[Mike Collins]

Does anyone have a recipe that they have actually tasted and could recommend for salmonberry pie? I just picked two quarts to satisfy my foraging urge and am excited about eating a pie. But first I will have to bake one.

[Magellan]

If no one volunteers a recipe you can find a berry pie recipe online.  On most pie recipes I cut the sugar in half, but I would not do that with salmon berries.

[ranger rock]

Salmon berries are very watery, you might want to cook some of the water out of them then use a standard black berry pie recipe.

[meandering Wa]

up both sugar and binder

consider adding a sweeter berry with more flavor or some other flavor profile, such as candied ginger.  I find even the ripest salmonberry to be pretty insipid.  You can try grating an apple and squeezing out the juice.  Add this.  It adds pectin ( and binding).  I learned this on Americas Test Kitchen for Blueberry pie

brown sugar would add a nice flavor dimention, but be aware it adds water to the overall recipie

[Ski]

never had salmonberry pie, Mike.
did have salmonberry tarts one evening for dessert at a place down near First and Virginia... open-faced (no top crust). the shells were baked, but not the fruit... they filled the shells with a mix of salmonberry, sugar, and cornstarch.
don't think you'd have much luck baking the fruit- too mooshy.

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"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. 
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."

[Navy salad]

Maybe I've just been eating from the wrong salmonberry bushes*, but they taste pretty seedy to me. If I were going to make a pie (or more likely, talk the Missus into baking one...), I'd be tempted to strain out the seeds first with something like a 1/16" mesh strainer (too fine and you'd be left with nothing but juice).

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* Sounds like a new phrase "if you ask me, that kid's been eatin' from the wrooooong salmonberry bushes..."

[Ski]

therein lies the problem: you'd have to use so much thickener (cornstarch or tapioca or arrowroot) you'd have glue for filling- kind of like those gawd-awful strawberry-cornstarch-red-dye-topped things they peddle at supermarkets.

the other problem is that salmonberries are in season before the Himalaya or Evergreen Blackberries, Dewberries, Raspberries, Blueberries, or Huckleberries ripen.
solution: be patient and wait for the others, or buy the grown-in-Mexico out-of-season stuff. doesn't hold a candle to our own local berries, but it works.

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"I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. 
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each."

[Mike Collins]

Most of us, including me, do most of our gathering at Costco or QFC. But this year's bounty of salmonberries are at the harvesting stage. I gathered enough for two pies today. With one of the pies I plan on mixing the salmonberries with the blueberries gathered at Costco. I usually have a top crust but want to make one with the top exposing the berries as they are so colorful.

[Malachai Constant]

We have lots in our backyard. They are best fresh but usually I leave them for the birds. The Himalayan’s make far better pies especially combined with blueberries.

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"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn

[Kim Brown]

This year is different; for the last 22 years I've tried salmon berries, I had found them mealy, seedy, and tasteless, to the point I'd try a few each season just to see if they're still mealy, seedy, and tasteless.

But this year; wow, big, sweet, and juicy - and they have flavor! I didn't leave any for the bears last weekend.

Good luck with the pie, Mike! I live in Lake Forest Park; if you're nearby, hand one over to me!   

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" I'm really happy about this! … I have very strong good and horrible memories up there."  – oldgranola, NWH’s outdoors advocate.

[Anne Elk]

A few more tips that might help with mooshy-ness:  One thing my mom taught me to do with any pie (even apple) is, once the dough's in the pan, use a pastry brush to coat it with egg whites.  That helps seal the dough and keep juice from soaking it.  When I didn't have a pastry brush, I'd just pour the egg white into the pan, roll it around and spread as necessary with my fingers, then dump out the excess.

If you make a sweet crumble-topping, that will help absorb some of the liquid.  I like the idea in one of the old posts to mix the berries with apple to add some natural pectin, and a flavor note like a bit of candied ginger.

For me the highlight of any pie is actually the crust - it's gotta be a good, flaky crust made from scratch; not that pre-made cardboard junk.  Mom always used Crisco (not the healthiest choice, but are pies supposed to be healthy??)  Let us know later how they came out!   

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"There are yahoos out there.  It’s why we can’t have nice things."  - Tom Mahood

[Kim Brown]

Lard is even better! For pie crusts and tortillas!

But I don't use it, I use Crisco as well. Not the butter flavor, it acts weird.

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" I'm really happy about this! … I have very strong good and horrible memories up there."  – oldgranola, NWH’s outdoors advocate.