# Blueberry Pie Disaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383 "2012-06-26T20:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/1 "2012-06-26T20:01:55Z")
I used the standard recipe I always use for fruit filling 3/4C sugar 3T corn starch salt 2-3T butter 4.5C frozen Maine blueberries I tasted the filling and it was the perfect sweetness so I load everything into my crust, bake it and let it cool. W T F ! ! The juice had completely soaked the bottom crust and even after cooling, the juice flowed out like water. Obviously I should have used more cornstarch but what was the problem? 1. Frozen blueberries have more juice than fresh? 2. Blueberries have more juice than other fruit? I get one more try at this so frozen or fresh blueberries and how much cornstarch? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/2 "2012-06-26T20:05:13Z")
I would be happy to eliminate any traces of your error. I love blueberry pie. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/3 "2012-06-26T20:05:19Z")
Did you defrost and drain the berries first? If not, yes, they’ll be more watery. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/4 "2012-06-26T20:07:23Z")
Thaw the berries first, before making the filling? 😉 Edit: Or, to put it another way, what **Kimstu** said! :o ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/5 "2012-06-26T20:09:17Z")
You can use frozen, but you should thaw them first. Lay them out on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to absorb the melt off. Otherwise, all that extra moisture ends up in your pie and, as you discovered, throws off the consistency. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/6 "2012-06-26T20:11:47Z")
I have nothing to add to the OP, but for evermore, whenever I hear “blueberry pie,” I’ll be hearing Rev. Al Sharpton saying “The GOP have booberry pie all ovah dey face.” No, he doesn’t say it exactly like that, but that’s the way I’ll remember it. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/7 "2012-06-26T21:02:04Z")
Yeah, when you thaw blueberries, there’s a huge amount of juice, almost as much volume as the blueberries themselves. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/8 "2012-06-26T21:03:36Z")
Corn starch? My mother is rolling in her grave. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/9 "2012-06-26T21:16:37Z")
You forgot the cinnamon. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/10 "2012-06-26T21:31:10Z")
I’ll go exactly opposite from other people and recommend NOT thawing the frozen blueberries. It’s how Joy of Cooking recommends. You use a lot of thickener, and you cook them pie for about 1/2 hour longer than normal, and somehow it works out. If you thaw frozen fruit, it ends up becoming super-watery, and if you drain it, you lose a lot of the good flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/11 "2012-06-26T21:35:13Z")
A messy pie is not a disaster. It just means that you need to eat it with a spoon and with ice cream. Which is still a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/12 "2012-06-26T22:06:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ll go exactly opposite from other people and recommend NOT thawing the frozen blueberries. It’s how Joy of Cooking recommends. You use a lot of thickener, and you cook them pie for about 1/2 hour longer than normal, and somehow it works out. If you thaw frozen fruit, it ends up becoming super-watery, and if you drain it, you lose a lot of the good flavor. Yep. JoC is how I learned to bake pie. It seems that for the amount of blueberries I need to (at least) double to 6T of cornstarch. Also I’m going to blind bake and seal the bottom crust first to prevent soakage. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/13 "2012-06-26T22:07:14Z")
Freezing causes the cell walls to burst. The same principle that creates potholes when water seeps into cracks in the streets and freezes. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/14 "2012-06-26T22:16:22Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Freezing causes the cell walls to burst. The same principle that creates potholes when water seeps into cracks in the streets and freezes. I thought fruit was frozen quickly enough that that was not a major issue. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/15 "2012-06-26T22:23:12Z")
I once made a blueberry pie with goats cheese in the filling. So yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/16 "2012-06-26T22:27:02Z")
Nutritionally, frozen is fine. Flavor-wise… well, you were going to put a bunch of sugar on it anyway, and bake it. But structurally, they still haven’t developed a process or a fruit that will bear up. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/17 "2012-06-26T23:38:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > (Slithy Tove – “Freezing causes the cell walls to burst.”) > > I thought fruit was frozen quickly enough that that was not a major issue. It’s the expansion of the water as it freezes that bursts the cell walls. I vote for the double-cornstarch, no-thaw method. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/18 "2012-06-26T23:58:44Z")
I predict that if you use that much cornstarch your pie will taste like and have the consistency of glue. In the spirit of America’s Test Kitchen, here’s what I think you should do: Thaw and drain the blueberries. You will lose some of the flavor that way, and some of the volume, so add 20% more berries. Add genuine blueberry extract to replace an equivalent amount of liquid (you may have to experiment to see what works). Also try some other thickener like tapioca instead of cornstarch. Bake and enjoy. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/19 "2012-06-27T01:55:55Z")
I cook sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, lemon,some water, and berries to make a thickish filling - and add a bit of butter, then stir in lotsa fresh berries and put in a baked pie shell. But yeah, frozen berries have a lot of water. I’m going to make pie for the 4th. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383/20 "2012-06-27T02:05:25Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > You forgot the cinnamon. No, forgot the lime juice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blueberry-pie-disaster/626383.md?page=2)