Who doesn’t love a big holiday celebration with tons of food, friends, and family? But there’s one thing that’s almost always a hassle, even in the grandest kitchens: oven space.
Somehow the oven always seems to fill up, especially if you have multiple pies that you need to cook. That’s when you have to get creative and start putting things together.
Can you bake two pumpkin pies at once? Absolutely. But there are some things you’ll want to change, some things you need to keep constant, and a few items to watch out for.
We’ll walk you through everything you need to know to bake two pum[pkin pies at once. They will be just as good as cooking one at a time and your loved ones will instantly devour them.
Can You Bake Two Pumpkin Pies At Once?
It is possible to bake two pumpkin pies at the same time. You don’t have to sacrifice a thing and can still cook twice the amount of pumpkin pie in a relatively small space.
But you will want to make sure you pay close attention to the pies when doing this. You’re probably going to have to break away from the instructions provided in the recipe and perhaps break out some creative problem-solving skills.
The biggest thing to keep in mind when you’re putting more than one pie in the oven is that it will cause the oven to be a little bit cooler. The increased amount of food will absorb the heat more, and therefore it will take a bit longer to cook.
There are a few other things that you want to adjust when baking two pies at once, but also a small list of things to keep the same. Let’s go through these in order.
What to Adjust to Bake Two Pies
Here is what you should change when cooking two pumpkin pies at once. By making these small changes, you can cook twice as fast.
Longer Cook Time
As we have already mentioned, the increased amount of food will lead to slightly slower cooking. That’s why you need to increase the cooking time.
Generally speaking, when cooking two pumpkin pies at once, adding another 5 to 10 minutes to the total cook time should be appropriate. But this depends on your oven. Keep a close eye on them as they reach the end of the timed period.
Make Oven Space
Another thing that you’ll have to tackle is making space in the oven for an additional pie. In some ovens that are big enough, this isn’t a problem. Things might fit perfectly.
But in smaller ones, you should do a test fit before heating your oven.
You want to keep the pies on the same rack as in the original recipe. Many pumpkin pie recipes call for them to be on the bottom or middle rack. Use whichever you would use to cook one pumpkin pie.
Hopefully, the two pies will fit side-by-side. But if not, diagonal across the oven rack works too.
And if neither one of those works, as a last resort, you can place another pie pan upside down to create a staggered rack to squish two on one. Just be careful because one might cook faster than the other.
Rotate Pies
Since you have two pies in the oven, they might not cook as evenly. They will be closer to the oven walls no matter what. This could lead to a bit of burning on one side.
That’s why you should rotate the two pumpkin pies during their cooking. One rotation about halfway through the cooking time should be sufficient to avoid burning. But you might need to pay attention to ensure they don’t get too hot in specific areas.
What Not to Change
Now that we know what you should change, let’s go over things you should not change. It might be tempting to adjust these elements to bake two pumpkin pies at once, but you don’t want to adjust these things.
Temperature
Even though the extra food in the oven might force you to cook the pies longer, you should not adjust the oven temperature. Cranking up the temperature could cause the outside or bottom of the pies to burn.
And there is no reason to cook the pies at a lower temperature either. Just stick to the same temperature in the pumpkin pie recipe for one pie.
Recipe
There is no reason to change the recipe when trying to find out the answer to, “Can you bake two pumpkin pies at once?” Stick to the recipe used for one pie, but make two.
If you adjust the recipe, you’re likely going to change the result of the pie. There is no need to change the recipe to cook two pies at once in the oven.
Using Different Racks
It might be tough to fit two pies on one rack, but you don’t want to use a different oven rack. Pies can be sensitive to changes in temperatures if cooked on a rack that doesn’t meet their recipe.
Do what you can to get two pies to fit on the same rack. Don’t use different racks to cook the same pie, unless the recipe allows it.
Things to Watch Out For
Now you know that the answer to, “Can you bake two pumpkin pies at once?” is “Yes.” Fit them on the same rack, increase the cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes, and rotate them halfway through cooking.
But what happens if you want to cook different pies in the oven at the same time? Or what if you need to throw in other recipes in the oven too?
For the most part, oven cooking is quite flexible. While baking sensitive items like bread and cakes require touch, many dishes can be cooked together without a problem.
Just remember, the more food you put in the oven, the longer the food will take to cook. And as you stuff things in there, you’re going to need to make room and possibly rotate them around more often to avoid burning.
Different Temperatures Called For
You might want to cook multiple items that call for different oven temperatures. If these are dramatically different, like 200 degrees for one and 550 for another, you’re likely to have problems.
But if the temperature difference is slight, like pumpkin pie calling for 350 and a casserole calling for 400, you can probably get away with a modification to cook them both simultaneously.
To avoid burning, it’s probably best to err on the lower end of the temperatures called. In this case, use an oven set to 350, when the pie is done, take it out and crank up the temperature to finish the casserole.
You could also use somewhere in the middle, such as 375 degrees, which will probably work well for both items. Just check on the pie and reduce the temperature if anything starts to burn.
Different Cooking Times
If your recipes have dramatically different cooking times, you’ll want to take those into account too. How to handle this depends on what you want to be hot.
If you want everything to come out of the oven and go to the table at once, you’ll want to adjust when you place the different recipes into the oven. Put in the longer ones first, then add the shorter ones as the time comes.
If some items need time to cool off before serving, put them in first so you can take them out before the rest of the food. It’s all about planning.
Wrap-Up: Can You Bake Two Pumpkin Pies at Once?
You can put one of your holiday concerns to rest. Yes, you can bake two pumpkin pies at once. Just keep the temperature the same, place the pies on the same rack, and don’t adjust the recipe.
You will want to slightly increase the cooking time, make sure they fit on one rack, and rotate the pies halfway through their cooking time.