Page 32 - Pie Squared

While the Baking Steel (a 15-pound behemoth) does a great job
as an oven heat booster, if you have a pizza stone it will provide the

same result—a crisp-bottomed slab pie, one that slides right out of
the pan. Simply heat the steel or stone while preheating the oven. If
you don’t have a stone or steel, invert a baking sheet and let it get
hot in the preheating oven. Then, when the oven is at temperature,

place the pie on top of the steel, pizza stone, or upside-down baking
sheet. No more Soggy Bottom.
The best pies bubble over enthusiastically, so prepare ahead for
easy cleanup. Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the stone,

steel, or baking sheet, right under the pie pan. The paper will catch
the drips and it’s possible to dodge oven cleaning for one more
week.
As for oven rack placement: Some people bake pie in the lower

third of the oven, others put pie in the upper third. I like a slab pie to
be right smack dab in the center of the oven so it’s cooked all the
way around. I almost always use the convection setting if it’s
available, because the breeze floating through the oven increases

the flaky and crispy factors. When baking on a convection setting, I
do not reduce or otherwise change the temperature.

CRUST + FILLING × OVEN = PIE

Pie is egalitarian, democratic, and fundamental, created from the
most common ingredients.

FLAKIEST CRUSTS
The best crusts begin with the triumvirate, the trinity of pie crust:

flour, fat, and cold liquid. But note that it’s not always the most
expensive or rarest elements that blend to make flaky, flavorful,
tender pie crust.

Flour
Not all flour is the same. Winter wheat and summer wheat have

different protein contents, making them perform differently.
Consistency has me returning over and over to King Arthur Flour, a