick about it
Of course, there are additional steps you can take for a crispier crust on the bottom. For instance, try precooking a particularly juicy filling. In addition, using the correct amount of thickener (check out our Pie Thickener Chart) keeps more of the filling’s juice away from the dough, giving it a better chance of cooking properly. Instant ClearJel is especially great for this because you can see the consistency of the filling before it goes into the pie.
The right moves now mean perfect pie later
Everything is easy once you know. Set yourself up for a deliciously crispy pastry under all that yummy filling by treating your pie a little more like pizza.
Got your own tips? Tell us about your pie prowess in the comments, below.
Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.
Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.
Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.
And finally, the most frustrating pastry problem of all – the soggy bottom. This normally happens when the oven is not hot enough or the pastry is not baked for long enough. However, it can also be because too much water was added to the dough.
Which rack you use in the oven can help ensure a crisp crust. Baking the pie on a lower rack will concentrate heat on the bottom of the pie and help the crust crisp.
The main ingredients in pastry are flour and fat. The gluten in the flour gives pastry its texture, while fat offers flavour. If the fat melts before a strong gluten structure has formed, the pastry will end up soggy.
But the one surefire way to make certain your pie's crust will be golden brown, crisp, and delicious — just as appealing as its filling — is to prebake it. That's right: bake the bottom crust first, before adding the filling.
Brushing on egg white will lead to a paler baked good with a very good shine. An egg white only egg wash is useful for brushing on the bottom of blind-baked pie crusts to create a watertight barrier between the filling and the crust. Or it can be used to help sugar adhere to pastry.
The problem is that the dough on the bottom of your crust is not reaching a high enough temperature by the time the top of your crust is done cooking. Puff Pastry is notoriously finicky. Be sure to handle the dough according to puff pastry best practices to ensure the layers do not collapse and stick together.
To prevent soggy sausage rolls, make sure your oven is preheated before cooking. Ensure to space out the sausage rolls on the baking tray when cooking to ensure there is enough room for the air to circulate and allow them to crisp up. Once cooked, transfer from the baking tray to a wire tray to cool.
Tying the tenderloin improves both the appearance of the final dish, and leads to more even cooking. Phyllo provides a moisture barrier, preventing the puff pastry from getting soggy. A double layer of plastic wrap makes it easier to wrap up the tenderloin.
Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked.
All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.
But by cooking apples, sugar, spices, and thickener just long enough for the apples to release their juice and the thickener to do its work — typically, 5 to 10 minutes over a burner — you reduce the risk of those same juices pooling in the bottom of the crust as your pie bakes.
Introduction: My name is Domingo Moore, I am a attractive, gorgeous, funny, jolly, spotless, nice, fantastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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