Help-Soggy bottom pie crust

I always bake my pies at the lowest position in the oven. This puts the bottom of the pie pan close to the heat source. I always use glass pie pans. There are many tricks that people use such as spreading some dried bread crumbs in the bottom of the pan before adding the filing; blind baking the bottom crust and then adding the filling and top crust, coating the bottom crust with egg whites or melted white chocolate to waterproof it. Another approach is to make the bottom crust out of a more "mealy" pastry. That is, work the fat into the flour more thoroughly for the bottom crust. This will coat the flour with the fat and reduce its ability to absorbed water. This will also make the crust less flaky. Be sure to do all the extra manipulation of the pastry before any water is added to avoid making the crust tough. Still, I don't bother with any of the above and never get soggy crust. I think baking the pie in a glass plate at the bottom of the oven is the key to success. Of course any pie will become soggy upon sitting but pie doesn't last very long around here.

Make your bottom crust with the utmost of ICE-cold items. Hey, use LARD for your tenderist crust. Use a pastry fork to blend it in. Before you put in a juicy crust. Put in a thin layer of apricot jam. That will keep all the jucies of your real pie, like apple, peach, berries,....etc to go into the flakienest of your bottom crust.

I have an electric oven and I think the heat comes from the top..I can also use convection which circulates the hot air more evenly...maybe I'll try that too.

Me too.

Thank youfor the tips, which I've snipped for brevity. I am going to experiment with them this weekend.

Deb

Debra Fritz wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I've had many electric ranges and I've never had one where the general oven heat comes only from the top. Convection baking of pies can sometimes attribute an under-cooked and under-browned bottom crust. Just my 2 cents on electric ovens.

That said, along with the tip for baking in a glass pie plate on the bottom rack, I would add to bake for the first 15 minutes at 425 degrees F., then reducing the heat to 375 or 350 degrees and continue baking until done. The higher initial temperature helps to set and brown the bottom crust before the juices can penetrate it.

It is quite unlikely that the only heat source in your oven is the top broiler element. True convection ovens have a heating element in the fan unity. Others have their lower bake element hidden. Kitchen Aid has all the above - upper exposed broiler element, hidden lower bake element, and hidden convection element associated with the fan.

In the broil mode. No coils on the bottom of the oven? They should be glowing red during a preheat time. In you're not getting heat from the bottom for baking, you've got a bum oven. (waves)

Hi Barb,

I just put in a new kitchen!!! ..and changed from a gas oven to an electric one. I got tired of cleaning ovens!!!!

I got a Kitchenaid double convection oven and am learning how to use it. I can do regular or convetion on both ovens...

I did the pies on regular bake, not convection. I did see the coils on top glowing, but then they went out. Like I said, I'm still learning...

Deb

I read that in the book, and have used the convection for some things, but not baking pies.

From the responses I figured out the top coils heat during the preheat cycle, then go off..and the heat comes from other places.

One of my problems is figuring out on which rack to put different things. I'm still in a steep learning curve...

Also, this oven cooks hotter in back than in front. I had a problem with the turkey on Thanksgiving, and a week ago I baked some cookies and had to use the convection mode to get them to bake evenly.

Im not sure if there is a problem with the oven, if this is how electric ovens work...or if I just don't know how to bake in an electric oven.

Thanks, Deb

I'm sure that the broiler element comes on during pre-heat but not with bake or convection bake modes. I believe the broiler element comes on in the convection roast mode. You might drop a note to the people at KA from their website for clarification. I have used the single oven version of this unit a few times. My mother loves the oven and uses it for baking, but she never uses the convection feature. I find that in my JennAir convection oven I have to rotate cookie sheets because they brown faster in the rear of the oven cavity.

Ovens are generally hotter in the top and the back. You can use this to your advantage when roasting poultry by putting the bird in the oven with the legs near the back. You might also start the bird, breast side down and then turn it on one side then the other, In the last 25% of the roasting cycle, put the bird breast-side up to allow for browning. This will keep the dark meat in the hottest part of the oven for most of the roasting cycle and protect the breast for getting dry. The dark meat requires more heat than the white meat.