How we do it: Pie vents

This ever happen to you?
You finally get the pie crust right. You get the fruit in the pie shell and you even get a decent top crust on. Now into the oven it goes and 45 minutes later you have a drooly bubbly goo oozing out of your pie onto your clean oven making a smokey mess. I can't tell you the number of times I've had to remove the pie, toss salt on the gooey mess, make a little foil boat to catch the dripping mess and put the pie back to continue to bake.

What I found out, and from who I just can't remember, is use three pieces of uncooked penne pasta stuck in the crust before putting the pie in the oven can almost eliminate that above scenario. These little steam vents will turn crunch brown but relieve the pressure of you bubbling juices in your fruit pie. Don't forget to remove them and toss them away.


Yes, you can use those cute little ceramic birds to sit in the center but I found this is so easy and it only leaves little holes in the top crust, plus, it's nearly free unless you never use penne. Could that be? Is there someone out there who is planning to bake a pie and has never made penne pasta?

If you put a cookie sheet or something else under the pie it seems to interfere with the proper baking of the bottom crust. My mom always said, your bottom crust needs to be set before the filling bubbles or you'll get that under-done crust. She's right, you need all the heat focused on the bottom of the pie to get it right.

The pie? It's my all time favorite, Pineapple Pie. Check out the link for the recipe.