Meringue Pies.

Lemon in particular RE: Corn Starch

[pendanticist]

I made a Lemon Meringue Pie the other night and everything, on the surface, seemed fine. Looked beautiful what with the nicely browned topping and all. I even used a pre-bake bottom crust.

Really looked great. Tastes great too. I supplemented real fresh squeezed Lemons and grated rind.

While the Lemon filling was nice and bubbly thick during the cooking process and I did apply the topping over the 'still warm' base as directed, the center was pudding runny in the center after the required cooling period!

Is there a chance that the Corn Starch broke?

[lawman]

That usually means you didn't cook your corn starch and other ingredients quite long enough before putting into pie shell.

That's my experience anyway.

That's right, I'm the cook around my house. :)

[pendanticist]

Same here, Lawman. I do the cooking and well, Corn Starch is to thickening as MSG is to flavor enhancements and I've used tons of both over the years.

> "...nice and bubbly thick during the cooking process..."

I specifically mentioned that in my post so folks wouldn't think I'd forgotten that rudementary process.

Ever tried a rue in pies? <lol>

Hmmmm...

Have you ever done one of these with fresh squeezed Lemons? While I've used RealLemon type products before, I decided, what with a Lemon tree just a few feet from the front door I'd try adding some of that there natural pucker to it.

<shrug>

My first Meringue pie you see.

[lawman]

Yep, always use freshly squeezed lemons. I usually omit the lemon zest - I don't like tough bits in my pie.

[vkaryl]

Always check the humidity before you bake a lemon or chocolate meringue pie.... if it's high, runniness is almost unavoidable.

[pendanticist]

As it turns out, living in a dry climate with forced hot air heating requires the humidifier striving to maintain around 45%.

Too high?

Then, there was the Ham in the oven along with fresh Sweet Potatoes and Whites boiling with the rest of the Veggies and such, so yeah. I'd say the humidity might have been higher than I like to keep it.

Any idea what the optimal humidity should be?

[vkaryl]

Nope. All the years I lived in Vegas (highest humidity EVER was 30% in the middle of the February rains in 1989 far as I know) I never had a problem UNLESS I wanted to make a pie on a rainy day (I just didn't bother really).

Soon as I moved here (LOWEST humidity usually in the 30% range even in a DRY summer) I started having the problem, and have had the problem ever since. I do a bit better with flour instead of cornstarch. Mostly we just live with the runnies....

[digitalghost]

Cooking the pie too long could have reduced the thickening ability of the cornstarch. As would stirring too much, or whisking heavily. Over stirring is a common culprit. Citric acid is hard on cornstarch to begin with. Could simply be too much citric acid for the starch to deal with.

For pie fillings that require a glossy sheen, arrowroot seems to work a bit better.

[Essex_boy]

Just buy them ;)

[vkaryl]

dg, I'll have to give arrowroot a try. I have a bottle in the cupboard....

[pendanticist]

Thank you all! :)

I bought some arrowroot and the next time I do a Meringue pie, I will take all suggestions into account.

Is there a chart / resource that explains how to use arrowroot, in what measure and what it can replace?

Is it pretty much a proportional thing?

tsp. corn starch ='s tsp. arrowrootMuch appreciated.

[AAnnAArchy]

Be advised, I know absolutely nothing about cooking.

[ochef.com...]

[pendanticist]

Thanks AAnnAArchy. That's a great page. :)

[AAnnAArchy]

Yeah, I know nothing about cooking, but I understand good content. ;)