Why did apple filling in the pie turn to mush?
I'm not talking about the crusts. Those came out fine.
But the fruit of my apple pie came out dark brown without any crunch at all. They turned to mush, like a thick pudding or sauce.
I used 2 pounds of Granny Smith apples sliced thinly, 3 teaspoons of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon allspice, 0.25 teaspoon salt, 0.25 ground nutmeg, 0.25 teaspoon kosher salt, 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons ground Saigon cinnamon, and 0.75 cups of sugar.
I didn't cook the apples on a pan, just mixed the apples with the sugar and the flour and allspice and stuff and let it cook in the pie in the oven for 90 minutes(the first 30 minutes at 375 degrees and the 60 at 350 degrees.
(5)5 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
If you are cooking for a longer time for a golden crust, try slicing your apples all a uniform 1/2 inch thick. Granny Smiths are a good choice since they are full of pectin, a natural thickening agent. They should keep the bottom from getting soggy.
I always use either Granny Smiths or Fujis or a mix of the two for pies/baking. Mine turn out firm and retain their color if I use a little lemon after I cut them.
Why did it happen? The apples were probably old (my bet) unless you harvested them yourself. Maybe your slices are too thin. Maybe the oven is too hot and you burned the apples because your crust was too oily. Hard to say without pics.
You could also blanch the slices for one minute in boiling water and immediately cool them down in ice water and drain. Then chill 1/2 of the slices in a freezer for one hour. Prebake the bottom crust and then mix the almost frozen apple slices with the merely blanched slices and add the rest of your ingredients.
I would generally tend to use thicker slices, too.
Heating speed of the apples could matter, and precooking them at low temperature (mind the danger zone though!) will potentially help - I have to refer to "On Food and Cooking" where it discusses "firming" vegetables for details, given that I have not too much experience with the technique and want to avoid copying from the book.
Hold back a bit on the lemon, or toss 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in the filling. I don't see any other cause for the apples to have completely macerated in your recipe other than the acid content to cooking time. 90 minutes is a rather long time, but I'd expect them to hold up quite a bit better than 'mush'.
You could also try blind baking your bottom crust for 15 or so minutes so the final cooking time is shortened, which presents less opportunity for the apples to soften. Ideally, you want to be in the 45 minute to one hour range.
If it were me, I'd probably try both. Keep trying and experimenting, bringing a fresh pie to the table is one of the most satisfying ways to delight your friends and family :)
The filling of the pie turned to mush because Granny Smith apples completely collapse and do turn to mush when fully cooked. (They are great for applesauce for that reason.) Many other apples will become soft but hold their apple shape - not Granny Smith. You indicate you don't have much choice in apple varieties. In that case if you want defined apple shapes, you should slightly undercook them; they will be a little "al dente", but still wonderful.
Surprised that they turned dark brown though. Granny S. usually stay nice and delicately light colored. Other apples often turn quite brown when cooked. ...Maybe the apple mush became colored by the spices. Brown spices won't be able to penetrate an "al dente" apple piece.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.