Giant Baking Projects, Frustration-Free!

Seven Pies. Unicorn and Bat proudly guard them.
Seven Pies. Unicorn and Bat proudly guard them.

As the holiday season approaches, consider heading into the kitchen and making a bunch of something, and giving some of it to everyone you see.  The choices are many–cookies, candies, soup mixes, moonshine. A large scale making operation can be a lot of fun, whatever you make.  However, making a bunch of something can be trickier–the larger the number of things you’re making, the greater the opportunity for disaster.

The Illustrious A and I just finished making seven pies in as many hours. We’re a little bit strange, in that both of us thought, “Let’s make as many pies as we have pie plates between us, in a single day, and each pie shall be different, unique amongst the pies!” was an absolutely swell idea. We had a special, “Let’s look at the recipes!” meeting. We had emails about the pies. We had dreams and hopes about the pies. I think we’re awesome, and you would too, if we gave you some pie.

Baking a lot of things at once may not be everyone’s idea of a swell time, but we had an irrational amount of fun. However, our pie baking extravaganza could have been a disaster, even though we both love baking. It wasn’t, because of some very specific things we did in the name of efficiency, camaraderie, and sanity. We’ll introduce each pie we made from the Farm Journal Complete Pie Cookbook (c. 1965) this week, but before all of that, let’s cover some basics for baking success when you’re making a ridiculous quantity of baked goods.

Here are some of the top lessons from our successful seven hour pie extravaganza, to help you in your own adventures:

1. Don’t go at it alone.

A and I agreed, climbing Seven Pie Mountain alone would have been a drag. It would have taken a lot longer, and we’d probably have gotten a little frustrated and bored.  Instead, we were able to entertain each other and became a two-woman pie-making machine. If you are working on something big, consider inviting a friend, or spouse, or child, or neighbor into your project. Twice the hands make half the work, and all that.

2. But choose your partner carefully.

Not everyone who likes each other should share a kitchen. When choosing your partner-in-crime, think about how you might work together. A and I are very well suited to baking together, because we have a similar working style and energy, and were equally excited to do the project. If you and your spouse constantly bicker about who is chopping apples the “right way” and who is out of their damn mind, I suggest that an epic baking project may not be that fun for you. Likewise, if you’re very neat, and your son uses every single bowl in the kitchen to make toast, again, maybe you should just go to lunch together, not bake for hours on end. Perfectionists and “Looks Good Enough to Me” people, people who are having a fight about something else, people who are trying to decide if maybe they should get married or if maybe it’s the wrong time–stay out of the kitchen.

3. Plan ahead.

Figure out what you can do ahead of time. We chose our recipes and made a grocery list to divide and conquer a couple of days before Piemageddon. Since she is a true hero, A peeled and chopped all of the apples we could possibly need before I got to her house. She also bought 15 lbs of flour, just in case. I made seitan the night before. We gathered dishes, and made sure we had an extra rolling pin and  pastry cutter. These little things made everything run smoothly. We didn’t have to wait for the other person to finish with a tool, or run to the store for another pound of apples. Since we had scheduled the entire day to work on pie, we could work at a reasonable pace, rather than frantically try to finish up by a certain time.

Try to gather your supplies before the day of your project. That way, you can spend your project day doing the project, rather than doing prep work for the project. Consider scheduling your day a couple of weeks ahead, and blocking off the calendar. Then collect the supplies over the course of the weeks, rather than all at once.

4. Strategize

Not only do you need a plan to prepare, you also need a plan of attack for the day of your project.

This is where following the first lesson and teaming up with someone really worked out. “What’s the oven temp for each recipe?” A asked, at the beginning, like a smart person does. We noted each temperature, and then scheduled the order of our baking from the lowest to the highest temperature. We didn’t have to wait for the oven to cool down, we just turned it up as we went. Without her, I would have no doubt ordered things haphazardly, turning the oven up and down and up and down, and making everything take a hundred years.

We were very strategic about multi-tasking. Instead of trying to do many things at once, we cooperated to make the most of our time while each doing one thing. We made the pie crusts one recipe at a time, but each made our own batch, doubling the output without doubling the recipe.  We didn’t try to work on multiple pies at once, instead we cooperated in true Sesame Street fashion–I’d stir filling on the stove while A rolled a crust, she’d put things in the oven while I washed some dishes. Neither of us got flustered or confused, because we still only had one job at a time.

Consider variables like temperature, baking time, and how recipes might overlap, then make a plan to maximize your time, but don’t try to do everything at once.

5. Clean up as you go.

Or you will never, ever emerge from the pile of dishes. Never. And unless you have a truly endless supply of measuring spoons, you will eventually run out of clean ones, if you aren’t keeping up on the washing.

6. Eat something that isn’t what you’re baking.

If you attempt to bake for seven hours, eating only snatched spoonfuls of pie filling, and the leftover bits of apple on the core, you are going to be cranky. And possibly dizzy. And you will say a lot of angry things about deciding to climb Seven Pie Mountain. Instead, we ate a quick, sensible lunch. Taking the time to do this saved us time in fainting.

6. Keep your sense of humor.

After all, you’re just making pie, not fighting The Man, or speaking truth to power, or saving the world. No one will die if your crust breaks. And break it will. So you might as well loudly beg it to stop being a jerk. It may make your partner laugh, and then you’ll laugh, too.

 

Have you ever baked an irrational amount of something? What are your tips?

 

 

 

 

 

Get Ready for PIE

Thanksgiving is coming. This means that it’s time for pie. I personally think it’s always pie time, but Thanksgiving is certainly a pie-featuring holiday. Here on Retrofitting Vintage, we’re getting ready for a whole week’s worth of vintage pies. Baking-enthusiast A and I will be making seven (!!) vintage pie recipes, giving you many pie options. All recipes are from the 1965 Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook, which belongs to A.

Thanksgiving is an excellent opportunity to talk about taking good and leaving garbage from the past. Expect a post on this soon.

700 Best Dessert and Main-Dish pies in the Country, y'all.
700 Best Dessert and Main-Dish pies in the Country, y’all.

Meanwhile, check out these vintage pie ads!

Applesauce!

Applesauce! Not just 1920’s slang to express disbelief, it’s also a delicious, inexpensive, and delightfully old-fashioned way of rounding out a meal.  You can also use it to replace (some) fat in baked goods, which is handy. Commercial applesauce is not expensive, so this isn’t necessarily a case of saving money via DIY. I do think it’s cheaper to make your own organic, though. And I like supporting local farms when I can.

A couple of weeks ago, I made a bunch of applesauce. I headed down to the Glenwood Sunday Market to pick up a bushel of apples seconds from Earth First Farms. Earth First is an organic orchard in Southwest Michigan. They had a nice price on seconds–apples that aren’t pretty enough for regular sale, but are still plenty useful. I hauled my bushel home, and began a mad afternoon of applesaucing.

Applesauce is a good beginner canning project, as it does not require much special equipment and the process is simple. Over the years, I have acquired some equipment that definitely makes large scale projects simpler, but it’s not strictly necessary.

Of course, you don’t have to make a bushel’s worth of sauce, and you don’t need to can it. You can just make enough to enjoy as a side dish, if you’d rather.  The directions are the same, whether you’re making a bowl or a bushel.

 

You will need:

  • Apples. I used Jonathans, but you can use whatever kind you like, or a mixture.
  • A big kettle to cook the apples in.
  • Something with which to squish the apples. I use a foodstrainer-saucemaking-great big cranky thing, but you can use a hand held food mill, or, if you are really dedicated (I’m not) squish your apples through a sieve. Do not make a bushel’s worth of sauce if you plan to use a sieve. This way madness lies.
  • You can use sugar. I don’t.
  • Water for cooking the apples.

If you are canning the sauce, you will need.

  • Canning jars. You can get these at the hardware store, or in the seasonal section of your grocery store. These can be reused.
  • Canning lids. You have to use brand new lids every single time. Every. Single. Time.
  • Canning bands. These are metal bands that hold the lids on during processing.
  • A big kettle. Really big. A canner is ideal, for obvious reasons. However, you can use a giant pot if you can figure out some way to keep the jars off the bottom.
  • A jar lifter. These are insulated tongs that are shaped to pick up jars. They are not expensive, and I have used them ever since my dad bought me one for Christmas, after fielding a phone call during a canning session in which I said, “I dropped a jar using barbeque tongs and splashed myself in the face with boiling water. What are the chances I am scarred for life?”
  • Nice things to have include: a nifty little magnet for pulling lids out of hot water, a nifty little scraper to push the air out of the canned product, and a jar funnel. Everyone should have a jar funnel anyway, they are the best.

The steps are simple:

1. Wash the apples. I fill the sink with water and slosh them around. Don't get carried away and bruise the apples, though.
1. Wash the apples. I fill the sink with water and slosh them around. Don’t get carried away and bruise the apples, though.
Quarter the apples. No need to peel or core.
2. Quarter the apples. No need to peel or core. If you’re using seconds, cut out anything that looks gross or suspect.
Me and my new best friend, the Food Strainer-Saucemaker.
3. Me and my new best friend, the Food Strainer-Saucemaker.
Smushing the cooked apples into the hopper.
4. Smushing the cooked apples into the hopper.
5. Applesauce! Its naturally pink, from the peels.
5. Applesauce! Its naturally pink, from the peels.

 

And there you have it. You can add sugar if you want, I don’t.

To can the applesauce, this is what I do. You should probably use more official instructions:

  1. Heat the applesauce to boiling.
  2. Put the lids in hot, but not boiling, water. This will soften them to promote a good seal.
  3. Ladle the hot, hot, oh-so-hot applesauce into clean, hot canning jars. Leave half an inch of space at the top. This is called “headspace” and it helps jars seal and not explode.
  4. Wipe off any applesauce from the rim of the jars with a towel. Or a paper towel. Whatever.
  5. Put on brand new lids.
  6. Screw on the bands tightly.
  7. Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. This means you put the jars into boiling water with your jar lifter, making sure the water covers them completely, and comes at least one inch over the tops. Once the water returns to boiling, start your 20 minute timer.
  8. After they’ve been in the bath boiling away for 20 minutes, remove from water with jar lifter, and allow to cool. Listen for the satisfying “ping” of the lids sealing.
  9. After 24 hours, if all have sealed, remove the bands.

NOTE: These are “boiling water bath” instructions. You can’t can everything safely via this method. Many foods require a pressure canner. Applesauce can be canned this way because apples are high enough in acid to not promote botulism and other nasties that can thrive in a jar.