Glass or metal pan?

I realized over this weekend that the type of pan you use — glass or metal — will affect your pie, cobbler or coffee cake.

Now this may not be a revelation to you, but it was to me and I'm happy that I'll now be able to cook a cobbler or coffee cake without fear of it turning out doughy.

Through Bill Neal's book, "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie," I've learned that for a double crust pie you should use a lightly greased, glass pie pan. I used that technique here:

This cherry pie is the first I've made from scratch. Not only did I make the crust from scratch, I also canned those cherries last year. Using Neal's technique, the dough did not come out overly moist or crumbly. I could slice out a piece of pie and it would hold together!

Neal said single crust pies should be cooked in metal pie pans. After pricking the dough all over, use tin foil and press it over the crust and then pour in some pintos or other dried bean. Cook and then remove. I haven't tried this technique yet.

When I made blackberry pie this weekend, I got to thinking about what Neal talks about in his book. Usually when I make a cobbler, it comes out doughy. And no matter if I cook it longer, it remains icky. This happened with a cherry coffee cake I made the weekend before using the left over canned cherries from the pie.

I got to thinking and realized that I baked all my cobblers and the coffee cake in a glass square pan. I wondered what would be the result if I used one of my metal pans. So I tried it out. And, viola!, the cobbler came out the best it ever has:

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Here's Neal's book:
















I love this book. It's full of history, recipes and tips. I've used it to perfect my bread baking, to experiment with crackers and learn about Southern baking history.

You can also find it at Mabry Mill off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. That's where I got my copy. While you're there, stay for some yummy buckwheat or sweet potato pancakes.

Here's another of Neal's books:
















Note: I recently started using Blogger's Amazon Associates program. I may not be able to recommend all the products I link to here. I can, however, vouch for "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie."