Recipe(tried): Try this! Apple Pie Baking Tips

Marian, you are located in one of the best places on earth for good apples...don't give up!

My guess is that you are using the 'wrong' kind of apple, perhaps types grown more for eating as opposed to *Baking* apples.

Use an apple that is on the dry side, such as Rome or Cortland. They hold up to high temps and don't cook down to mush like a MacIntosh would.

People love my apple pies...over the years this former New Englander (I grew up in an area known as Apple Valley) has worked out a pretty good apple pie filling. When I was a child my best friend's mother made perhaps some of the best apple pies in the world...she has won many contests for her pies. When she talked I would LISTEN!

I like to use a combination of apples...some for the consistancy and some for pure taste. I also like to slice them fairly thick (about the width of my pinky finger) My usual is 4 good size Rome or Cortland or Macoun sp? (when I can get those), one Granny Smith for tartness and one MacIntosh for flavor.

I toss the apples with the sugar just before I put them in the bottom crust. If you do it too soon the sugar will start to make the juices run out of the sliced apples. I also add two tablespoons of flour (to thicken the juices) to the sugar and cinnamon mixture.

You want to cook the bottom crust fast, before the apples cook down and make it soggy. I set the oven to 425 degrees F for the first 15 minutes then turn it down to 350 degrees F for the remainder. AND...I always use GLASS pie dishes (like pyrex). Glass heats quickly and you can check on the bottom crust for doneness. Another suggestion is to use pie shields to prevent over-browning of the crust around the edge.

And that's all there is to it...boy, if I had a dollar for every pie I've made....

Kathy