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Why are pie pans round

Started by nebo113, September 07, 2021, 04:31:28 PM

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nebo113

with slanted sides?  Yes, this is a serious question, as I've given away all my pie plate (with contents) and have only a square pan remaining and want to bake a tomato pie with (homemade) pimento cheese topping, which I gave done quite successfully with a regular glass pie plate.

clean

So you submitting proof of a math formula  (Pie R Square)?
"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am"  Darth Vader

OneMoreYear

Probably someone has the actual answer to this, but my nana's explanation was that if you bake a square pie (with crust), the corners are more likely to burn b/c they're exposed to more heat, and round is the best shape for the crust to bake uniformly.  I remember asking once, and this is the explanation she gave me.  Far be it from me to ever question her pie-baking wisdom. I miss her pies. 

Your tomato pie sounds delicious, nebo113.

ergative

Agreed re: burnt corners.

The slanted sides make it easier to get a serving implement under a slice, because it doesn't need to negotiate a right angle the way it would with vertical sides.

Also: if you blind-bake a crust (i.e., put it in the oven before you fill it), then slanted sides help it keep its shape. Vertical sides would make the crust more likely to collapse in as the heat from the oven softens the butter. Source: bitter personal experience.

mahagonny

Please include trigger warnings as needed. Thanks.

sinenomine

Quote from: clean on September 07, 2021, 05:04:56 PM
So you submitting proof of a math formula  (Pie R Square)?

This is HOF-worthy, clean — thanks for the laugh!
"How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks...."

Parasaurolophus

Quote from: ergative on September 08, 2021, 02:36:04 AM
Agreed re: burnt corners.

The slanted sides make it easier to get a serving implement under a slice, because it doesn't need to negotiate a right angle the way it would with vertical sides.

Also: if you blind-bake a crust (i.e., put it in the oven before you fill it), then slanted sides help it keep its shape. Vertical sides would make the crust more likely to collapse in as the heat from the oven softens the butter. Source: bitter personal experience.

Yeah, that's what I was going to say, too. Vertical sides are better for bread, which has more structural integrity.
I know it's a genus.

Puget

Plus, only a round pie ensures equal shares of crust to all, preventing fights over who gets the corners.
Also, TRADITION!
"Never get separated from your lunch. Never get separated from your friends. Never climb up anything you can't climb down."
–Best Colorado Peak Hikes

dismalist

Posters are futilely addressing fairness in allocating pie slices. The far more productive approach is to address efficiency:  It's easier to hold a segment from a round pie than a part of a square pie, no matter how big the segments are. :-)
That's not even wrong!
--Wolfgang Pauli

clean

My own thoughts on this are probably just an amalgamation of what has been said already.
by having the tapered edges, the crust could be made 'looser'... If you put a pie crust in a cake pan, the sides could easily collapse on itself, but the pie pan would not have that problem

Eating a pie with the crust in tact, would be easier (the pie would remain in tact).  If a pie were square, (think a cobbler)... then taking a square would be harder with a more fluid filling. 

Finally, the true shape was probably influenced by a time traveler that had need for a Frisbee


Now I want pie.... Food For Thought!!
"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am"  Darth Vader

fishbrains

Round pies go perfectly into a face. Square pies often cause collateral splattage.

You hang around clowns, you learn some $hit.
I wish I could find a way to show people how much I love them, despite all my words and actions. ~ Maria Bamford