Blind-Baked Crusts
After years of pie making in the test kitchen, we’ve learned a thing or two about how to handle finicky crusts.
After years of pie making in the test kitchen, we’ve learned a thing or two about how to handle finicky crusts.
Even if the pie you’re making requires little or no baking, chances are good the crust needs oven time. In those cases, bakers “blind” bake, or prebake, the crust, a step that presents a number of challenges. Here’s how to avoid trouble.
PROBLEM: TOUGH AND SHRUNKEN
SOLUTION: COOL THE CRUST
After the dough is rolled out and shaped, but before it is baked, chill it for at least 40 minutes in the refrigerator. This allows the gluten in the flour to “relax” and the butter to chill. Then freeze for 20 minutes to set its shape. Skip these steps at your peril: The crust will be misshapen and tough.
PROBLEM: BUBBLED AND IRREGULAR
SOLUTION: WEIGH IT DOWN
Left to their own devices, pie crusts will puff, crater, and bake unevenly. To avoid those problems, line the shells with foil and fill them with pie weights before baking. Spray two 12-inch squares of foil and overlap over the dough, greased-side down, making sure to cover the crimped crust. Then fill them with 2 cups of ceramic pie weights, pennies, or dried beans.
PROBLEM: PALE BOTTOM
SOLUTION: REARRANGE THE RACK
Prevent a doughy crust by baking the (weight-filled) pie shell on the lower-middle oven rack at 375 degrees. Bake until the dough no longer looks wet under the foil, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the hot foil and weights and—for an icebox pie—continue to bake the crust until firm and light brown, another 10 to 15 minutes.