Why It's A Mistake To Cut Your Pie When It's Too Hot

There's almost no smell more tantalizing than a fresh baked good pulled straight from the oven, its warm scent filling the air with sweet, fruity, spiced, or buttery aromas. But whether it's a tray of chocolate chip cookies, a birthday cake, or a baguette, there's one rule you always need to follow: Wait for your baked good to cool down before taking a bite.

There are a few reasons why you need to cool your baked goods before digging in. For one, you want to make sure it's a safe temperature so you don't burn yourself (anyone who's eaten a too-hot piece of pizza is familiar with the pain of magma-hot melted cheese). But perhaps more importantly, the texture can be affected if you cut into a baked good before it's done cooling. In bread, this means that cutting a slice too soon could result in a dry, flavorless, and gooey loaf (via Baking How). Not cooling cookies properly is one of the biggest mistakes everyone makes when baking cookies. And what about pie? It's a mistake to cut your pie when it's too hot, and if you've ever tried slicing into a piping hot pie only to be met with a molten flow of fruit or custard, you know what we mean. 

If you've ever scheduled things a little too closely together on Thanksgiving, then chances are you've seen this happen: A warm, delicious-looking pecan pie is set on the table, but when it's time to serve, the still-hot filling from the pie immediately oozes out of the crust, leaving the pie a soggy mess. Pie needs to be cooled completely before serving so that the thickeners inside the pie filling have time to set (via Taste of Home). According to Nellie Bellie, this could take up to a full day after baking.

There are some pies that are more predisposed to being runny. Food52 points out that fruit pies tend to be very juicy, so it's especially important to let them cool before serving to help their juices thicken. The amount of sugar in a pie can make it take longer to cool, too, per Taste Cooking. 

What if you cut into a pie when it's too hot? You can always try popping it in the fridge or freezer to firm it up before you try cutting it again. But if you really need to serve it ASAP, you can try getting creative. A scoop of vanilla ice cream with juicy, spiced apple pie filling on top and a garnish of pie crust pieces is like a tasty pie a la mode sundae and can salvage any runny pie that's cut into before it's done cooling.