Tonight my wife will attempt the feat of cooking two of her pumpkin pies at once. Given the firing schedule for one pie (the Libby's recipe for one pie- 15 mins @ 425, reduce to 350 for 40-50 mins), what allowances should be made to cook two at the same time?
I have looked online. All advice there seems to indicate from 5-15 minutes extra on the end. Does anyone here have experience doing this?
Putting 2 pies in the oven will likely cool the oven more, and the oven will try to heat up to compensate. So its best to keep the temperature the same and cook longer. I'd say 5 minutes would be adequate in this scenario. Also, do not put the pies on different racks in the oven, the one on the lower rack will cook at a lower temperature and your product will be inconsistent.
If you have a convection oven, or a convection setting on your oven, use it. The movement of hot air will mitigate most of the effect of having another pie in the oven, its also more energy efficient and cooks more evenly. If you do not have a convection oven it might be wise to rotate the pies so they cook evenly. The pies will likely create a cold spot between them, in addition to any potential cold spots in your oven.
Another way of getting rid of cold spots and helping the oven retain more heat is to add a baking stone. I keep my baking stone in the oven all the time, because it helps hold onto heat, even if I'm not cooking directly on top of it. It helps hold heat when I open the over door, and it helps my oven heat more evenly. The trick is to let the oven preheat 5-10min longer before you put your goods in.
I'm currently cooking two libby's pumpking pies at the same time. So far, I did the 15 min at 425 and then reduced to 350 for 30 mins. I added an additional 10 min but the knife is still gooey, doesn't come out clean. it's getting there so I think I'm going to add an additional 10 min. I will have to disclose I am at a 3000 ft elevation which may affect my cooking time. I am using a gas oven instead of a temperature reliable electric oven and finally to give further bashing to my oven, the door does not always stay completely closed thus giving cold spots. Hope my perspective helps.
I have been cooking persimmon pies and apple pies side-by-side in the same oven and both have been coming out great. They have the same cooking temperature and cooking time, 350 deg for 70 min. We are at 50 feet elevation so pretty much sea level. I have a convection oven but don't remember if the convection part was turned on I will pay attention to that tomorrow when we bake again.
I bake 2 pumpkin pies together all the time. libbys directions say 15 min at 425 degrees then 1 hr at 350 degrees. I always add 10 min and they are perfect, been doing it for years. Thank you libby for making pumpkin pie so easy with your libby canned mix.
