I Baked the Same Pie Crust in Metal, Glass, and Ceramic—Here’s the Material That Won by a Mile

Growing up in Pennsylvania, my family always baked our holiday pies in glass or ceramic baking dishes. While the crusts weren't particularly noteworthy—and, in hindsight, were probably at least slightly underbaked—the decorative glass and ceramic plates looked prettiest on the Christmas table. We took the opposite approach for Pennsylvania Dutch shoofly pie and other regional baked goods, where taste, not appearance, took top priority. For these pies, we always used metal pans, which ensured a crisp crust that could stand up to molasses and other wet fillings, even if the pies weren't much to look at.

These days, in my work as a recipe developer and pastry chef, I rely almost exclusively on metal pie plates for many of the same reasons. I prefer metal for its portability, superior heat conduction, and durability. While I swear by metal, some bakers, including former Serious Eats editor Stella Parks, swear by tempered glass plates, while others love ceramic pie dishes. 

All three of these materials have their pros and cons, but how does each one affect the bake on a pie crust—and which one actually produces the best result? To find out, I made three batches of Stella's buttery, flaky pie crust, then baked each in a metal, glass, and ceramic pie plate to see which material delivered the flakiest, most evenly baked crust.

The Tests

As noted above, I tested using Stella's buttery, flaky pie crust for each test, and baked each of these identical crusts with a different kind of pie plate: 

• Aluminized steel 
• Tempered glass
• Ceramic

Each of these materials impacts pie dough differently, affecting how quickly and evenly it cooks. As Serious Eats contributor Irvin Lin explains in his guide on baking in glass vs. metal, different materials conduct heat differently. Metal heats and cools quickly and evenly, while glass takes longer to heat up and retains heat well after it's removed from the oven. Ceramic and stoneware are much heavier than both metal and glass, and take even longer to heat and cool. As Stella notes in her recipe for easy, old-fashioned apple pie, that heft slows the rate at which heat conducts, often resulting in what she calls a "dense and greasy crust."

For my metal pan, I opted for aluminized steel, which is steel coated with aluminum or aluminum-silicon alloy, both of which are robust, easy-to-clean materials with nonstick properties. Aluminized steel consistently performs at the top in Serious Eats gear tests, including loaf pans, muffin pans, and baking pans. For my glass pie dish, I used one made with tempered glass, a heavy, durable material that is more resistant to thermal shock than regular glass—meaning it's less likely to shatter when exposed to sudden extreme changes in temperature.

I lined all three plates with dough rolled to the exact dimensions Stella specifies in her recipe, then chilled each in its respective dish for two hours before baking. After blind-baking and cooling the crusts, I observed the color and texture of each one, then carefully lifted each from its plate to examine the underside of the shell before breaking it apart to count the flaky layers and taste it.

Next, I lined the same three plates with a second batch of dough, blind-baked them, and, once cooled, filled each crust with store-bought lemon curd. I then refrigerated the pies in their plates for five days to see how the pastry's flavor and texture would change as it aged.

Metal Pie Plate

The Bake

Stella's recipe calls for a baking time of 60 to 75 minutes. Thanks to metal's excellent heat conductivity, the dough baked in aluminized steel baked the fastest of the three, finishing in about 70 minutes. The baked and cooled crust was buttery and deeply golden brown, with minimal shrinkage and well-defined flaky layers. Metal's ability to conduct heat well meant that the pan and crust both became hot enough quickly to generate the quick burst of steam needed for flakiness.

The Filling

Once filled, the crust stayed crisp for about three days. By day four, it had developed some chewiness; the edges still looked flaky but tasted slightly stale. By day five, the outer edge was noticeably chewy, and the bottom crust had lost its crispness.

The Verdict

Metal bakes quickly and evenly, producing a crust that stays crisp and flaky for at least three days. The pan itself is lightweight and can go from the fridge to the oven with no risk of thermal shock.

Glass Pie Plate

The Bake

The pastry held its shape beautifully, with almost no shrinkage. The crust was just as crisp as the one baked in metal, but it took longer to cook—85 minutes total—because glass conducts heat more slowly. (To brown the inside of the crust adequately, I had to remove my baking beans and add 10 minutes to the original bake time of 75 minutes.) Between the extended oven time and the glass's prolonged heat retention, the crust baked unevenly, with darker, crunchier edges than I preferred.

The Filling

The crust kept its flaky texture for about 48 hours. By the third day, it had softened noticeably, with growing chewiness over the week. By day five, the overbaked edges had become hard and brittle, while the bottom was soft and chewy.

The Verdict

Glass produces a crisp crust but takes longer to bake than metal and continues cooking as it cools, often resulting in dark edges and uneven browning. Once filled and refrigerated, the inside and bottom of the crust softens and turns chewy within two days—a day faster than the crust baked in a metal pan.

Ceramic Pie Plate

The Bake

After blind-baking for 75 minutes—the upper end of Stella's recommended range—the inside of the crust still looked doughy and pale. I removed the beans and baked for another 20 minutes, but even after more than 90 minutes in the oven, the bottom remained pale, while the edges were overbrowned. The cooled crust lacked flakiness and had a greasy sheen. And because ceramic cools as slowly as it heats, the crust took a very long time (about 45 minutes) to cool in the pan, causing the already-dark edges to continue to overcook.

The Filling

After just 24 hours, the crust baked in ceramic was noticeably less crisp than those baked in metal or glass. It felt slightly greasy, with hard, oily spots where the butter had melted. As the week went on, the bottom grew softer and chewier, while the edges became crunchy and stale. By the final day, the center of the crust was tough, rubbery, and difficult to slice.

The Takeaway

A metal pie plate produces a flaky, evenly browned crust that stays crisp for several days. Its thin, smooth rim—unlike the curved, crimped, or decorative edges on many glass and ceramic plates—makes it easier to line, trim, and crimp dough. And because metal won't shatter, there's no risk of breaking the dish. You might ruin your pie if you drop the plate, but you won't have to throw away everything else on your countertop because of the shards of glass.

Glass pie plates rank second. Though they require a longer bake than metal, the resulting crust is nearly as crisp and flaky, if slightly less even in appearance. The clear bottom allows you to check for doneness mid-bake—a distinct advantage over a metal or ceramic plate. Glass works best for pies you plan to eat within the first two days, as the crust becomes chewier the longer it sits.

I wouldn't recommend ceramic unless it's your only option, and even then, I'd probably still suggest a grocery run to pick up a disposable aluminum pie plate instead. The slow heating and cooling properties result in a painfully time-consuming bake and a greasy, uneven crust with a rubbery bottom and crunchy edges. If you really want to display that beautiful pie in a ceramic plate, you can always gently transfer it.