I made the peach pie last evening. I baked it at 350 and tented it after 30 minutes. I continued to bake it and after 45 minutes removed the tent to check it. Unfortunately, it was overly well done! I always keep an oven thermometer so I know the temperature of my oven was accurate. Next time, I think I'll either lower the temp or, check the pie 30 minutes after tenting. What do you suggest? Also, as I have always used flour as my thickener, I did so this time. I think 3/4 C. was a bit too much. Would it have been better if I had used something else? I have never used Almond extract before in my peach pie. What a wonderful flavor it imparted. I was very pleasantly surprised. Also, thank you so much for your instruction on how to peel the peaches. Simmering them really did the trick and with absolutely no peach flesh lost. It was all so very easy. Thanks!
Sorry, Kat, don't know what to suggest except do what works in your oven. Ovens are SO "all over the place" - it's challenging to give hard-and-fast baking times. With very juicy fruits like peaches, I think a more powerful thickener often works better than flour. Try tapioca flour or tapioca beads (the small ones, like Minute Tapioca). We also sell various pie filling thickeners through our catalogue, online at kingarthurflour.com. Can I tell you how much to use? No, not exactly. Again, every piece of fruit has its own juiciness quotient. So it's always kind of a roll of the dice... One thing you can experiment with is pre-cooking the fruit and thickener till it starts to thicken, then putting it in the crust and baking the rest of the way. Can I give you precise cooking times and precise thickener amounts. Again, no... Sorry - can you see where I'm going here? Fruit pie filling is one of those things with so many variables, it's simply impossible to give precise directions and expect the filling to come out the same way every time. Esp. with fruit that can vary so much (think a rock hard peach vs. a soft, dripping-juice peach...) - All I can say is, keep experimenting, and the more you bake, the more you learn. And the experiments are always fun! - PJH
July 6, 2008 at 2:57pm