What is blind baking? And why and when do you need to blind bake? Blind baking is pre-baking the pie shell when you are going to either fill the pie with a filling you are not going to cook or a filling that is not going to bake as long as the crust takes. I also blind bake for a shorter period if I want to partially bake my pie shell to prevent the crust from getting soggy from the filling. I do this in my Hawaiian Inspired Pumpkin Pie recipe.
There are two ways I blind bake. The first is the simplest. With the tines of a fork, I poke holes on the bottom and sides of the pie shell. This prevents the pie crust from bubbling up when baking. This is a one step process. Then I bake the pie shell at 400 F for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
The second way is a two step process. First, you gently line the pie shell with some foil or parchment paper letting the foil or paper hang over the edges of the pie.
Next, you fill the pie with either pie weights (like I have here. Mine are ceramic and keep forever), or you can fill the pie with beans or rice to weigh down the shell to prevent bubbling.
Here is the pie after it has baked. The next step is to remove the foil or parchment paper with the filling and bake the pie shell (first poke the bottom and sides of the pie shell with the tines of a fork) for an additional 5 minutes to finish off the baking. If you only bake with the foil and weights, the bottom of the crust will be a bit soggy. That’s it folks! Pretty simple but makes a huge difference in the outcome of your pie. Now fill this beauty with some pumpkin or cream pie goodness!
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