Soggy pie crust is the scourge of the pie-making world, but it can be easily prevented with a little bit of pre-filling baking. Exactly how long you pre-bake your crust depends on the filling you will be using, and Bon Appetit has some tips to help you determine how golden you should get it.
Photo by Stephanie.
For every type of pie, you’ll want to start with filling the naked crust with pie weights (or beans or rice) and “blind baking” for about 15 minutes. Then, depending on whether you’re making a fruit, custard or pudding pie, uncover and bake a little longer:
- Fruit Pies: Crusts for fruit pies need very little, if any, additional heat after blind baking. The juicier the fruit, the longer your pie will be in the oven, so your crust should be mostly pale, and just slightly golden along the edges before filling. Bon Appetit recommends and additional 5-10 minutes in the oven after blind baking, but even that might not be necessary.
- Custard Pies: Custard pies (like key lime) don’t have super long bake times, so you’ll want to take your crust to a nice golden place before filling. Aim for 10-15 minutes in the oven after your pie weights have been removed, and check the bottom for good, golden colour before filling.
- No-Bake Pies: This is a bit obvious, but for those pie fillings that need no time in the oven, you’ll want to completely bake your crust before filling. An additional 15-20 minutes after removing the weights should give you a nice, toasty looking crust that won’t go soggy when a pudding like filling is added.
Click the link below for Bon Appetit’s handy pie crust colour spectrum to get a clear vision of what each crust should look like, as well as tasty recipe suggestions for pies in each category.
The One Pie-Making Step You Should Never Skip [Bon Appetit]
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