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Egg Washes

Pie recipes call for egg washes of all sorts. Does it matter what I brush my pie crust with?

Pie recipes call for egg washes of all sorts. Does it matter what I brush my pie crust with?

Bakers brush double-crust pies with egg wash to improve browning and lend a shiny finish. As you’ve noticed, different recipes call for different formulations. We made a list of the typical methods and put them all to the test. We started by making three double-crust pies and brushing the top crust of one with a beaten egg, one with a beaten egg white, and one with beaten yolk. The crust brushed with egg white was still dull and pale when the pie was done. Yolk alone made the crust very shiny, but by the time the pie was fully cooked, it was too dark. Moreover, the yolk was too thick to spread evenly, leaving deep brush marks and bald spots. A whole egg spread evenly and browned well but lacked the shine of the yolk-brushed crust. Some recipes call for thinning egg wash with water, milk, or cream. We tried each of these in combination with yolks, whites, and whole eggs. None produced the glossy crust we were looking for, although both milk and cream sped browning. In the end, we found that brushing the crust with a whole egg plus one yolk gave us both a glossy finish and perfect browning.

THE BOTTOM LINE Brushing pie crust with a whole egg and one yolk, lightly beaten, yields a shiny finish and moderate browning speed. 

 

WHITE ONLY

WHITE ONLY: Underbrowned

 

YOLK ONLY

YOLK ONLY: Overbrowned

 

WHOLE EGG PLUS YOLK

WHOLE EGG PLUS YOLK: Perfect browning

 

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