Okay, got a pumpkin pie question

[Beatlelvr]

When you take out of oven, it still jiggles a little in the middle, right, and continues to set while cooling? Or should it be completely set? Thanks.

[Tetrachloride]

1. Does the Toothpick test apply ?

[crazylikafox]

5. For pumpkin pie use a table knife

Should come out clean…. But it will leave a slit

[Irish_Dem]

2. It is supposed to jiggle, not wiggle.

The old saying is that the pie is supposed to "jiggle like Jello, not wiggle like a wave."

This means that when you nudge your pumpkin pie, the filling should be firmer around the edges, but still jiggle in the center.

[lisa58]

3. It does jiggle until it cools and sets

[ProudMNDemocrat]

4. I follow the baking instructions on the Libby's can

Pie comes out perfect every time.

[Beatlelvr]

7. Well, now that it has sat for 15 min or so

It doesn't jiggle anymore. Sides are firmly set. But the table knife doesn't come out clean!
I do follow the Libbys directions but it never looks done to me so I cook a little longer.
Think good thoughts....

[ProfessorGAC]

6. It Should Jiggle A Little...

...while hot. Some physical chemistry of cooking, for you.
When the filling is still very hot, the filling is in what's called the pseudoplastic gel phase.
The particles interspersed with starch & sugar molecules are essentially a liquid held together by those starches & sugars.
As it cools, the pumpkin & milk solids retreat from the liquid phase and it forms a uniform paste or gel. Instead of multiple phase structures with some hot liquid bound within, it becomes one consistent solid phase.
If it's stiff coming out of the oven, I'd worry too much moisture has evaporated from it.
As someone mentioned above, it should jiggle a little. But, if you tip it 30 degrees or so, you should see no tendency for it flow downhill. If it does, it means there's still too much unbound liquid, and it's more like a hot wax than a gel.
I cook, but I don't bake. Despite that, I do know how physical chemistry works when oils, starches & sugars are involved.

[Beatlelvr]

8. Thanks for all the input.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

[ProfessorGAC]

9. I Think We Will

I'm making mini Beef Wellingtons & lobster tails with steamed asparagus & a sweet potato purée.
I'm not much of a fan of the traditional T'day meal, and my wife wanted me to cook.
I'm not willing to do all the work for a meal I'm not looking forward to eating.
So, I flipped the menu.

[vanlassie]

16. OK- That was a fantastic description! Thanks!

[jpak]

10. Take it out of the oven

Set it on a wire rack

Walk away

5 hours later, stick in the fridge

It will be perfect (if you followed the recipe)

I use the old fashioned Betty Crocker crust recipe with either lard or Crisco (lard is better :evilgrin and a can of One Pie pumpkin puree (used to be made here in Maine). Evaporated milk in the filling and brown sugar and molasses (my grandmother's recipe). So good.

[haele]

11. I just open the oven and let it cool completely in the oven.

Most pumpkin pie recipes are a pumpkin custard or pumpkin cheesecake type of filling that is baked low and slow; it should be just bit jiggly on the top as it finishes completely. Check with a skewer first to make sure the skewer comes out clean, then leave it in the open oven while it cools and sets. Should take 1/2 hour.
I never had cracks on the tops of my custard based pies once I started doing this.

Haele

[Ms. Toad]

12. Yes. It jiggles a little in the middle.

If you go past the jiggle in the middle point, it will balloon a bit, die back, and then your pumpkin pie will be drier than desired.

I usually pick the shelf up gently about 1/4-1/2 inch, drop it a bit, and watch for a little jiggle.

*** from the pumpkin pie queen. (I bake 30-40 every year. So far 20 this year - 20 more tonight.)

How it started (half of this year's pumpkins):



How it ended (from 2011)

[SMC22307]

13. Wow!

I was patting myself on the back for getting a boxed Mrs. Smith's in the oven last night.

[Ms. Toad]

14. I love baking for people.

It started back in 1990 when I dramatically overestimated how much pumpkin I needed for a couple of pies. I called up the local homeless shelter which serves a Thanksgiving meal and asked if they could use the extras. I've been making extras deliberately since then, and in 2014 added the law school where I teach/prepare students to take the bar exam (jumping from 20 pies to 36+)

Bittersweet this year - I'm retiring in April, so this was my last year baking for the law school. (And I had to skip last year, since my daughter had been exposed to COVID so I couldn't risk her

[SMC22307]

15. It's really lovely that you do that.

And early congrats on the retirement... I still have five years to go!

[Ms. Toad]

17. I thought I was going to work for another 7 years.

But my employer had other ideas.

My students are crushed - especially the 50 or so who chose my class (over the easier CR/NCR version they can phone in). But I'm really looking forward to not working 80-100 hours a week to try to salvage a program that others have tried their hardest to destroy.

And - the bottom of the ocean is calling me. I have a dive trip planned during what is normally my heaviest work month of the year.