Can I use very ripe pears in pie?

November 1, 2018 4:18 PM

My neighbor gave me some gorgeous, ripe pears she picked at an orchard in the Yakima Valley. I would like to make pie, but it looks like many recipes call for underripe, firm, or medium firm pears for pie. The internet warns that ripe pears might become mush in pie.

I could possibly make pear bread or a crumble, but we have a frozen pie shell so I was hoping to use that.

The pears are pretty much perfectly ripe right now. I was ready to sink my teeth into one until I thought about some pie. Note: I would make the pie on Saturday, two days from now.

So, bakers of Metafilter! I'm not much of a baker myself. Am I setting myself up for great mushy sadness if I bake these pears into a pie?

posted by bluedaisy to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

If they are perfectly ripe now I am afraid they would disintegrate in baking.
What would be lovely is an apple-pear pie, where your lovely apples are the slices/chunks and the pear is the lovely fruity goo suspending the slices/chunks.
posted by ApathyGirl at 4:29 PM on November 1, 2018 [4 favorites]

Get some almond paste and make a tart. I use this recipe with pears instead of apples, and with roll-out crusts instead of puff pastry. Ripe pears are best. I am not much of a baker but everyone loves it.
posted by headnsouth at 6:32 PM on November 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

To follow on ApathyGirl’s suggestion, this winter pie with apples and pears and figs is fantastic.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:02 PM on November 1, 2018

Eh, I've cooked with pears of all ripenesses before and not gotten mush. Slice the pears into thick wedges, larger than you might otherwise, and blind bake your crust so that the pears don't actually have to cook for a very long time.
posted by desuetude at 8:53 AM on November 2, 2018

Maybe prebake your pie shell and then simmer the pears gently in something sweet (possibly with fresh ginger in) before filling the shell and slathering it in whipped cream?
posted by Lawn Beaver at 2:15 PM on November 2, 2018

There is nothing the least bit wrong with a crisp and buttery pastry shell full of delicious pear mush. But there is also nothing the least bit wrong with eating delicious perfectly ripe pears right now instead of waiting two days to turn them into mush that might be a bit less delicious because they're actually past their prime.
posted by flabdablet at 10:59 PM on November 2, 2018

You only get so many perfectly ripe pears in one lifetime. Eat the ripe ones now. Buy some underripe grocery-store pears tomorrow for pie.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:01 AM on November 3, 2018