Best Pie Pans of 2026: Emile Henry and Pyrex Tested on Apple, Pecan, and Custard

A pie pan is the most consequential piece of bakeware nobody upgrades. The same supermarket aluminum tin gets used for grandmother's apple pie, the kid's chocolate pudding pie, and the Thanksgiving pumpkin — and each demands different heat behavior. Glass conducts heat steadily and shows browning through the bottom. Ceramic distributes heat gently and prevents over-darkening. Metal pies bake fastest and crispiest. The right pan for your usual pie style transforms results from acceptable to memorable. We tested 6 pie pans over 10 weeks across apple, pecan, pumpkin, custard, and chess pies to identify which pans deliver on the core pie promise: crisp bottom, even browning, no soggy bottom, and a clean release for serving.

#1 Emile Henry Modern Classics 9-Inch Pie Dish — Best Overall

Price: ~$45 | Check Price on Amazon →

Emile Henry's ceramic pie dish is the best all-around pie pan we tested. The high-fired Burgundy clay distributes heat more gradually than metal — which prevents the bottom-burning that thin metal pans produce on fruit pies with sugary fillings — and the deep fluted walls accommodate full deep-dish pies without overflow. The 9.5-inch outer rim has flared edges that catch drips before they reach the oven floor.

In our apple pie test, Emile Henry produced the most uniformly browned bottom crust without any darkened ring at the perimeter that metal pans showed. The dish is broiler and freezer safe, oven-safe to 750°F, and the burgundy and cobalt finishes have a presentation quality that means the pan goes directly from oven to table. Lifetime warranty. Made in France. The pie pan to buy if you bake serious pies regularly.

#2 USA Pan Bakeware Aluminized Steel 9-Inch Pie Pan — Best for Crisp Bottoms

Price: ~$22 | Check Price on Amazon →

If your priority is the crispest possible bottom crust — particularly for fruit pies where soggy-bottom is the constant risk — the USA Pan aluminum delivers what ceramic and glass cannot. Heavy-gauge aluminized steel conducts heat aggressively from the bottom, baking the crust before juicy filling can soak through. The corrugated surface pattern lifts the dough slightly off the pan, improving airflow during the critical first 15 minutes of baking.

Made in Pennsylvania with a lifetime warranty. The Americoat silicone coating releases pie cleanly without parchment after dozens of bakes. At $22, the value play of the category. The trade-off: the metal sides brown less than ceramic at the same oven temperature, requiring a foil shield in the final 15 minutes for darker-crust styles.

#3 Pyrex Easy Grab 9.5-Inch Pie Plate — Best for Custard and Cream Pies

Price: ~$11 | Check Price on Amazon →

Glass is the right choice for custard, pudding, and cream pies where you want to monitor bottom browning through the pan. Pyrex's tempered borosilicate glass shows the crust color clearly and holds heat steadily through the gentle bakes that custard requires. The integrated easy-grab handles eliminate the white-knuckle pan-pull from a hot oven.

In our pumpkin pie test, Pyrex produced the most uniformly set custard with no cracking — the gentler heat conduction protects egg-based fillings from the violent boil-up that aggressive metal pans cause. Dishwasher, freezer, and microwave safe. Limited lifetime warranty against breakage from temperature shock. The classic for valid reasons. At $11, every home should own at least one.

#4 Williams Sonoma Goldtouch Pro Nonstick 9-Inch Pie Dish — Best for Easy Release

Price: ~$30 | Check Price on Amazon →

The Goldtouch Pro's gold-anodized aluminum and ceramic-reinforced nonstick coating produce the cleanest slice release of any pan we tested. For deep-dish savory pies, quiches, and chicken pot pies — where serving cleanly is more important than crust crispness — this is the pan. The gold-tone finish reflects heat slightly, producing more even browning than dark metal but less aggressive bottom-bake than uncoated aluminum.

PFOA-free coating, oven-safe to 450°F, and reinforced rims prevent the warping that thin nonstick pie pans show after a few bakes. The choice for cooks who bake quiches and pot pies more often than fruit pies.

#5 Le Creuset Stoneware 9-Inch Pie Dish — Best for Tabletop Presentation

Price: ~$65 | Check Price on Amazon →

Le Creuset's stoneware pie dish in Cerise or Caribbean is the pan that earns a place on the table. The high-density stoneware distributes heat similarly to Emile Henry's ceramic but with Le Creuset's signature glazed exterior in their full color range. Performance is nearly identical to Emile Henry; the choice between them is largely about color and brand preference.

The dish is broiler, freezer, microwave, and dishwasher safe, and the wide flat rim makes a clean canvas for braided crust. Made in Belgium. 5-year warranty. For households where pies are part of regular hospitality, this is the dish your guests will compliment.

#6 OXO Good Grips Glass 9-Inch Pie Plate — Best Modern Glass Alternative

Price: ~$15 | Check Price on Amazon →

OXO's borosilicate glass pie plate matches Pyrex's thermal performance with a slightly thicker rim and silicone-padded handles that genuinely improve grip on hot edges. The interior shape has a wider angle than Pyrex, producing slightly thicker outer slices that some bakers prefer. Microwave, oven, freezer, and dishwasher safe.

For households where Pyrex's classic shape doesn't appeal but glass performance is wanted, OXO is the modern alternative. The handles are the real differentiator and meaningfully improve safe handling.

How We Tested

• Baked apple pies with juicy filling and graded bottom-crust crispness
• Baked custard pumpkin pies and measured filling set and surface cracking
• Made pecan pies and observed sugar burn at edges and bottom
• Made savory pot pies to test browning of double crust and clean release
• Measured oven temperature inside pan with thermocouple at three locations
• Subjected each pan to refrigerator-to-oven thermal shock test
• Tested freezer storage of unbaked pie shells and inspected for cracking
• Cleaned each after sugary-fruit overflow and graded cleanup difficulty
• Measured rim height and depth to assess deep-dish capacity