Rant: My grandma's old pie recipe turned into a smoke bomb yesterday

I got it in my head to remake her lemon meringue pie after finding her handwritten card in a cookbook, but I forgot she used a gas oven and I've got electric. The crust came out like charcoal and the filling bubbled over and set off the fire alarm for 10 solid minutes. Has anyone else tried to recreate a family dish and had it go totally sideways because of different kitchen setups?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair5972d ago

Respectfully, gas ovens don't add moisture. That's a myth.

richard_anderson2d ago

Oh man, that sucks. I've had the exact same thing happen with my mom's cornbread recipe. She always used a cast iron skillet in a gas oven and I tried it in my electric one with a glass pan. It came out raw in the middle and burnt on the bottom. The thing is most old recipes assume you have a specific heat source and pan type. Gas ovens have way more moisture in the air too so things dry out different in electric ovens. You basically have to treat those old recipes like a starting point and adjust everything for your setup. It's a pain but once you figure out the right temp and time it's worth it.