The best tip I ever had to deal with the problem of juicy apple pies was to use the sugar and lemon juice to draw out moisture to begin with. You mix the sugar, lemon juice and apple slices in a bowl, and let that sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then drain off that liquid and reduce it in a small saucepan. Depending on how juicy my apples are, I may mix in the flour called for in the recipe at this point. Once it has reduced and thickened some, it gets added into the bowl with the apple slices. From there you just continue with your pie as you normally would. When I bake pies, I'm also more of a visual baker. However, I do use a thin bladed paring knife inserted carefully through one of the steam slits cut in the top to check on the tenderness of the slices. That way you can remove the pie when they are done enough to suit your taste - either with a bit of bite or softened entirely, or some point in between.
I let them in the oven for 45 minutes, the filling was bubbling in the one in the see through glass pie plate. We've tasted one of them, the apples seem to have a small bit of crunch which I don't mind but even after 2 tablespoons of flour there's a lot of juice in the pie plate. I didn't rotate them (reading these comments after pies were done) which seems like a good idea. I also like the idea of cutting the circle out of the aluminum foil square. Much easier than trying to fit cut strips of foil around the crust. I have an aluminum circle that I can lay on the perimeter. If you use one of those remember to spray it with a product like PAM so it won't adhere to the crust. Thanks for all the advice, next time pies will be even better!
I think I'm in the camp of "some juice, but not too much juice"! I usually end up adapting pie fillngs, upping the thickener (flour, cornstarch, potato starch) by at least half again as much! Also, if you want your apples softer, just slice them thinner. But I, for one, like them with a little bit of body to them - almost like al dente pasta! Good luck with your next round - sounds like these were pretty darn good!
I tend to bake/cook visually. The time may not vary that much from single to multiple pies. You want to see the filling bubbling through the vents & the crust should be golden. If you are baking in clear glass pie dishes, the crust should look golden through the glass, as well. Also, with multiple pies, rotate either side-to-side or upper/lower at about 30 minutes, depending on how you have them arranged in your oven. If the crust starts to burn at the edges, cover those with a foil shield: before putting the pies in the oven, take a square of foil & cut a circle in the center so that it is primarily the edges that are covered. It will make it easier to simply lay it on top once the pie is baking, should you need to do so.
If there is room to put them side by side, then check them at 45 min. If you have to put them on different levels of the oven, then rotate them (switch which rack they are on) half way through and then check on them at 45 min.
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