Why are pie pans round

[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)?

[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]

So you submitting proof of a math formula  (Pie R Square)?

This is HOF-worthy, clean — thanks for the laugh!

[Parasaurolophus]

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.

[Puget]

Plus, only a round pie ensures equal shares of crust to all, preventing fights over who gets the corners.
Also, TRADITION!

[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. :-)

[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!!

[fishbrains]

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

You hang around clowns, you learn some $hit.