Super Apple Pie

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Tried caraway and Grains of Paradise... I lean towards the caraway but family loved both.... Easy to make.

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Draining the apples before baking works wonders to keep the bottom crust from getting soggy, and the interior texture sets up just right. The apple combination and grains of paradise flavoring was loved by my family. ("Best tasting apple pie I've ever had." Baking the pie in the tart pan with removable sides - something I'll do for other pies now, too - makes a gorgeous display out of the pie: it stands tall with scalloped sides, and no pan showing.

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Since I didn't want to purchase a $25 bottle of Apple Jack, I substituted a 375ml bottle of sorta el-cheapo brandy for $6 (which will make half a dozen pies. I weighed out the flour for accuracy and still found I could make the crust with only 4 TBSP of brandy as the only added liquid. I'm sure the crust is different/better with Apple Jack but have to say that the Brandy adds a nice subtle flavor that goes well with the pie. Note that vodka could be substituted to gain the same functional benefits as the Apple Jack (but the only vodka I have is unopened Viru Valge Estonian vodka that isn't getting used for a pie!. Also, anyone searching around for the tart pan has probably noticed that a 2" deep fluted 10" tart pan is not a cheap or easy to find piece. A 3" deep 10" springform pan, however, is both cheap and easy to find. It works well if you just run the lower crust dough up to about a half an inch from the top of the 3" deep pan then pinch it down to the approximately 2" level after the top crust is placed. The look of the pie out of the springform pan is still nice if you ornament the crust edge with pinch dimpling. Oh, and one other thing... I used a 8-piece apple slicer and cut most of the way through the apple, lifted, then re-cut the apple 1/16 of a turn from the first cutting to halve each slice, effectively making a 16-piece apple slicer. It worked fine. I used a total of 8 apples in the pie (and should have added another TBSP of tapioca flour and baked for an additional 10 minutes on the lower rack. All other directions were followed!

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We made the pie exactly as the recipe said - we even bought Grains of Paradise, Apple Jack, a 12-piece apple slicer, and the tart pan.

We liked the pie but it wasn't as flavorful as we expected it to be. We decided that it was probably similar to how a pie would've tasted made back in the 1950's. The apples tasted very fresh and not over-powered by too many spices. Maybe we've become a product of our times, but we missed the cinnamon and nutmeg flavors we've become accustomed to with an apple pie.

I loved the thicker crust but my husband didn't prefer it although we both liked the flavor the Apple Jack gave the crust. We will definitely make the pie again but will use some cinnamon and nutmeg and maybe thin the crust out a little more.

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I have never, ever baked a pie before in my, ummmm, over 40 years of life. OK, over 50 years. I was 'inspired' to try this recipe because Alton Brown made it look so good, with the fluted pan and pie bird. I already knew from previous shows that the grains of paradise and possibly the Tapioca flour may be hard to find, so I ordered over the internet right away. I found the deep fluted tart pan and pie bird at a local kitchen store. Actually, I bought the last of each (Guess I am not the only one who was inspired
I prepared it exactly according to the recipe, right down to the apple selection. The only adjustment I had to make is using an electric stove, so starting for 30 minutes on the base of the oven was out of the question. I started in the middle rack, lowering the temp to 350 for 40 min, then raised to 425 for the remaining 20 min.
Results? I am the pie-maker of the neighborhood. I can not make enough of them to satisfy requests. The mix of apples worked out great! Folks loved the tart-sweet-crisp-tender mix. The crust was too good. This was the first crust I ever made, and several experienced pie makers are accusing me of cheating some how.
Now I have to go out and get a few more fluted pans, and pie birds (Got to leave the birds in them for the look, but keep track of them to get them back
There were a few that missed a hint of cinnamon That was no problem. Substituting cinnamon for the grains of paradise worked out great.
Thanks Alton!

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I love Alton and I have never had one of his recipes flop so I had high expectations for this pie. Considering how he addressed the dome issue in the show, i thought I was in the clear but no, my pie had a huge dome and the apples were mushy. This was an expensive, time consuming pie that is, in my opinion, not worth it. I have made better pie, with no dome, before.

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over all the pie was freaking awesome!!!!.....and i made mine without the pie bird thing and it came out just fine.....the only thing i didn't like was that i couldn't find the grains of paradise spice thing...:-(...but thats not alton's fault.....but my favorite thing was the crust...it was incredible..the applejack put a nice flavor in it....next time i make it i will most definetly get it right...thanks for a good apple pie recipe

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Dear Alton,

Thank you for the cooking tips. I used your basic recipe cooking tips and made a wonderful apple pie. I had to do some substitutions but the results were similar to the reviews I read. I used 8 apples in 3 varieties (Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, store bought crust, 1 part cinnamon, 1/2 part apple pie spice, and a pinch of clove, split the sugar in granular and brown, lemon juice, and AP flour. I am a UM Pastor & live in small town in a dry county therefore the use of Apple Jack and/or vodka is not available to me. Pity.

The critical aspects I adhered to were the application of sugar to the apples and reducing the juice which was added to the pie. Also, cooking the pie on the bottom of the oven to get the crust a head start. But the waiting 4 hours is excessive for us; all the juice had set up over night and was still tasty when my wife and I finished it off at lunch the next day.

It was really too good.

Thanks anyway,

Kelly Craft

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Pie crust has been my nemesis for as long as I can remember. Alton showed me how substituting liquor (applejack, in this case, vodka in other recipes for water eliminates gluten formation, I tried it and voila! Perfect, incredible pie crust that everyone raved about!

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Alton Brown did a great job with this one. Everyone loved the flakey crust and overall look!