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I baked this pie at 400F (200C) for 25 minutes on the bottom rack, then reduced temperature to 375F (190C) and moved pie to middle rack for 35 more minutes.

Apple pie with soggy-looking crust

The crust doesn't look like CRUST, so to speak. It looks wet or doughy. Like it'll be chewy.

Any thoughts?

This is the recipe I followed: 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 TBSP granulated sugar, 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, and cold water mixed with a little cider vinegar and ice in it. Mixed dry ingredients together then added the butter pieces. I used a pastry blender to cut the biter in. I then adds 1-2 TBSP at a time of the cold water mixture until the dough came together. Split the dough in half, shaped into discs, wrapped in plastic and put in the fridge overnight.

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    Looks good to me. Have you actually tried it? What was the method/recipe you used for making your crust? We can't really tell you what you did wrong if we don't know how you made the crust.
    – Catija
    Jan 22, 2017 at 3:55
  • Yes, we tried it and it was like leather on top and soggy yet still leathery on the bottom. 2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour, 1 tsp kosher salt, 1 TBSP granulated sugar, 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, and cold water mixed with a little cider vinegar and ice in it. Mixed dry ingredients together then added the butter pieces. I used a pastry blender to cut the biter in. I then adds 1-2 TBSP at a time of the cold water mixture until the dough came together. Split the dough in half, shaped into discs, wrapped in plastic and put in the fridge overnight.
    – Mark
    Jan 22, 2017 at 5:13
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    Looks like maybe the problem isn't the pastry but much too much liquid in the filling.
    – Niall
    Jan 22, 2017 at 11:54
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    Leathery or tough dough generally indicates that it was worked too much while blending the ingredients and rolling it out.
    – John Feltz
    Jan 23, 2017 at 3:32
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    I think what @JohnFeltz meant was more along the lines of kneading and folding-- like too much squishing and folding the dough trying to bring it together, and then when rolling it out folding it back onto itself because the shape is wrong or there was a tear... Generally speaking, if I no longer see individual pieces of un-incorporated butter in my dough, I get suspicious that I've overworked it.
    – senschen
    Feb 22, 2017 at 17:49

4 Answers 4

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Simple: it's undercooked.

So what was the specific variable that caused this outcome? Who knows. Maybe 400 on your oven isn't the same as 400 on the oven of the person who wrote the recipe, or your pie started out with colder ingredients, or you opened the oven door too many times, or any number of other factors which could affect how long something takes to cook in an oven.

More important than where you went wrong, is how you can avoid doing this again in the future. As I sit here typing, I can hear my pastry instructor in school yelling "Put that back in the oven! Golden brown means brown, not gold!"

You should always cook a pie to the correct color/doneness, not to a specified time. In most cases in cooking, time is the least reliable indicator for doneness. To someone with experience, even smell by itself is more accurate than time.

Good luck with your future pie baking!

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I would have left the temp at 400 degrees on the middle rack for the duration of the bake time and tent the edge with foil to prevent over browning half way through.

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I've always hated making homemade pie crusts..for the same reasons as you state and show. However, the one, ok, two things that sticks in my mind from excellent pie-maker's advice to my crust whining is: 1. Don't handle or over-knead it. 2. Use as little water as you can get away with but make sure what little you use is COLD.

I have no scientific or common sense reasons why these things are so important, but I have had these lady's pies, and the crust is delectable.

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  • "Don't handle or over-knead it. 2. Use as little water as you can get away with but make sure what little you use is COLD." Gluten is what makes bread elastic, and pie dough tough. It's formed when two proteins in flour — glutenin and gliadin— are combined with water and kneaded. Using less water and limiting handling/kneading makes for tender crust. Cold butter makes for flaky crust, because the pieces of butter will stay intact, and create pockets of steam as it bakes— butter is about 16% water.
    – ChefAndy
    Sep 7, 2017 at 4:16
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your butter probably has a higher water content. try shortening, there's zero water in shortening. you've steamed your crust with the high amount of moisture.

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    Swapping butter for shortening will greatly affect the flavor. Making substantial substitution recommendations are fine but you should make sure to mention both the positive and negative results of the substitution. Also, bakers have been making pie crust with butter successfully for eons... I don't know that this is the only option.
    – Catija
    Jun 16, 2017 at 16:52

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