In an open-sided yurt in the Ozarks, potter Tom Hess has a workshop. There, beside fellow artist and basket-maker Lory Brown, he hand mixes red clay slurry, siphons off excess water and lets it sun dry until it’s the right texture. Then he throws his custom plates in the same carefully-crafted manner as ever, despite the fact that these terra cotta beauties are in high demand by pastry chefs, caterers and foodies all over the world. Besides being dishwasher and microwave safe, Tom Hess’s pie plates are also non-porous, which gives them a natural non-stick surface. Tom Hess’ dedicate to this ancient art form translates to a crispy and browned bottom pie crust that easily releases slices of pie where you are ready to serve them. In a world of high-tech, complicated gadgetry, this “Best Of” doesn’t use any toxic glazes, either. Tom Hess prefers to create environmentally-safe pottery and the end result is a uniformly useable and attractive pie plate that you can bring to the table to serve dessert, collecting compliments on its unfussy, classic beauty.

After thorough independent research, we selected the Deep Dish Pie Plate as a 3LUXE "Best Of", to see our other two Bakeware selections visit our Bakeware Overview.

www.hesspottery.com