# Baking a Key Lime pie- I've already failed once. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568 "2006-05-28T21:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/1 "2006-05-28T21:06:22Z")
I had this simple recipe for key lime pie ( or something like it), but it was not simple enough. The pie didn’t seem to “set” in the 7-10 minutes of bake time - and the crust eventually burnt. How can I tell “set”. Also, what’s the easiest way to get egg yolks? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/2 "2006-05-28T21:14:58Z")
> [@Lynne\_kilii](#): > > Also, what’s the easiest way to get egg yolks? Become familiar with egg culture(s)? Okay, sorry… There are at least four different [methods](http://www.hormel.com/templates/knowledge/knowledge.asp?catitemid=9&id=403) of separating eggs. You can do the traditional “pass back and forth in the shell halves” method, the funnel method, the pinhole method or use a separator tool. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/3 "2006-05-28T21:23:36Z")
My boyfriend is the baker in our house, so I don’t claim to be an expert, but he is always complaining about the elevation messing up his recipes. So maybe the recipe you are using was made in a very different elevation or humidity and that is effecting the setting time. Or I could be on crack and way off base. In which case I am sure somebody will put me, and my crackpot theories in their place. ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/4 "2006-05-28T21:52:36Z")
Nope, I tried the recipe from the store at the exact same elevation- but it was a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/5 "2006-05-28T21:55:57Z")
> [@Lynne\_kilii](#): > > I had this simple recipe for key lime pie ( or something like it), but it was not simple enough. The pie didn’t seem to “set” in the 7-10 minutes of bake time - and the crust eventually burnt. How can I tell “set”. > > Also, what’s the easiest way to get egg yolks? Traditional key lime pie is not baked at all. The lime juice chemically “cooks” the egg yolks. I prefer the cooked version, but it never looks “set” when it is time to take it out of the oven. You just have to follow the directions and have faith. At least half of the cooking is done by retained heat after the pie comes out of the oven. I usually leave it in the oven for the full ten minutes (and not a moment longer, no matter how runny it looks), then take it out, put it on a trivet on the counter and force myself to step away and not look at it again for a good half an hour to an hour. Pie results. Tabby ---
**Author:** ![PerditaX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@PerditaX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PerditaX)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/6 "2006-05-28T23:33:52Z")
Please provide your recipe! I live in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. If the filling has anything in it other than Eagle Brand, eggs, and key lime juice, it’s not the real thing! ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/7 "2006-05-28T23:42:47Z")
> [@PerditaX](#): > > Please provide your recipe! > I live in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. If the filling has anything in it other than Eagle Brand, eggs, and key lime juice, it’s not the real thing! Uh, it’s not? Since when is evaporated milk and eggs the “real” recipe for Key Lime Pie? Uck! ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/8 "2006-05-28T23:47:11Z")
Separating eggs? You’ve got two perfectly good tools at the ends of your arms. Seriously - break eggy, tip into non-primary hand, let white drip through fingers, wiggle a bit to get all traces of white off… Voila, yolk! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/9 "2006-05-28T23:51:56Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Uh, it’s not? Since when is evaporated milk and eggs the “real” recipe for Key Lime Pie? Uck! I think that’d be Eagle Brand _condensed_ milk. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/10 "2006-05-28T23:57:26Z")
> [@Cat Fight](#): > > I think that’d be Eagle Brand _condensed_ milk. I’ve never known the difference anyway. ---
**Author:** ![PerditaX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@PerditaX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PerditaX)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2006, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/11 "2006-05-28T23:59:06Z")
The original Key Lime Pie wasn’t a “gourmet” dessert. It was something you could throw together from ingredients that were readily available on an isolated (at the time) island. Canned milk (yes, sweetened, condensed), eggs from local chickens, and fresh-picked key limes. You may prefer the fancier new versions and “uck” at the original if you want. \*De gustibus non disputanem ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/12 "2006-05-29T00:10:59Z")
> [@PerditaX](#): > > Please provide your recipe! > I live in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. If the filling has anything in it other than Eagle Brand, eggs, and key lime juice, it’s not the real thing! 2/3 cup margarita mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk 3 egg yolks 1 “store-bought graham cracker crumb pie shell” preheat oven to 400 degrees F, whisk liquids together, pour the mixture into the pie shell and “Bake until set 7 to 10 minutes”. The bake till set part is causing me the most trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/13 "2006-05-29T00:12:43Z")
> [@PerditaX](#): > > Please provide your recipe! > I live in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. If the filling has anything in it other than Eagle Brand, eggs, and key lime juice, it’s not the real thing! also, I did say “or something like it”, and while this margarita mix may not be key lime juice, I’m too lazy to find key limes and juice them, it’s mighty close all in all. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/14 "2006-05-29T00:15:23Z")
> [@PerditaX](#): > > The original Key Lime Pie wasn’t a “gourmet” dessert. It was something you could throw together from ingredients that were readily available on an isolated (at the time) island. Canned milk (yes, sweetened, condensed), eggs from local chickens, and fresh-picked key limes. You may prefer the fancier new versions and “uck” at the original if you want. > > \*De gustibus non disputanem You sort of are disputandum if you claim there’s only one real recipe, though, aren’t you? 🙂 Seems to me the recipe could be made however you like since, as you say, it’s not some fancy-pants dessert like crêpes Suzette. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/15 "2006-05-29T00:44:13Z")
Part of what causes the pie to set is the curdling of the milk solids (btw, instead of sweetened condensed milk you can use whole milk plus skimmed milk powder plus sugar) by the acid in the Key limes; this, plus the hardening of the egg yolks causes the pie to set. If the mix you used is not acidic enough, the milk solids will not be sufficiently curdled. Elevation is important mostly for cakes, pies, and breads that _rise_. Key lime pie doesn’t rise, so that’s not an issue. However, an increased elevation will give you a lower boiling point; this would tend to make the pie set _easier_ since more water will be evaporated out of the pie. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/16 "2006-05-29T00:55:40Z")
> [@Tabula Rasa](#): > > Traditional key lime pie is not baked at all. The lime juice chemically “cooks” the egg yolks. > Tabby It’s true that it’s possible to make Key lime pie without cooking, but usually how that’s done (according to the **Joy of Cooking** ) is the eggs are _left out_. The other ingredients are used as usual, although Joy advises that the pie will be runnier (also, sometimes unflavored gelatin helps things along). As far as the lime juice “cooking” the egg yolks, that’s not so AFAIK (although eating raw eggs is _usually_, but not always, safe). ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/17 "2006-05-29T00:56:08Z")
> [@Malienation](#): > > However, an increased elevation will give you a lower boiling point; this would tend to make the pie set _easier_ since more water will be evaporated out of the pie. Unless you live at an elevation in which the pie simply wouldn’t get warm enough to set the eggs without boiling. Though I think that would only really be an issue at the top of Mount Everest . . . There’s not going to be enough evaporation to make a big difference, methinks. Elevation shouldn’t really matter here. ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/18 "2006-05-29T01:21:23Z")
> [@PerditaX](#): > > Please provide your recipe! > I live in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. If the filling has anything in it other than Eagle Brand, eggs, and key lime juice, it’s not the real thing! Okay. I have this in my great grandmother’s handwriting from about 1915, when she and her husband first moved to Florida. Beat together one can Eagle Brand condensed milk, about 4 ounces of juice from the sourest key limes, and four egg yolks. Pour the filling mixture into the graham pie crust and let it set in the icebox overnight. My grandmother added: Top with a meringue of the four egg whites and two tablespoons sugar, beaten to peaks. Put in a hot oven to brown the peaks. My dad is not a fan of meringue, so I usually skip it. Due to reasonable modern concerns about salmonella, I bake the pie for 10 minutes. However, I can see the temptation to avoid heating an oven in a tinderbox of a stilt house in 1915 when the humidity and the temperature were both in the high 80s. Tabby ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/19 "2006-05-29T14:18:42Z")
I’ve used this recipe and it’s always turned out great [Key Lime Pie](http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipe_keylimepie.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Lynne\_kilii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lynne\_kilii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynne_kilii)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568/20 "2006-05-29T18:48:30Z")
I tried it again, left it in for 10 minutes, took it out, set it on the counter and walked away. It was still liquidy after like 2 hours. I put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes and put it in the fridge overnight. It still failed. Boo. Any more suggestions on how to make this work with the yummy margarita mix I have? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baking-a-key-lime-pie-ive-already-failed-once/358568.md?page=2)