Runny pie likely due to underbaking (2024)

FAQs

What would cause pie filling to be runny? ›

If you don't leave the pie in the oven long enough your thickener doesn't get to the necessary temperature and time to thicken your filling. You want to see thick bubbling! The bubbling of the filling is activating the natural gelatin of your fruit as well as your thickeners.

Partially pre-cook the filling to evaporate its excess juice. Experiment with different thickeners beyond flour — we love Instant ClearJel. Vent the pie's top crust so steam from the juice can escape. For even better evaporation, try a lattice crust or crumb crust.

Watery filling

Water can be released from your pie filling while cooking in the oven. To avoid turning your pie into a sloppy mess, add flour to the filling or add some nuts to thicken it up, like in our Chicken and Leek Pie. This will help to absorb any excess water while it's cooking and will keep the pastry crispy.

To fix this, you can cook the pudding mixture over low heat until it thickens, or add a thickener such as cornstarch or tapioca flour. Another possible reason for a runny banana cream pie is that the pie filling was not chilled properly before being added to the crust.

Some pie recipes thicken the filling with flour; others use cornstarch, while others still rely on tapioca.

Runny pastry cream most often comes from undercooking the egg yolk mixture. If you remove it from the heat too soon, the amylase in the egg yolks won't break down and will prevent the cream from fully setting. If you find your crème pâtissière is too thin, return to heat and bring to a boil over medium heat to thicken.

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

Berry pies need starch to help thicken the filling because berries give off a lot of juice when they cook. For a typical nine inch pie, you need two tablespoons of flour, cornstarch, or tapioca starch. Tapioca is best because it sets clear, which let's the filling look bright and glossy.

The result is a soupy cobbler with a soggy top. Try this: Add one to two tablespoons of cornstarch to the filling. Partnered with a little sugar and lemon juice, this will make a lush sauce for the fruit. When baking, be sure the filling is bubbling-hot to ensure the cornstarch is cooked enough to thicken.

Flour and butter (sauce thickening) – In today's recipe, we are thickening the stew using a simple French finishing technique called a Beurre Manié. This is raw flour and softened butter mixed together, and then stirred into a liquid (a sauce usually). It makes the sauce shiny and thick.

Will pie filling thicken as it cools? ›

And, finally, as much as a steaming-hot slice of apple pie sounds appealing, let your pie rest for at least an hour before slicing. The filling will thicken as it cools and don't worry—your pie will still be plenty warm enough to gently melt that scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it.

It's also important to let the pie cool for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving. Solution if it's too late: If the pie hasn't been out of the oven for too long, you can put it back in the oven. Cover the pie with foil and bake it at 425°F, checking after 15 minutes.

Allow your pie to bake for the entire recommended period.

People often pull their pie too soon out of fear that it will burn. This leads to runny pie because it prevents the filling from thickening. Check the recommended cooking time, and set a timer. Don't use the brownness of your pie crust to judge if it is done.

The best way to thicken runny apple pie filling before baking it is to add some cornstarch, tapioca starch, or flour to your mix. To fix a runny pie that's already been baked, simply let it cool to see if it will congeal naturally. If not, you can stick it back in the oven for a bit longer.

The Solution: Grate an Apple (& Use Tapioca Flour)

To ensure the perfect, firm blueberry filling, they also added two tablespoons of ground-up tapioca. Tapioca flour has a milder taste than wheat flour or cornstarch and is a little more forgiving than other types of starch-based thickeners.

Here's the thing to remember: If you're filling hasn't set, it means the bottom of the pie crust isn't fully cooked, either. You can prevent the outer crust from further darkening (or even burning) by covering it with aluminum foil or — more attractively — with what's known as a pie ring or shield.

This is a normal part of the cooling process. The fact is, all baked goods shrink as they cool due to the evaporation of moisture during baking. In a pie, the filling and crust are shrinking in opposite directions.

Wet pie fillings + raw dough are a tricky combination. If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.