I have been baking pies for forty-five years, have learned a few tricks along the way, and am still trying to bake the perfect pie. To prevent a soggy bottom crust, I spread a sparse dusting of dry egg white powder or beaten egg white on the bottom crust before adding the filling. Also, I preheat a pizza stone covered with nonstick aluminum foil ( nonstick-side up) to 425-450 degrees as the oven is preheating and place the aluminum pie pan on this stone for baking. It helps transmit heat immediately to the bottom crust which is somewhat cooler because of the mass of the filling. I have never used glass pie pans. This covered pizza stone also catches any filling spills/overbakes and wipes off easily once cool. I bake double-crust pies at 425-450 degrees for 15 minutes with the crust edges covered with an aluminum pie crust shield ( a piece of aluminum foil with a central hole the size of the filling diameter also works). After 15 minutes, the pie crust shield is removed and the pie is baked at 350 degrees for another 45-50 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the filling juices are thick and gently burping through the steam vents. It is important to cool the pie on a rack so that the bottom crust doesn't steam as it cools.

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