Does your pie recipe call for pre-baking or blind baking the crust?
Here’s a guide with tips for blind baking success.
Many sweet and savory pie recipes require pre-baking or “blind baking” a crust.
Elise Bauer
Why Blind Bake a Crust?
Pre-Baking a Store-Bought Crust
Are you using a homemade pie crust?
Or a store bought frozen crust?
Elise Bauer
Homemade crusts especially have a high fat content.
Another issue is billowing air pockets in the center.
This method works, but I’ve always found it a bit fussy.
Elise Bauer
No removing of the pie weights mid way, no poking the bottom with a fork.
Because of its small granular size, sugar distributes the weight more evenly against the sides of the crust.
you’re free to actually re-use the sugar in baking.
Elise Bauer
In fact, cooking the sugar this way lightly caramelizes it, giving it more flavor.
you might also easily use uncooked rice or dry beans.
I’ve extensively tested all three; they all work.
Elise Bauer
I have found that sugar does give consistently better results, and helps keep the sides in place better.
Use it to makesugar cookies!
Your pie crust should been in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, preferably an hour.
Elise Bauer
You may need two sheets of foil to get full coverage.
Fill the pie crust to the top with pie weights.
it’s possible for you to use ceramic weights, dry beans, rice, or white sugar.
Elise Bauer
Sugar works well because of its small granule size; it distributes the weight more evenly against the crust.
Remove the pie shell from the oven.
Let the pie weights cool.
Store them for future use.
