browning pie crust

fishlessman

<p />what are the actual differences for using egg, egg yellow, egg whites, milk, butter, half and half etc. which one browns best. this one was whole egg, its shinier than the photo, would like to tone that down and get more browning. stike thanks for the help with the pork filling, i made a couple minor changes and its real close to my grandmothers recipe now flavorwise.

thirdeye

fishlessman,[p]Although I am the first to admit that the finer points of scratch baking are not something I am familiar with, doesn't the same Maillard reaction we all love to take advantage of on roasted meat also occur when baking? [p]~thirdeye~

fishlessman

thirdeye,
well then i wonder if the egg wash slows down the browning. this crust was made from half lard and half butter for the fat, maybe thats enough to brown the flour in the dough

stike

fishlessman,
the ones i usually get to eat on christmas eve have an even gold color, rather than browned in areas. i don't think the in-laws use an egg wash. the egg might brown first, and any missed spot would 'lag' in browning. i remember the crust as flaky, buttery. [p]are you higher in the dome to get some radiant heat off the dome? the egg is a moister environment than an electric oven, too. you might be able to bump the temps to compensate. the pork filling is already cooked, right?[p]looks good, man. glad those recipes helped. you helped us, too. because no one ever wrote it down, and it was passed down from mom to daughter. my wife's mom passed away two years ago, and the aunts aren't getting younger. now we have two similar recipes from each of the aunts written down for posterity...

fishlessman

<p />stike,
i bumped the heat up to 400 from 350 at about 45 min, most of the darker color is from some paprika sprinkled on top. maybe try butter half way into the cook and see what happens tonight. this was your wifes cousins recipe, i toned down the cloves and cinnamon a little, added some celery, nutmeg and a chicken boullion. boiled the potato with the skin on then peeled and mashed. was pretty good. something that struck me as odd is how cheap this pie is to make compared to some of the dishes that go on the egg, will be making them more often than just xmas time

stike

fishlessman,
i don't recall cloves and cinnamon, frankly, so i'd probably back it down too. looks damn good.[p]you gotta try the pork stuffing. my wife made three or four batches before she nailed her mom's recipe. i eat a giant soup bowl full for lunch sometimes. man. cannot wait. it's pretty similar" pork, potatoes, maybe cloves, onion, etc. Pretty much the smae as the pie filling, but i think there is a slight difference.[p]

BlueSmoke

fishlessman,
Filling sounds/looks delicious; absolutely nothing wrong (to my eye) with the crust, still - nothing browns off a crust as nice as a mapp torch... [p]Ken

fishlessman

BlueSmoke,
ive cheated before, weed burner, sometimes things need a touch up or two : ) im actually very happy with the crust, its just that it is not what the elders will be expecting at the family reunion this weekend, that and ive always wondered why all the different washes for the crust.

BlueSmoke

fishlessman,
I hear you about the expectations of the elders, in my case elder brorher and elder sister. It took awhile to figure out that nothing I made met their expectations.[p]I too have wondered why the myriad washes. Looks to me like they all depend upon such sugars as they maintain, but that the haphazard guess of an occasional baker.[p]Happy Holidays![p]Ken

amini1

fishlessman,[p]Cooks Illustrated says egg whites. That's what I've used and it worked great.