We noticed that the graham cracker crust for the Key lime pie slumped down a bit during its first bake (the only time this happened during testing)—a result of sliding on the nonstick coating. However, it was simple to use the back of a measuring cup to press the crust back up the sides before it cooled completely and set. Because the nonstick coating helped create the cleanest slices of Key lime pie and all of the other dishes had issues with sticking, we were willing to overlook this factor. This pan is relatively inexpensive, and at the time of writing, Williams-Sonoma also offers a slight discount if you buy a set of two pie plates. We’d say that’s a worthwhile purchase—especially when you think about how many pies cycle through your kitchen during the holidays.
Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Nonstick Pie Dish
A runner-up pie pan: Pyrex 9-Inch Glass Pie Plate
The Pyrex 9-inch Pie Plate has been around for a long time for good reason. It’s just the right size for most recipes, it’s sturdy and inexpensive, and it bakes quite evenly. The ability to see through the bottom to check the browning on the crust is also a huge bonus for novice and experienced pie bakers alike. The Pyrex dish was slightly harder to clean than our top pick and had some stickage issues with the graham cracker crust, but it was nothing a little scrub couldn’t take care of.
There have been reports of Pyrex bakeware shattering in recent years, which is why this dish ended up in second place. We didn’t have any issues while we were baking and anecdotally haven’t heard of this happening to any of the bakers we know, but make sure to follow manufacturer’s instructions when using these dishes to reduce the small chance of your dish shattering.
Pyrex 9-inch Pie Dish, Pack of 2
The best deep-dish pie pan: Made In Pie Dish
A pie dish with a depth of more than 1½ inches is known as a deep-dish pan. (Both the winning plate and the runner-up were 9 inches wide and 1½ and 1¼ inches tall, respectively.) Though not formally billed as deep-dish, the Made In porcelain dish is 2 inches deep and has a 1½-quart capacity, meaning it can handle larger recipes with no trouble. When we tested the apple pie in this plate, it didn’t seem overwhelmingly full when unbaked (unlike both the winner and runner-up), the crust sat well on the lip of the dish, and the pie settled very nicely into the pan when baked. We also found that, while it was tall enough to fit larger crusted pies, the tapered dish meant the smaller graham cracker crust for the Key lime pie fit nicely in the smaller base.
The slices of both apple and Key lime pies came out cleanly from the dish and stayed crisp—that’s one benefit, we think, of thinner, naturally nonstick porcelain ceramic plates over stoneware. At $49, it is certainly more expensive than the other winning dishes, but if you’re a big fan of towering fruit pies and quiche, it’s worth the investment.
Made In Pie Dish
Which material—metal, glass, or ceramic—is best for pie pans?
Our original test dubbed metal (specifically metal with a nonstick coating) the best all-around pie plate material, and we still think that’s the case. The pies baked in glass turned out just as well, but metal pans released the pies more easily. Ceramic plates have their own set of pros, but also come with more drawbacks. However, while we preferred a metal pan for standard pie recipes, we do think that if you feel most comfortable with a particular material and style, there’s no need to switch to a new one just because we said so.
Which makes for the best ceramic pie pan, stoneware or porcelain?
Most ceramic pie dishes are made from either stoneware or porcelain. Unlike earthenware (most often used for planters), which is a porous ceramic, both stoneware and porcelain are durable clay types that handle heat, cold, and water better. Porcelain, though, is fired at the highest kiln temperature, which means these pieces can be thinner than most other ceramics (you’ll often see this as the material of high-end dining or drinking vessels).
How we tested
In our original test, we baked a double-crust berry pie in each pie pan. Based on their performance in this initial test, we then chose our top five pans and baked a Key lime pie with a pat-in-the-pan graham cracker crust to see how each pan would handle a custard. In our 2022 test, we baked both an apple and custard pie in the pans that won previously as well as each of the newcomers. To keep things as uniform as possible, for the apple pies we followed this guide to make the perfect double-crust pie with our favorite pie dough recipe. We noted how easy it was to fit the crust in each pie pan as well as how well the crust laid over each pan’s lip. We added the fruit filling to the unbaked crust, which helped us gauge just how well the pie plates conducted heat in order to avoid those dreaded soggy bottoms. For the custard pie test (again, we used Key lime) we wanted to see how the plates handled press-in crusts and baked custards—would they bake evenly and sturdily and set well when the pie plates were transferred to the refrigerator?
