Cooking For Engineers

[Guest]

There are a lot of recipes for this crust on the internet. for easy to make ideas go to http://allrecipes.com and search for "graham craker crust" and you'll get a few pop up. They all have reader reviews - which I find very helpful.

Good luck !

[lazygirl]

I don't usually do "store bought" crusts. But I just tried the Trader Joe's store brand, and I may be a convert to frozen. You really couldn't tell that it wasn't homemade. Just thought I'd share for the others who can't imagine buying a crust.

[sas]

I would like to add when steaming pie pumkins don't bother to peel them before you steam them. Just scrub your pumkin, seed it, cut it to fit your steamer, and if you like roast your seeds for a snack. The skin comes off very easy after it is steamed and then you can put the meat right into your blender after peeling off the skin.

[Guest]

I am new to making pumpkin pies and since I'm newly married and my hubby hasn't had one before, I'm really trying to get this right. But, my first mistake was buying a gram cracker crust. I didn't know it took a different crust and I want to know if I'm out of luck or if I can still use the ones I bought without the crust burning or being too soggy. Thanks much!

LaToya[/i]

[clare]

I'm living in Italy and have three problems:
1.Buying frozen pre-baked crust is a no-no! So it's all from scratch!!
2.Canned pumpkin is a bit too difficult to come by so I've bought one of the many types of fresh pumpkin on offer.

BUT finally 3. What is Heavy Cream? I can't find the translation seeing as I don't even know what it is
Help!!! I'm trying to make this as a surprise for my American friend for our late thanksgiving dinner on Saturday!!

[Michael Chu]

[clare]

grazie tanto Michael,
I hope you had a nice holiday yesterday... here it was just another working day

I'm off to buy the ingredients this afternoon for our celebrations tomorrow,
speriamo bene!!
ciao,
clare

[mrfarias]

Hi there - an engineer friend of mine encouraged me to put my recipe for a whole-wheat crust on your site. Would it be OK if I "only" have a BS chemistry degree? In lots of my classes there were a bunch of chem E. students, so I must be close, no?

[Paul]

Try using 1/2 to 3/4 cup Grade B maple syrup (if you can find it) instead of the brown sugar--heavenly! The flavor is more intense than the brown sugar, there is also a slight concern over liquid content for the conversion. Grade B syrup is not a quality grade, it is instead a color grade as follows: Grade A light, medium, dark amber, then grade B, then grade C. Grade B has a much nicer taste, Grade C is too strong and is mostly used for commecial flavorings. If you can't find Grade B, Grade A Dark will work, but add more (watch the liquid content).

Cheers,
Paul

[guest]

For more health and better flavor, I take the canned pumpkin and adapt it this way: cut the sugar by 1/3 to 1/2 (depending on your taste) and substitute buttermilk for one of the cans of evaporated milk.

I find the stock recipe is just too sweet, that's why I reduce the sugar. And the buttermilk makes it less fat and seems to improve the taste. I've tried all buttermilk but that didn't work.

I'm not an engineer but my dad was an aeronautical engineer, so I hope this legitimizes my post.

[guest]

I live in Spain where there is no pumpkin pie tradition. I drain oven-baked pumpkin for 3 or 4 days - it's crucial to avoiding a soggy pie. When my microwave's working I find it not only shortens pumpkin baking but also evaporates much more of the water out - liquid pretty much stopped flowing out after 1 day the first time!

[Twin]

1) make your own brown sugar by simply adding blackstrap molasses to white sugar; blackstrap molasses (unsulphered) is what is removed from the cane sugar to make white granulated sugar - so, just put it back! Use a tablespoonful to a cup of white sugar for light brown sugar and 2 tablespoonfuls for dark brown sugar. Use a small mixing bowl and a fork. Alternatively, add the molasses to the liquid ingredients called for in the recipe, and use the same measure of white sugar as the recipe called for as brown sugar. How easy is that! (And cheap in comparison to purchasing brown sugar!) There is no difference in taste, texture, or cooking quality.
2) I started substituting whole milk for evaporated milk when I realized the cost difference (about $2.50 a gallon for whole milk versus about $16.00 in an equivalent amount of evaporated milk - you can buy a whole gallon of milk for about what two cans of evaporated milk costs!). The can said that you could substitute evaporated milk cup-for-cup in a recipe calling for whole milk. My recipe called for evaporated milk to start with, so I simply reversed it and used whole milk. It's great. No difference in texture or cooking time. There is a big difference in flavor and cost, though, and both are just fine with me!

[twin]

Actually, there is a texture difference when using all whole milk instead of evaporated. The pumpkin pie was lighter, rather than creamy. I will try to add some heavy cream (which I make by using the Bell Creamer). One other way with which I am going to experiment is to add a little bit of flour as is done when making homemade puddings and which is also used in cheesecakes. Has anyone tried the addition of flour to a pumpkin pie filling to improve its "weight". or "body"? I'll report my results soon.

[twin]

Personal opinion: a graham-cracker crust belongs under a really heavy pie like a chocolate New York-style cheesecake, or a dense chocolate torte, a filling which the hard, dense, graham-flavored crust won't overpower. Even then, store bought ones are really pitiful. If you need a ready-made type of pie crust for medium to heavy fillings, try a recommendation from America's Test Kitchen: use animal crackers with a bit of unsalted butter. Grind the crackers to a meal using a blender, food processor, rolling pin, whatever... then blend in just enough semi-melted butter to sort of hold it together when a spoonful is pressed into a ball. At that stage, firmly pat it into the pie dish, then pour in or layer in the filling.

Regarding homemade pie shells: Too easy, and so very delicious, once you know what you're doing. Get someone to come over and step you through it. The trick is cutting in the first measure of shortening. Using a pastry cutter, work the first measure into the flour really, really, well. Just keep cutting. The white flour will almost take on a yellow corn meal hue and texture. When cutting in the second measure, work it until you still have some visible pieces of shortening - about the size of split peas to green peas. And lastly, add enough water to form the mass into a ball. Start with 4 tablespoons, stir it around with a fork, add a little more if needed. Always allow enough time beforehand to let the ball of dough sit in the refrigerator for an hour or two before rolling. This allows the shortening and water to fully penetrate the flour.

[Anne]

Carnation is the condensed milk we get up here in Canada, often used in pumpkin pie.It is not sweetened, just a texture similar to cream.

Many of the older cooks may have used it for infant formula when one made their own.
I will try this recipe tho'. because I am anxious to see what warming up the pumpkin with the spice before baking does to the flavor.

I will also see if the cream versus the condensed milk makes a difference in the texture or flavor.