Now that we’ve learned how to create perfect pie crusts, follow these few, simple steps and you’ll be on your way to creating pie crusts and pastry shells that are partially baked to perfection:
- Begin by placing an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of your oven.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Remove a properly chilled pie crust or pastry shell (properly=chilled for at least 30 minutes) from your refrigerator or freezer and line it with a sheet of parchment paper or aluminum foil that is large enough to overhang the sides of your shell’s crust, patting the paper or foil into the bottom and up the sides of the dough. A crust or shell that has been properly chilled will reduce the risk of shrinkage during baking.
- Cover the lined bottom of the pie crust (or pastry shell) with a layer of pie weights or uncooked, short-grain rice. This additional weight will help prevent the crust from bubbling and shrinking during baking.
- Bake the lined and weighted crust (or shell) in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, then check the dough for doneness.
- To check the dough for doneness, lift the edge of the paper or foil lining. If the dough appears wet, continue baking and re-checking every 5 minutes. When the dough reaches a pale gold color and no longer appears wet, it has been properly, partially baked and should be removed from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Total baking time will be approximately 20-30 minutes, depending on the accuracy of your oven’s temperature.
Thank you for visiting Inn Cuisine! Be sure to check out the newly remodeled Recipe Index and subscribe to Inn Cuisine's free RSS feed (also available via email) so you never miss a recipe. Need more ways to stay connected? Follow Inn Cuisine on Facebook & Twitter!
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Yep, always use beans or rice!
Thanks for the tips Sandie, especially the ones about reducing the shrinkage
The great thing is that you can use those beans or rice over and over again. I keep mine in a separate jar marked “for blind baking only”, so no one confuses my pie weights with rice they want to cook.
Such a great tip…really!
-DTW
http://www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com
Noble Pig – Agreed, beans work great too. Thanks for mentioning them!
Lorraine – I’ll tell you why the crust anti-shrinking tips are so important to me: this summer, while vacationing in Florida, I volunteered to make 2 pies for our mini, family reunion. I had forgotten all about these tips (didn’t even think about them, really) even though I had used them before, and both pie crusts shrunk up on me while baking and looked like tiny, half-pie shells. Seriously. It was like I sent them through the dryer on high heat. My heart sank.
Those poor crusts were so pathetic looking, I ultimately threw them in the trash bin and began again…this time following these helpful tips. Both crusts cooked to perfection. Besides this experience putting me seriously behind schedule, I can’t stand wasting food, even shrunken pie crusts. And sometimes, I find, that it’s the simple, obvious steps I overlook, especially when I get in a rush!
Lydia – Great tip I should have included. Yes, I keep my baking rice in a large Ziploc bag labeled “For Use as Pie Weights” just in case someone besides me decides to go digging through our pantry (not likely). But thank you so much for mentioning this one, it’s so helpful for anyone who does any amount of baking!
Darius – Thank you for visiting and thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found these tips helpful.
I agree about the shrinkage (nobody wants to be caught with shrinkage, lol!). I’ve also found it can be helpful to drape a very small bit of the crust over the lip of your pie/tart pan. I found that helped me the most after one or two crusts receded down to being about half as tall as they should have been.
the pie-maker in me (she’s usually hiding but comes out to play occasionally) thanks you.
Thanks for the helpful tips. I haven’t had a successful pie baking attempt yet but this will keep me going until I get it