Blind bake a pie crust by partially or fully baking a pie or pastry crust without the filling in it. Use fully baked crusts for unbaked pies like cream or fresh fruit pies. Use partially baked crusts in pies that have a wet filling, like a pie with frozen berries, or a quiche.
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I’ve been wondering why pre-baking a pie crust is called blind baking. There is nothing blind about it. If anything, it should be called open-eyed baking, as the crust is not covered with the pie filling. Unless covering it with pie weights causes “blindness!” haha!!
Before you can blind bake a pie crust, either purchase or make a pie crust. This is a flaky and easy pie crust recipe. Hop on over to my blog on how to make it. (click here) Watch the video for a demonstration of my secret formula for rolling out the pie crust. Bye-bye torn, tough, or tattered pie crusts.
Preparation; Prior to Blind Baking a Pie Crust.
After the pie crust is rolled out and in the pan, crimp the edges to form a fancy design. Now it is ready to “dock.” Say what, first you dock it and then blind bake it! That’s right, dock it. So what is docking it? To dock means to poke it full of holes. An old baking term from the mid-1800s.
When the butter melts in the dough, it converts to steam, giving the crust that super flaky texture we all love. However, when too much steam builds up in the dough, it causes the crust to puff up and form bubbles. So Dock Away Mate!!! Your dough is now properly poked through with holes. A fork works great for docking.
Next, crumple up a piece of parchment paper and put it in the pie plate on top of the crust. I crumple it first because it is easier to shape to the inside of the plate. Weight it down with some pie weights or about 4 cups of legumes. Once the shell is baked, save the beans for reuse in the next pastry shell. The beans in the picture are about 20 years old now.
How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust.
The next step is blind baking the pie crust. Bake the crust for about 8-10 minutes at 400-degrees F. At the end of the time, briefly take the crust out of the oven and remove the parchment paper and beans. Quickly re-dock the bottom and return to the oven without the parchment and beans.
For a partially baked crust, bake an additional 2-3 minutes. The bottom of the crust appears greasy after the parchment is removed. The additional 2-3 minutes dries it out.
For a fully baked crust, cover the edge of the crust with a pie shield and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown. (click here) for where to purchase a pie shield.
A perfectly Blind Baked Pie Crust that was poked full of holes, aka docked. This crust is just begging for a yummy Fresh Strawberry Pie filling.
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