I have a pie pastry question. PBS is airing a show about pies. They showed one

[Arkansas Granny]

baker who was preparing crust for cream pies. It showed him spreading a substance around the inside of the pastry lined pie tin before he pricked the crust and baked it, but I missed what he was using.

It looked like it might have been some sort of fat, lard perhaps. He said he did it for cream pies to keep the crust from getting soggy. Has anyone heard of this?

[Kali]

1. there is already fat in the dough

wonder if it was an egg wash?

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Not an egg wash. He spread it around with his hand, it was white and

creamy looking and held its shape.

[Kali]

4. interesting

seems like a lot of work for it to have been beaten eggwhite, so I wonder what it was

[TEB]

6. Will be over for pie

[DinahMoeHum]

2. Methinks it's egg wash. . .ie. beaten egg or egg white with water

It's not uncommon for bakers to use this, or maybe even use whole milk for brushing.

BTW, what was the name of the show? If it was America's Test Kitchen, Milk Street, or Cook's Country, they may have an explanation on their website/s.

[mindem]

5. I think the show may be

A Few Good Pie Places on PBS

[Arkansas Granny]

7. It's a one hour show on Create channel, "A Few Good Pie Places".

They are highlighting pie bakers. This was an older gentleman (he said 80) who does nothing but bake pies for a restaurant.

[Grasswire2]

8. if it was lard or shortening, that sounds AWFUL.

There are other ways to keep a crust from getting soggy.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. It's egg white

Obviously what you saw was using very beaten egg white.

Why does egg whites prevent a soggy pie crust?

Egg whites form a protective moisture between juicy pie fillings and your un-baked pie crust before and after baking.

Water blockers – egg white protein

Egg whites contain proteins. These proteins like to bind to each other. Protein structures have a molecular bond until heat or aggregation is applied.

As the egg whites heat up they start to coagulate or thicken, which helps push the wet pie filling away from the pie crust. Cooked egg whites swell to build a stronger structure that has a solid form. This solid form is rubbery like and will block water molecules from penetrating.

https://www.everythingpies.com/prevent-soggy-bottom-pie-crust/

Also one of my favorite sites for learning how-to about anything is: the spruce dot com..this is from their cooking page:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-can-i-prevent-a-soggy-bottom-pie-crust-480510#brush-the-bottom
.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. I thought about that, but he applied it with his hand and it kept its shape.

He just kind of smeared it around the bottom and sides of the unbaked shell before he pricked it and put it in the oven.

[WePurrsevere]

12. Perhaps he beat the egg white like one would for a meringue?

It would be white, hold its shape and could be applied with your hand.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. You are right. That's what it was.

[dixiegrrrrl]

17. how did you find it out?

I kept thinking, from the way you described the texture, it HAD to be egg white, since the stuff in egg white--
is effective, and there a zillion recipes of egg white/ pie crust soggy crust problem.
then I thought, what would someone use to make egg white thicker, but still workable, ....
well..good old cream of tartar....

How close was I?

[Arkansas Granny]

19. Reply #13 has a link to the program. They never said it was egg white,

but watching closely you could see him dip a white substance out of a bowl with a whisk in it. It looks like egg white beaten until they were like a loose meringue.

I'll be baking a few cream pies for Thanksgiving and plan to give it a try. If I do, I'll let you all know how it turns out.

[dawg day]

11. But the best part of the pie is the bottom dough soaked with the filling!

Yummy.

[WePurrsevere]

13. Looks like a beaten egg white to me. Link to show on PBS...

This Frank's pie part starts at 14:36...

https://www.pbs.org/video/a-few-good-pie-places-full-episode/

I'll definitely try it next time I make a cold pie.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. Thanks. I had missed that part. It does look like a soft meringue.

I need to experiment with that.

[dem in texas]

16. Why is the crust soggy?

The crust of a cream pie should not get soggy. So why? Is the crust is not baked long enough. Too much flour and not enough fat in the crust? Dark metal pie pans used instead of glass? The custard is not cooked enough? Usually the main problem is the meringue is weeping because it is not cooked enough or portions of egg white to sugar are not correct.

if you think you will have to make the pie a long before serving or have pie left over, make a French meringue, then run it under the broiler a few minutes to brown the top. Pie crust should not need any protection.

A fruit pie which is juicier might leak on to the crust, but yum,yum, a gooey fruit pie crust is not bad.

[mopinko]

18. in a restaurant, you cant have your pie falling apart.