This recipe calls for some type of blind baking. Steaming pie crust can seem intimidating, especially if you’re already nervous about making a pie from scratch that blind baking pie crust is easy and I have a few tips to ensure success.
Why Par bake?
Why bake puff pastry without filling? Whether you’re making quiche, no-bake pie, quiche, custard pie, pudding pie, or just want a super crispy crust, you need a baked or perfectly baked crust. Even if you’re making a pie that doesn’t require a baked filling, you still need a baked crust. I can’t do it.
Whole Blind Casserole and Half-Baked Casserole
If a pie recipe calls for baking a pie crust, such as a banana cream pie, bake it until done. However, some recipes call for a partially baked pie crust, and these recipes usually include “prebaked,” “partially baked,” or “steamed” in the instructions.
Whether you make the pie crust completely blind or partially blind, the process is exactly the same. The difference is the cooking time. A fully baked puff pastry will take longer than a half-baked puff pastry.
If you’re making a no-bake pie, like coconut cream pie, cover the pie crust completely.
If the pie crust takes longer than the pie filling, such as pie or quiche, partially bake the pie crust. If you want an even crispier apple pie crust, you can partially bake the crust before adding the filling.
How to make a pie crust
The idea behind baking a pie crust is simple, but it’s more than just pouring batter into a pie tin and baking.
Here is the problem. As the pie crust bakes, the fat melts. This will cause the pie crust to collect on the sides of the pie mold. And when the fat melts, steam is produced. Steam is good or bad. This creates delicious layers and sheets, but the pie crust tends to puff up unless you have heavy toppings to weigh it down.
Our answer: weigh down the pie crust with something so it doesn’t puff up in the middle or shrink on the sides. You can buy pie weights or use dried beans. I have also seen the use of granulated sugar and penny sugar. Note: 2 packs of these weights are a must!
Bake with pie weight until edges of pie crust are firm or lightly browned, about 15 minutes.
The top crust is covered with weights on the bottom so it doesn’t burn. Once the edges have hardened, place back in the oven. But first, let’s connect with the fork.
How to Make a Pie Crust
When the crust is browned around the edges, carefully remove the parchment paper and weights and allow the crust to heat up a bit more. Baking time for “weightless” puff pastry depends on whether the dough is semi-baked or fully baked.
Prick the bottom of the cake with a fork to prevent puffing before returning the cake to the oven unheated. Punching holes in the pie crust is also known as “hooking” the pie crust.
Some bakers skip the pie weight and add the pie crust from scratch, but I had no luck. I always use the above weights. When the edges begin to brown, remove the weights, secure the crust with a fork, and return to the oven to cook the bottom.
How long does the pie crust take to bake after the weight is removed?
Oven time depends on whether you want a half-baked or fully baked pie crust. For half-baked pie crusts, bake until bottom is browned, usually 7 to 8 minutes more. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the pie crust is fully cooked, until the bottom and edges are charred and cooked through.
Half-baked means the crust is just browned and the pie is returned to the oven along with the filling.
Fully baked means the pie crust is 100% ready and ready to be filled without baking.
How to prevent scabs from falling off
The weight of the pie helps keep the bottom crust from puffing up and the sides from crumbling, but until recently the sides have struggled to keep their shape. Now the carapace of my feet has never shrunk. I have a nice thick crust that is smooth or pliable all around. My shave pans. And you can too!
Two tricks that can help:
- Be sure to let the pie pan cool before baking.
- Make sure you have a thick crust on the sides using my ‘dough strips’ technique.
Chilling a pie crust before baking doesn’t need much explanation, so let’s show you how to make a thick crust. Use your fingers to tuck excess fabric around the edges. Now it is a very thick, uniform crust with firm edges. My dough strip method uses 1 1/2 pie crusts. My pie crust recipe makes two crusts, so no big deal.
