When I started to get into pie making a few years ago, I bought myself a nice deep dish ceramic pie plate. It looked lovely, but I CONSTANTLY struggled with my bottom crust being under baked, and the whole pie getting stuck in the pan. And this was including a 25-minute parbake, and 30-40 extra minutes of bake time on top of a preheated pizza stone.

I figured this was just an inevitability of all pies, or a skill issue on my part, but I was desperate to figure out how to make one of those mythical self-supporting pies I see EJM make all the time.

Anyways turns out the key to success was just switching from a ceramic to a metal pie plate! The crust is toasty brown and flaky all the way through the bottom, and the whole pie popped out of the plate with zero resistance when it was done baking. I'm never going back to ceramic.

by Levangeline

33 Comments

  1. Levangeline

    Apple Butter Pie recipe, for those curious:

    For crust recipe and technique, I’ll point you in the direction of Erin Jean McDowell, who can explain it far better than I can.

    [All-Buttah Pie Dough](https://www.erinjeannemcdowell.com/recipes/all-buttah-pie-dough)

    **Apple Butter Filling**

    – ~2 cups of homemade apple butter
    – 2 large eggs
    – 1/2 cup whole milk
    – 3 tbsp Bourbon
    – 1/2 tsp cinnamon
    – 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
    – pinch of salt
    – splash of apple cider vinegar

    1. Whisk everything together until it forms a smooth, cohesive mixture. (I ran mine through a sieve to strain out lumps and pieces of apple peel)
    2. Pour into a cooled par-baked pie crust
    3. Bake at 375⁰F for 45-50 minutes. Like a pumpkin pie, the filling should still be somewhat jiggly in the center, but not loose or sloshing when you shake the pie tin. Remove from the oven and allow to cool
    4. Top with cinnamon allspice whipped cream, and enjoy!

  2. Jolly-Fortune5241

    Wow that looks apple-tastic and absolutely mouthwatering 🤤 Love the way the pie crust turned out and Soooooo yummy 😍 simply excellent 😍

  3. Technical_Demand3921

    I feel so stupid that I didn’t know this!! Omg I’m gonna switch. I thought it was a skill issue on my part😭

  4. aLonerDottieArebel

    Ex fucking scuse me??? I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. I have to try it!

  5. Chemical_Actuary_190

    I have two cast iron pie pans I use and the difference between those and the glass ones I was using is incredible.

  6. LadyOfTheNutTree

    I’m happy you found something that works for you!

    I find that with fruit pies, I get a good crust if I precook my filling – even in a ceramic dish. And to me, the dish is part of the presentation. If I want to serve it outside of a pan I’ll make a tart.

  7. bakehaus

    I pretty much only use disposable aluminum and I’ve made thousands and thousands of pies. They’re conductive, easy to use and….the crust doesn’t slide down *nearly* as easily as with glass or ceramic.

  8. betruethisday

    I always use glass… I wonder if I’d see the same change??

  9. ijozypheen

    I recently found three restaurant-grade aluminum pie pans and they are game-changers to bake in compared to my glass Pyrex pie pans! I do prefer serving in the Pyrex dishes though, so I’ll probably bake in the aluminum and transfer to the Pyrex for serving.

  10. Mtnclimber09

    That’s so cool. I just switched to metal for my brownies and wow!! Thanks to this sub I feel more confident baking.

  11. RuggedTortoise

    I’ve never seen someone present a pie like this and am in love with it hahaha cross section and crust porn

  12. Feisty-Bluebird-5277

    That crust looks exquisite ! Perfect timing as I’m baking a pumpkin pie in a few days for thanksgiving so can’t wait to try this! Happy baking!

  13. Normal-Ad-9852

    my Pyrex works great for keeping the crust solid

  14. Pattiserie_Coppens

    To be honest I didn’t know this was an actual struggle. I must confess that I don’t use my ceramic wares.

  15. Pattiserie_Coppens

    To be honest I didn’t know this was an actual struggle. I must confess that I don’t use my ceramic wares.

  16. SparksAfterTheSunset

    Nice pie! I use glass, per Sally from Sallys baking addiction recommendation.

  17. highdiver_2000

    I have only baked in metal plates. The only problem I have is too thin a crust.

  18. Few-Cucumber-4186

    Metal is the way to go, when i worked in a bakery we had these metal molds for pies that had the rim and the bottom separated so you could just put the whole pie on a cup and the rim just fell off. About as brilliant as Jeremy Clarkson

  19. Susancupcakes

    The way you’re holding it is giving me anxiety. Looks awesome though!

  20. I love how you’re holding it aloft like a sacred object. Well done! (pun intended)

  21. PurpleBerryBlast

    Ooooooo you won! That crust looks absolutely beautiful!

  22. throwthewholeraccoon

    Cannot believe you’re just handling a pie like this lmao

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