My husband usually requests lemon meringue pie for Fathers Day. I’m going to make the filling in advance and then assemble and bake the pie on Sunday. I’ve never done the filling in advance before, so the filling is normally still hot when I add the meringue and bake it. Does the temperature of the filling make any difference? If I make and refrigerate the filling in advance, should I heat it up before I put it in the pie shell and add the meringue?
Alton Brown claims it matters but I forget why.
The only time I ever tried to do a meringue pie it failed miserably.
I cool the filling down a bit by taking it off the heat and stirring it. Then I let it cool a bit while I make the meringue. By the time I pour the filling it’s warm, but not piping hot. It has never been a problem in the hundred or so lemon meringue pies I’ve made.
If you make and refrigerate the filling in advance, I would take it out ahead of time, and let it come to room temp, but I am only guessing, because I have never done that.
Don’t put meringue on hot filling, the evaporation from the filling will cause condensation on the underside of the meringue and it will get kind of gluey and nasty.
However, if that hasn’t happened to you in your usual LMP-making procedure, well, more power to you.
As for putting meringue on cold filling, I don’t see why it would matter, but to be on the safe side you might let the filling come to room temp first.
He recommends putting the meringue on the pie while the custard is still “piping hot”. If you allow it to cool, condensation will form on the top of the custard and the meringue will slide off. You can see the whole episode at - YouTube
The meringue part starts at about 12 minutes. I’ve followed his technique before. It’s goooooood.