Both Daily and Albertson have numerous pie birds, both noting that customers will gift them their thrift-store finds. While they do use them when making a pie at home, neither reaches for the ...

It’s also worth using a pie bird. Pie birds have a hollow center that steam can escape through for optimal ventilation. If you want to bake pie just like Grandma, a pie bird is the way to go!

It's so embarrassing. I still love the little bird, though, and remember my grandmother using it. Through the years, I've collected other pie birds, and usually use them when I make a pie.

Cut a few more slits—six 3-inch slits should do it—or you could go the Alton Brown route and use a pie bird, an elegant solution from a more civilized age. Cook your apples first: Kenji’s ...