"Boiled" Pecan Pie...always "sets"

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SherryT

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Dec 23, 2017
790
982
Crawford AL
For those of us in whose kitchen the laws of physics seemingly break down at the WORST possible time, this is a no-fail pecan pie...it ALWAYS sets and is delicious!

Ingredients​

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups coarsely-chopped pecans (if using halves, I use 2.5 cups)
  • 9" unbaked pie crust

Instructions​

  • Place pecans in unbaked pie crust; set aside (I put mine in the fridge).

  • Add butter, sugars, syrup, and salt to boiler. Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute. Remove from heat to cool for 10-15 minutes.
  • Beat eggs until homogeneous, but don't OVER beat.
  • Temper eggs with syrup, then slowly add tempered eggs back to the syrup, then stir in the vanilla; mix well.
  • COOL syrup mixture until "just warm" (1st one I made was WAY too hot and cratered my homemade crust...let the filling cool down, especially if using homemade crust).
  • Pour over pecans and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to 325 and bake for "about" 45 - 60 minutes until pie domes and there is no jiggle (see note).
NOTE - START CHECKING FOR JIGGLE at around the 40 minute mark. AT THE FIRST SIGN of firmness, test for IT of 200° and remove from oven.
 
I struggled with pecan pie until I started heating my mixture up slowly. I add a heaping tablespoon of AP flour to the Karo recipe, always using 4 eggs, and put everything EXCEPT the pecans into a stainless steel boiler and whisk it over medium heat until it gets good and almost hot. I do beat the eggs before I start mixing them in. IF I was guessing, I'd say about 120 degrees.

Haven't had a runny pie in a decade now, and the crust doesn't burn.
 
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I struggled with pecan pie until I started heating my mixture up slowly. I add a heaping tablespoon of AP flour to the Karo recipe, always using 4 eggs, and put everything EXCEPT the pecans into a stainless steel boiler and whisk it over medium heat until it gets good and almost hot. I do beat the eggs before I start mixing them in. IF I was guessing, I'd say about 120 degrees.

Haven't had a runny pie in a decade now, and the crust doesn't burn.

I hear you! I could NEVER get a pecan pie to set using the "classic" recipe...all I'd end up with was a semi-loose, syrupy mess!
 
Pecan pie is one baked item I haven't tackled. Why? The vast majority of ones I've tasted were WAY too sweet. I have a memory of eating one at a diner in the South that was buttery with a flaky crust and just the right amount of sweet. Unfortunately, that's all I remember.

The technique above looks great.
 
Pecan pie is one baked item I haven't tackled. Why? The vast majority of ones I've tasted were WAY too sweet. I have a memory of eating one at a diner in the South that was buttery with a flaky crust and just the right amount of sweet. Unfortunately, that's all I remember.

The technique above looks great.

You can actually omit the cups worth of sugar and use 6 eggs to get a less cloyingly sweet pie. Because you are removing some volume, use a standard crust. You might have to use less than 8 oz nuts to get it to fit. Or add more nuts and use a deep crust. I prefer shallow though.



8oz karo light or dark. I like both
6 eggs (double what karo says)
1/2 stick of butter (about double what karo says)
1/2 t salt (which karo took out if I'm not mistaken - which is a mistake)
1 t vanilla
6-8 oz pecans, and you can cheat and use half chopped walnuts and half pecans to help cut down on the 'sweet'
1 T AP flour (not found in the karo recipe)
non-deep dish pie crust

Mix everything together except the nuts, heat it up slowly, pour it over nuts into frozen crust, bake at 375 till it's nice and brown. About 45-55 mins
 
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Sounds good Sherry, thanks for bringing this up, have to make one soon
we never had pecan pie before I joined here
Noticed TNJAKE TNJAKE smoked one so I tried his directions, and we are hooked
and I bet yours is wonderful also
But we loved it in the smoker, and set just fine

David
 
Sounds good Sherry, thanks for bringing this up, have to make one soon
we never had pecan pie before I joined here
Noticed TNJAKE TNJAKE smoked one so I tried his directions, and we are hooked
and I bet yours is wonderful also
But we loved it in the smoker, and set just fine

David

Well, our waistlines would be better off without it, but it's so gooooood!

Gonna have to go take a look at that smoked pecan pie...I might have to make up a little extra filling and do a mini-pie as a test run!
 
I've used Clear Jel for gravies, pies etc... First use was a peach pie to test for "weird" flavor... No taste... Peach pie was the best I have made...
Use the regular jel...


Using Clear Jel®
GENERAL: Clear Jel®, a corn starch derivative, is a commercial thickening product used by bakeries
and for frozen food. This product is used the same as flour or corn starch.
There are two types of Clear Jel® available, “instant” and “regular”. “Instant” does
not require heat to thicken. The product will thicken once the liquid is added.
“Regular”, on the other hand, must be heated. This is generally the preferred type to
use in products to be canned.
To use Clear Jel® in a hot dish such as gravy, first mix a small amount in cold water,
then add gradually to the hot liquid, mixing constantly. Or, mix everything together
while cold, and then heat and stir to thicken.
Pies and fillings which have been prepared with Clear Jel® and frozen need to be
cooked or baked before serving. If the fillings become “thin” during baking, increase
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• Any fruit jam or jelly recipe may be used as long as the product is processed for
10 minutes or frozen. Substitute 7 tbsp of Clear Jel® for the pectin in cooked jams
and jellies and 3-4 tbsp of Clear Jel® for the pectin in freezer jam recipes.
• For freezer jam follow the jam recipes on this sheet.
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Problem solving:
Jam is too stiff: To make softer, heat the product and add a little more juice or water,
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Jam is too thin: To make stiffer, heat the product and add more Clear Jel® mixed
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JAMS:
Using Clear Jel®, page two
Cherry Jam
4 cups pitted chopped cherries
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 tablespoons Clear Jel®
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Add lemon juice to cherries. Combine
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5 cups ground apricots
1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 tablespoons Clear Jel®
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Clear Jel® with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add
to apricots. Bring to a boil, stirring
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minute, stirring constantly. Pour into jars,
leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 10
minutes in boiling water bath or freeze.
Apricot Jam
3 1/2 cups apricots
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 1/2 tablespoons Clear Jel®
Sugar to taste (approximately 2 cups)
Add lemon juice to apricots. Combine
Clear Jel® with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add
to apricots. Bring to a boil, stirring
constantly. Add rest of sugar. Boil for 1
minute, stirring constantly. Pour into jars,
leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 10
minutes in boiling water bath or freeze.
Peach Jam
3 3/4 cups peaches
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 tablespoons Clear Jel®
Sugar to taste (approx. 1 1/2 cups)
Add lemon juice to peaches. Combine
Clear Jel® with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add
to peaches. Bring to a boil, stirring
constantly. Add rest of sugar. Boil for 1
minute, stirring constantly. Pour into jars,
leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Process 10
minutes in boiling water bath or freeze.
Berry Jam
4 cups crushed berries or juiced
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 tablespoons Clear Jel®
Sugar to taste (approximately 1 1/2 cup)
Add lemon juice to berries. Combine Clear Jel® with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Add to
berries. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add rest of sugar. Boil for 1 minute,
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Clear Jel® is available* at United Grocer Cash and Carry or check out
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HANDOUT DEVELOPED BY:
Joanne Austin, Skagit County Extension Faculty
WSU Skagit County Extension
10/07
More home canning info: http://skagit.wsu.edu/FAM/MFP.htm
*Listing of products and goods does not imply endorsement.
 
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That is the worst news I have ever heard. That would really P**s me off it that happened.

David
My worst scare was the acute sensitivity to salt. I couldn't even choke down a piece of toast with salted butter.
The bad was a sweet craving. I lived on Golden Oreos for a month. Still have most of the gut to show.
My biggest fear was giving up bacon. Acute sensitivity dropped after a month. I still have to poach my bacon before frying to make it palatable.
I make sausage at .5% salt to get to my wife's taste.

A very good friend had a severe stroke years ago. He lost much of his taste and smell.
Sweet is now his favorite. Son calls him the "Cookie Monster".
 
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My worst scare was the acute sensitivity to salt. I couldn't even choke down a piece of toast with salted butter.
The bad was a sweet craving. I lived on Golden Oreos for a month. Still have most of the gut to show.
My biggest fear was giving up bacon. Acute sensitivity dropped after a month. I still have to poach my bacon before frying to make it palatable.
I make sausage at .5% salt to get to my wife's taste.

A very good friend had a severe stroke years ago. He lost much of his taste and smell.
Sweet is now his favorite. Son calls him the "Cookie Monster".

You are right that is a whirl wind of tastes. Coming and going. Both of us are fine here so far ( knock on wood ) have not gotten covid. But I have noticed any take out we get is very salty and I don't mind salt. But some places are just going overboard
I cook with it just don't add extra or on my plate of food. I do like to pound the pepper to it.

Hope you get your regular tastes back,

David
 
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You are right that is a whirl wind of tastes. Coming and going. Both of us are fine here so far ( knock on wood ) have not gotten covid. But I have noticed any take out we get is very salty and I don't mind salt. But some places are just going overboard
I cook with it just don't add extra or on my plate of food. I do like to pound the pepper to it.

Hope you get your regular tastes back,

David
Taste for wife and I changes periodically.
We leave for Florida tomorrow and stay until April next year.
Our tastes will change again based on the new climate.

I'm hoping that my sweet tooth comes back without being a nagging craving. Would love to sample this pecan pie recipe or perhaps modify with daveomak daveomak suggestion of using Clear Jel.
I also use the alternate sugars of Erythritol and recently Allulose to reduce the carbs.

My sweet dislike is a twist. I work for a farming operation where one of the major crops is sugar beets. Outstanding year of 20% sugar content. Sugar cane is lucky to get 15%. BTW beet or cane sugar is the same.
 
We leave for Florida tomorrow and stay until April next year.
That is nice ti be able to do that, some day when I retire we want to do that . Mona's sister bought a home in Palm BayFlorida a few years ago, They were all packed up 3 weeks ago to drive down , But the BIL's doctor said he had to come in for a bunch of tests as they found a spot on a test he did , so now they are waiting on many more tests. They are very stressed right now. :emoji_disappointed: :emoji_disappointed:
Would love to sample this pecan pie recipe
This is a very good pie, it cooks very nice in the smoker , just have to rotate it once in a while incase of hot spots in the smoker. And it sets very good after it cools
DSC_2328.JPG . DSC_2334.JPG

I will get you this recipe ( later today )as when jake gave it to me I printed it off. Good thing as the link he gave me does not work any more
BTW beet or cane sugar is the same.
I did not know this , I heard of beet sugar and just thought that would be weird sugar, :emoji_blush::emoji_blush:

Have fun in Florida

David
 
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