Chicken slab pie

[skeptic7]

I want to do a slab pie but with chicken filling instead of apple or fruit. Any advice? My current idea is to make a "normal" pot pie filling -- chicken, celery, carrots and onions with chicken/vegetable gravy only a little drier than normal probably 6-8 cups and put it in a 9x13 roasting pan with top and bottom crusts and hope for the best.
The last pot pies I've made have been single serving pot pies with only a top crust so I didn't really have to worry if the filling was too moist -- It wouldn't make the pie crust soggy or leak excessively.
Any advice?

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[Mike Nolan]

I generally use Susan Purdy's hot water crust for pot pies, it's a bit sturdier and doesn't get soggy.

I've never made a slab pie so I'm not sure how to calculate the amount of pie dough needed. I suppose you could compute the surface area for both the upper and lower crusts (including side walls) and then use my piechart post to find the nearest total area and use that to estimate the amount of pie dough needed.

There are recipes for an oil-based hot water pie crust but I haven't tried them.

I always make lots of gravy for a pot pie, and add it on top of pieces as they're plated.

[skeptic7]

I don't calculate pie crusts as carefully as you do. I generally use 3 cups of flour for a large round pie, and 4 cups for an apple slab pie. This makes more than enough pie crust. My normal recipe is an oil based crust I developed some time ago on the belief that this would be healthier than using solid shortening. I could be mistaken. Additional gravy sounds like a good idea. I like cranberry chutney if any is available.

[Mike Nolan]

Part of the reason I developed an interest in figuring out the right amount of pie crust was that when I'd make a pie there were often big thick pieces of piecrust left on the plates.

Also, I often make 4 or even 6 pie crusts at a time and freeze most of them, and that works best with a better estimate of how much pie dough each crust needs.

Pot pies are actually better with thicker crusts, IMHO, providing you have plenty of gravy.

The health issues between oil and shortening crusts are complicated, but are probably less important now that Crisco no longer has trans fats in it. Canola oil has its critics, too,. And butter's reputation has actually improved again.

[Joan Simpson]

Good idea for extra gravy on top Mike.

[skeptic7]

I made the pie, finishing at 3:00 am Wednesday morning. It took longer than I expected to get everything together. I am pleased with how it turned out. Its a little bit boring. Next time I'll try making the filling a little more lively or serve it with a spicy soup. Tomato chickpea with lots of paprika perhaps.

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[skeptic7]

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[Mike Nolan]

Needs more gravy! My usual filling is chicken, onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and peas. I often add sage and thyme in addition to salt and pepper.

[skeptic7]

Only if I am following your example and cooking the gravy seperately. The bottom crust was nicely brown and the top was just perfect. It even cut cleanly when cold. I like the individual pot pies just swimming in gravy but it would make a mess of a larger pie.

[BakerAunt]

Your large pot pie looks great, Skeptic.

[skeptic7]

I found a book which was just slab pies "Pie Squared" by Cathy Barrow and borrowed it from the library. I am glad I didn't find it before I started it as it was intimidating. Its a good book with lots of recipes and techniques but it shows that a slab pie is really meant for a crowd. Most of the savory pies feed 10-12 and the appetizers feed more.
I have a friend who is crazy about pie crust and I thought she might enjoy a chicken slab pie because she was a great fan of the apple slab pie. At one Thanksgiving she was trying to persuade other guests to let her have the pie crust edges off of their slice of the pie. If she wasn't around to eat part of it, I would have stuck to smaller pies.

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