(with Dutch Oven Baking Technique)
Recipe and Photos: Rick Beach
6-7 cups of medium tart apples (Granny Green), cored, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt + a few shakes on top of apple mixture before placing the top crust on
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. butter
2 Pie Crusts
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl except the butter and pie crusts.
Then pour the mixed ingredients into the pie crust lined plate/tin. Dot with chunks of the butter.
Add a few shakes of salt on top of the apple mixture now in the bottom pie shell.
Top with the other crust. Cut steam slits in the top crust and sprinkle the top with some additional sugar.
Foil protect/tent the exposed crust edge to prevent premature browning
Preheat Oven to 450°F (For charcoal use the 3 uppy down rule for coal counting)
Bake at 450°F for 15 minutes. Remove the foil that is tented over the crust edge.
Reduce heat/coals to 350°F and bake for 35-45 minutes, until apples are tender and juices are bubbling out of the steam slits.
Dutch Oven baking for pies in general. Whether using a glass pie plate or metal tin plate (Not deep dish pies with crust directly in the Dutch Oven) raise the plate/tin off the bottom of the Dutch Ovens cast iron. Several methods are used. Any type of trivet works. I personally use an adjustable leg trivet with very short legs. Mason jar metal rings work too. The trivet or spacer goes in the bottom of the Dutch Oven before the pie plate/tin is placed in the DO.
I always tent my outer perimeter exposed pie crust with foil for the first 15 minutes of any recipe. This avoids premature crust browning. Use the normal recipe for a conventional oven and adjust your charcoal coals to equal the heat settings.
A long piece of foil (double it if using cheap thin stuff) is draped in the Dutch Oven prior to the pie being placed in. The ends of this foil can be rolled up or left hanging out under the DO lid. This foil is used for lifting the pie out after baking. This foil lifter is especially useful when the pie plate/tin and the Dutch Oven sides are a tight fit.
| Glass pie plate shown on an adjustable leg trivet (shown with 1 1/2 inch legs
When pie baking in a Dutch Oven the bolt legs would be removed an 1/2 inch bolts/legs used |
| Ready to bake |
| Ready for the ice cream |
