Page 24 - Pie Squared

NICE TO HAVE

Full-size food processor, not a mini-prep
Baking Steel (also called a baking plate) or baking stone (pizza

stone)
Scale

Parchment paper or silicone baking mats

FUN TO HAVE

Fluted pastry wheel

Pizza wheel
Cookie cutters and other decorating tools

Docking tool

OVENS, STEELS, AND STONES

The worst offense of all the pie offenses has to be Soggy Bottom. I
had been testing a variety of ways to ensure a crisp-bottomed slab
pie, but none was perfect. Then one day, after heating the oven to

425°F, I realized my Baking Steel was still in there. Too hot, too
heavy, and too difficult to remove at that moment, I shrugged and
slid the slab pie pan on top of the steel. And that was that: The pie

that emerged had a bottom crust that was crisp and browned and so
darn perfect, I never looked back. That pie lifted right out of the pan
in one piece. I placed it on a wooden serving board, cut squares, and
served it. The bottom was deeply browned, crisp, and flaky. Yes, the
bottom of the pie was perfectly, delightfully, deliciously flaky. That

day, I hadn’t set out to combat Soggy Bottom, but I learned that
baking the pie on top of a very hot surface did the trick.

MACGYVERING A SLAB PIE PAN

If you don’t have a 9- by 13-inch baking sheet, you can jury-rig a
larger 18- by 13-inch pan, called a half sheet in the professional
kitchen. Cut a piece of foil approximately 16 by 20 inches. Fold