Hi, PJ. Thank you for this great research. It explains a lot. I have been using Pyrex because I read somewhere that it did the best job on browning the bottom crust. But it has been hit or miss until I discovered, as you've said here, that I have bake the pie on the bottom rack. There's another good reason for some people to use a big cookie sheet and parchment under a pie. Many new self-cleaning ovens have a sheet of metal across the lower heating filaments. It makes cleaning easier, but if a drop of flour or apple pie juice falls on the oven floor, a small fire will start. It is a pain in the neck to work around that fact, but I must. :) I have a question. I have been looking and looking for a nice crumb topping recipe to put on my Thanksgiving apple pie, and I haven't found one. The one shown in the top photograph is exactly what I'm looking for. Can you give us the recipe for that topping? Thank you.

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