I never use thickeners such as cornstarch, gels, etc. because I hate the gummy tetxture. But I've never had this problem before.

Sure, some apple pies are a little wetter than others, and peach pie is just wet, but this time I used a turkey baster to remove liquid and got a large water glass full. And the pie is still wet.

I have always used granny smith, and to my memory these were never known as the juciest apples.

This week for the first pie I used a 10"-11" stainless pie pan, 9 apples and 1-1/2 cups of sugar, spices, a few drops of lemon juice, and a little butter. I think that's a lot of sugar but the pie was, well, sour. For the second pie, yesterday, I added 2 cups of sugar, no lemon juice, and it's still very tart and just as watery.

Any ideas anyone?

My mom is quite famous for her pies. Any type of pies! She uses Minut Tapioca as a thickener (about 2-3 tablespoons, depending on how "thick" you like it).

IMO, you need SOMETHING to thicken the juices a little or it's too "watery".

Lindac, you, too, have a good reminder that this kind of cooking is more art than science and needs flexibility. Still, in my memory, Granny Smith apples have always been pretty much the same - tart, stiff, etc. Taking your tip, I could have changed the second pie to account for the extra juice.

Roselin32 and khandi, likewise you have a tip that may be necessary - but I've been doing this for a long time and have never have added thickeners. May have to change.

I appreciate your thoughts which got me thinking. Today I remembered that in the past I always layered apple slices in the shell, sprinkling each layer with sugar and cinnamon. This made rather compact pies. Last week I mixed the sugar and apples in a bowl and dumped it in the pie shell. What this did is to create a pile of fruit which probably didn't collapse much, so the juice cooked out to the bottom while most of the apples - firm granny smith - stayed in a pile.

I'll try again.