The taste of pies is heavenly, and the process of making one is all too exciting. But one thing many people dread is bringing the pie out of the metal dish without breaking it. Sure, you can eat the pie right out of the metal dish. But what if you want to give a friend or a new neighbor the pie as a gift? Do you just give them the whole dish and get another one when next you’re baking a pie?
For a case like this, many people would suggest that you use a fancy tool or even a disposable pan. However, there are people out there that still make use of the traditional pie pan and would love to know how to successfully remove baked pie from it. Not to worry, I’ll share with you a step by step process to do so.
Prepare the Pan
The first step is to prepare the metal pan. When the metal pan is nicely prepped, the pie won’t stick to it. Start by coating the entire inside of the pie pan with butter, or a non-stick spray. Make sure you use your brush, or fingers to get every corner and even the edges of the pan. This will give the pan a slippery barrier so the pie crust won’t stick to the pan.
After the pan is nicely coated, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. If you don’t have parchment paper, you can use aluminum foil, which gets the job done as well. Smooth it out so there are no creases, if there are wrinkles, it can mess up the pie crust.
Ever heard of a foul sling? It makes lifting easier. All you have to do is take two long pieces of foil and lay them in the pan in a crisscross pattern. The ends should hang over the edges of the pan; which will act like handles when it’s time to lift the pie. Press the foil tightly into the pan so it fits well.
Baking and Removing the Pie
When making the crust for an apple pie, certain recipes need blind baking, which is the process of baking the dough beforehand. All you need to do is line it with parchment paper or foil and add the pie weights. Once that is added you can reduce and avoid air bubbles, while the crust will remain flat.
Simply follow your recipe to bake the pie. Don’t worry about the sling while it’s in the oven; it’s heat resistant. After removing the pie from the oven, allow it to cool completely in its pan. A hot or warm pie is unstable and could fall apart if moved. Gently grasp the ends of the foil sling and slowly lift the pie from the dish. Place it on a flat surface and carefully peel away the foil or parchment.
Removing a Banoffee Pie
A banoffee pie is not baked like an apple pie. You will let the crust cool before adding the filling, rather than baking it. You can use melted butter and crushed biscuits, like digestive biscuits or Graham crackers, to make a sturdy crust.
Press the mixture firmly into the prepared pan to create a sturdy base. Use the back of a spoon to make sure that it is even and compact. Place the pan in the refrigerator for at least two hours. This helps the butter to remain firm, making sure the crust sticks together when you remove it.
In addition, use the foil sling when talked about earlier to lift the chilled crust out of the pan. If the edges crumble a bit, you can just press them back into shape. Once it’s on a serving plate, add your filling and chill again until it’s ready to serve.
Conclusion
You know it’s not that simple, though, if you’ve ever attempted to remove a pie from a metal dish. Of course, you could serve it right out of the pan, but what if you want to present it as a gift? You don’t want to give up your pie pan, do you? The good news is that with a little preparation and some simple tricks I shared in this article, you can totally lift a pie out of a metal dish without breaking it.
