Just reading about fruit pies cannot tell you how good they are; you really have to make one to know. You should experience the perfect balance of sweet, soft fruit filling and crisp crust firsthand to believe it.
If you are used to store-bought pies, you might be surprised when you bake your first fruit pie. Pies turned out in the automated world of bakeries and supermarkets are made to last, and to cut neatly into an even wedge for every serving, so the last slice looks like the first. In other words, a tailored appearance is more important than texture or flavor. On the other hand, a home-baked pie of fresh fruit, with a minimum amount of thickening, does not always cut into neat pieces and can, if the fruit is particularly juicy, be on the messy side. But to my mind, flavor counts more than looks, and you will not be disappointed in the taste. By the way, adding a little butter to a fruit filling, as most of these recipes do, before the top crust is put on, lends a bit of richness and depth. Don’t omit it; it makes more of a difference than you might think.
Before baking a two-crust fruit pie, cut several vents, or slits, in the top crust. This enables steam to escape as the fruit cooks and the juices bubble, and prevents the top crust from puffing and possibly bursting. I like pies generously filled with fruit, but in the oven the sweet, bubbling juices from a well-filled pie can sometimes drip over the rim of the crust. To prevent a mess in your oven, I suggest putting a large sheet of heavy-duty foil on the rack below the pie or, alternately, setting a shallow baking pan, with about a quarter-inch of water in it, on the lower rack. (Water prevents the pan from scorching and makes cleanup easier.)
Tempting as it might be to cut a fruit pie when it’s hot from the oven, it will taste better, and cut more easily, after it cools. When the bottom of the pie pan is faintly warm to your hand, that’s the ideal time to make the first slice. I guarantee that if you get a group of adversaries around a table and set a warm peach pie in front of them, they will become friends.