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To Partially Bake a Pie or Tart Crust
Appears in
By Richard Sax
Published 1994
Crusts often are partially baked (or “blind-baked”) so that soft fillings, such as custards or juicy fruits, won’t make them soggy. (For more about prebaking crusts.) Each pie and tart recipe gives detailed instructions on prebaking, but the general method is as follows:
Fit the dough into the pie pan and crimp the edge. Line the dough with a lightly buttered sheet of foil, buttered side down. (If you want to take the trouble, the traditional method is then to weigh down the foil with dried beans or rice; keep a canister of them on hand and reuse them indefinitely. You can also buy metal or ceramic “pie weights” made specifically for this purpose. Another practical solution is to fit an empty pie pan inside, on top of the foil.)