A pie usually has a crust on the top or on the bottom alone or on both the sides whereas a tart has only a crust at the bottom. A tart has shallow sides whereas the sides of a pie are usually slopped. Both pies and tarts are meant to have firm and crumbly crust and are made of flour. Usually salt is added to a pie whereas the tart usually has sugar added to it.
There is also some difference in the way a pie and a tart are served. Pies are usually served right from the dish that was used to bake it whereas the tarts are baked in pan that has a removable bottom. It is not uncommon for people to use a pastry ring on top of a baking sheet. This allows easy serving of the tart after removing it from its mold.
A tart usually is thinner than a pie but can come in a variety of shapes. The shapes normally are round and rectangular. Though both pies and tarts may be filled, the amount of filling in a pie is usually greater than that in a tart. The amount of filling is one reason why pies are served from the pan in which they are baked. The high volume of filling makes it susceptible to breaking if transferred into something else.
One other major difference between a pie and tart is in its size. Most pie pans are 9 inches in diameter whereas there are also 9.5 inches and 10 inches pan. Individual pie pans of 4.5 inches are also available. On the other hand, tarts pans can be in vary between 4 and 12 inches. The depth of the tart pan ranges from ¾ to 2 inches whereas the usual depth of a pie pan is 1.25 inches. There is also special class of pie pans known as deep dish pie pans. These pie pans are deeper than the normal pie pans. The deep dish pans could be anywhere between 1.5 and to 2 inches in depth. Tart pans are usually made of metal whereas pie pans could be made of Pyrex glass. Pie pans are also available in aluminum, tin, heavy clack steel and fired clay.
