Heat the oven to 425°F. Line both pie pans with dough, add foil and pie weights, and bake for 12 minutes.

Remove the weights and foil, then bake for another 6 minutes until the bottoms turn lightly golden. Cool both crusts completely before adding any filling.

Filling a warm crust with warm custard cooks the edges too fast, leaving the center undercooked once baked.

Drop the oven to 350°F. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them well before transferring to the saucepan.

Add brown sugar, milk, chopped pecans, flour, salt, and vanilla paste to the eggs in the saucepan. Stir everything together with a spatula until fully combined.

Set the pot over medium-low heat and stir constantly for about 4 minutes, watching for steam rather than bubbles. Pull it once it reaches 150°F to 160°F. The mixture should look slightly thickened and glossy, never simmering or foamy on top.

Divide the warm filling evenly between both cooled crusts and arrange pecan halves on top. Bake for 35 minutes, checking for a slight wobble in the center.

Pull the pies once the center reads between 170°F and 175°F on a thermometer. Going past 180°F tightens the custard and loses the soft, sliceable texture.

Let both pies cool fully on a wire rack before slicing or topping with meringue. Cutting too early collapses the custard and leaves a runny slice.

Beat egg whites with lemon juice until soft peaks form, then stream in caster sugar gradually. Continue beating until the meringue turns glossy and holds a stiff peak.

Pipe meringue over each cooled pie, then brown it with a kitchen torch or bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes.