What's the Best Pie Filling Thickener? (2024)

FAQs

What's the Best Pie Filling Thickener? ›

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed. We like tapioca in blueberry, cherry or peach pies.

Cornstarch is faster-acting than flour and forms a smooth, relatively clear filling. Just be aware that too much cornstarch can create a slimy texture.

The three most common starches used to thicken the fruit juices of a pie are flour, tapioca, and cornstarch. I prefer cornstarch because I find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit.

All-purpose flour is an easy substitute for cornstarch; in fact you may see recipes for thickening pie fillings or soups with either. You'll need 2 tablespoons of flour for every 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a recipe.

Flour and butter (sauce thickening) – In today's recipe, we are thickening the stew using a simple French finishing technique called a Beurre Manié. This is raw flour and softened butter mixed together, and then stirred into a liquid (a sauce usually). It makes the sauce shiny and thick.

Adding Thickener

A thickener prevents the filling from being too watery by adding a substance that will absorb some of the liquid that seeps out of the fruit. A small amount of thickener should not alter the flavor of your pie. Use cornstarch as a thickener.

If you're cooking hot liquids like sauces, stock or broth, 1 tablespoon of corn starch per cup of liquid will give you a thin to medium consistency that's appropriate for soups or very thin sauces. 2 tablespoons per cup will give you a thicker, more gravy-like consistency.

Because cornstarch is pure starch, it has twice the thickening power of flour, which is only part starch. Thus, twice as much flour is needed to achieve the same thickening as cornstarch. To thicken sauces, cornstarch is combined with cold water first, which is called a slurry.

Most thickeners activate after maintaining a certain temperature long enough. If you don't leave the pie in the oven long enough your thickener doesn't get to the necessary temperature and time to thicken your filling.

What is King Arthur pie filling enhancer? ›

Pie Filling Enhancer thickens fruit pie fillings the same way Instant ClearJel does. Its advantage is added ascorbic acid (which adds a bright, tart note), and superfine sugar, which prevents it from clumping. Pie Filling Enhancer is about half sugar, so you'll want to reduce the sugar in your recipe accordingly.

Don't freeze pies that use cornstarch in the filling.

Cornstarch molecules “thicken” pie fillings by trapping water as the starches are heated - but the freezing process breaks down the starch molecules. If you freeze and thaw a fruit pie thickened with cornstarch, it can “weep” and start releasing liquid.

Potato Starch

As an amazing thickening and binding agent, it is ever popular in many gluten-free recipes. With a low gelatinizing temperature, relatively colorless, odorless, and tasteless, and a strong binding texture, potato starch is used for cooking and baking applications alike.

If the filling looks too runny, transfer the meat and veg with a slotted spoon to your pie dish and boil the liquid on a high heat to reduce quickly. Then pour over with the meat and allow to cool before topping with the pastry.

Dishes like soups, gravies, pie fillings and puddings are all recipes in which you can use cornstarch and potato starch interchangeably.

Substitutes in Cake Batter and Cookies—You may substitute Instant Pudding Mix in either equal parts or 1.5x the Instant ClearJel (in measuring spoons, not grams, as the weight varies.

Freezing causes liquids thickened with flour or cornstarch to shear or separate during freezing. Therefore, baked pies or fillings thickened with tapioca or modified food starch such as Instant ClearJel® or ThermFlo® will maintain their consistency better.

Potato Starch

As an amazing thickening and binding agent, it is ever popular in many gluten-free recipes. With a low gelatinizing temperature, relatively colorless, odorless, and tasteless, and a strong binding texture, potato starch is used for cooking and baking applications alike.

When making custards, puddings and pie, add a few tablespoons of arrowroot powder to the recipe before baking. Doing so will help the ingredients in the dessert bind together and thicken to the desired consistency.