The coffin for the receipt (recipe) To make a Potato Pye was made by bringing a mixture of water, lard and butter to a boil and then adding it gradually to a bowl of coarse rye and wheat flour mixed until the proper consistency for using the coffin former. Coffins were essentially baking cases of raised, hot water paste and used as a container in the bake oven.
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Could this also be baked in a dutch oven? Thanks!
By: Julea B. Moats on October 7, 2025
at 4:14 pm
I have never been successful using a coffin as a baking dish in a bake kettle (modernly referred to as a Dutch oven). When I experimented with coffins in bake kettles was over 30 years ago. In the order of baking after a bake oven is fired, it is bread, then coffins. Coffins need a consistent temperature and when you lift the lid of a bake kettle just to put the coffin inside heat is lost.
By: hearttohearthcookery on October 7, 2025
at 7:06 pm
Thank you. I would have liked to demonstrate the difference between a coffin potato pye and an apple pie crust. Maybe I should bake it at home and bring it up completed and just do the pie up there… Any suggestions?
By: Julea B. Moats on October 7, 2025
at 7:25 pm
I have always baked coffins when I am firing a bake oven so I have not experimented with modern oven temperatures and in a bake oven the temperature drops gradually during the baking process. It should work but you may learn about temperatures through experimentation.
By: hearttohearthcookery on October 8, 2025
at 3:45 pm