Things bakers know: Bringing pumpkin pie to dinner? Do this.

A good pumpkin pie is delicate, featuring a just-set filling that’s smooth, creamy, and even a little jiggly. And it’s that exact quality that makes these pies so tricky to transport.

Keeping pumpkin pie — and other custard and cream pies — pristine can be tough if you’re bringing them to a second location (and with big holiday gatherings, that’s often the case!). Sure, you can wrap them in plastic or foil, but their smooth surface risks being ruined if these coverings touch them. Our Test Kitchen has tried all sorts of methods to successfully wrap pumpkin pies — from inverting a large bowl over the pie to wrapping the pie on a sheet pan surrounded by inverted pint containers — and landed on a smart new method: Just use a pie shield.

Photography by Mark Weinberg

Typically used to prevent pie edges from over-browning while baking, a pie shield fits snuggly over the outer edges of the crust to protect it toward the end of baking. But you can put it to use outside the oven, too, by placing it over your baked pie, then covering with plastic wrap or foil. The pie shield not only protects delicate pie crust edges, but it also suspends the plastic wrap or foil above the surface of your pie, so it won’t mar its top.

“It’s so much easier than any other method I’ve tried,” says Senior Recipe Developer Molly Marzalek-Kelly, who first introduced me to this trick. That includes the most common suggestion: strategically poking toothpicks in the top of the pie before wrapping. “Toothpicks always poke through the plastic wrap and then, if we're talking custard pie, you need to strategically place whipped cream to disguise the toothpick holes.” Not ideal!

This smart solution is a handy use for a pie tool that might seem single-use, and another reason to pick one up, even if you’re not a super-frequent pie baker. After all, we’re entering peak pie season — it’s best to be prepared.

Pick up more pie tips in our guide on How to Bake Pie. 

Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.

Adjustable Pie Crust Shield

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