What's the Best Pie Filling Thickener? (2024)

FAQs

What's the Best Pie Filling Thickener? ›

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed. We like tapioca in blueberry, cherry or peach pies.

Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a super-effective thickener that doesn't need much time to cook, although it does require high temperatures to activate. To avoid clumps, mix cornstarch with sugar before adding it to your filling. When undercooked or used in excess, cornstarch can have a chalky taste and texture.

Which one you use is a matter of personal preference. Cornstarch makes for a shiny, glossy filling. A little goes a long way because it has twice the gelling power of flour. Flour thickens nicely but leaves more of a matte finish.

Freezing causes liquids thickened with flour or cornstarch to shear or separate during freezing. Therefore, baked pies or fillings thickened with tapioca or modified food starch such as Instant ClearJel® or ThermFlo® will maintain their consistency better.

The three most common starches used to thicken the fruit juices of a pie are flour, tapioca, and cornstarch. I prefer cornstarch because I find that it actually enhances the flavor of the fruit.

Experiment with different thickeners

If you usually use flour to thicken your apple pie and it's not doing the job, try something different: cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot are other established fruit pie thickeners. For more on specific thickeners and how to use them, see our Pie Filling Thickeners Guide.

There are plenty of situations that require the thickening power of a pantry starch: your pie filling, soup, sauce, gravy. Cornstarch, tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour), arrowroot, potato starch and plain old wheat flour are typical options.

Cornstarch as Pie Filling Thickener.

No, when canning pie filling, there is no substitute for Clear Jel®. Other thickeners like cornstarch clump when canning and may interfere with heat being able to reach throughout the jar. Without heat penetrating throughout the jar, yeast, mold, or other harmful bacteria can form.

Instant ClearJel keeps fillings thick through a great range of temperatures, making it ideal for pies that are frozen, before or after baking. Pie Filling Enhancer thickens fruit pie fillings the same way Instant ClearJel does.

What is the healthiest thickening agent? ›

Easy-to-access alternatives are wheat flour, arrowroot flour, and rice flour. These are good alternatives to cornstarch because they are more nutritious and contain fewer carbohydrates and calories. Xanthan and guar gum are much stronger thickeners than cornstarch, but they can be harder to obtain and use.

For recipes that need to be heated, it is ideal to use organic corn starch and organic potato starch as they thicken effectively upon cooking. However, for cold recipes, natural thickening options like arrowroot powder or Agar Agar can be experimented with.

All-purpose flour is an easy substitute for cornstarch; in fact you may see recipes for thickening pie fillings or soups with either. You'll need 2 tablespoons of flour for every 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a recipe.

No. Cornstarch is a starch used for thickening, while cream of tartar is an acid used for leavening, stabilizing, and preventing crystallization.

ClearJel and Thermflo are chemically modified cornstarch that are safe thickeners for use in home canning. There are two types of ClearJel available: Regular ClearJel and Instant ClearJel. You need to use regular ClearJel for home canning - it may also be labelled as cook-type ClearJel.