Are you planning to give your family that bit of sweet crusty surprise? So, you’ve decided to make a different pumpkin pie but don’t have that pie weights at home?

Worry no more! Just keep googling and hanging around the kitchen, and you will undoubtedly find a good pie weight substitute for your sweet treat.

A pie weight is usually used to keep a pie crust from shrinking away when using a pie plate. The absence of a pie weight doesn’t necessarily mean that you will no longer make a delicious pie.

If you are a baker who loves paying attention to every single detail, and you simply want the pie to be just right, there are several things you can find in your pantry that you can use as a pie weight substitute.

Sit back and relax! Check out these pie weight substitutes that you can use for your crusty pie.

Creative Pie Weights Alternatives

If you love baking pies regularly, you surely know the importance of a pie weight.  So, what do you do when you finally need them but don’t have any?

Substitute for Pie Weights

Make use of some alternatives! Keep reading and take a look at what I am about to show you.

Small Steel Balls

Forget about the pie weights when you can have small steel balls as a creative weight substitute.

While most bakers prefer the use of dried beans as an alternative, such a choice doesn’t always give you the best result of a crusty pie.

Small steel balls are among the highly-recommended pie weights substitute, and these are readily available at any hardware store.

Not only that, these balls are heavy enough to support both sides of the pie crust, it also prevents the bottom part from puffing off.

Small steel balls conduct heat naturally. Therefore, baking the crust from all its side just happens excellently.

As a result, your pie crust will get a bit browner, drier, and a lot more beautiful than that crust made from a pie weight.

Pantry Staples

Another good find for a pie weight substitute is the pantry staple.

While homemade pie weights are too dry to make use of, using pantry staples will give you a different result.

All you need to do is to line your crust with foil or make use of a parchment paper. Afterwards, fill it in with some dried beans or corn kernels on top.

Substitute for Pie Weights

When everything is filled up, bake the crust according to the desired heat and cooking method described in the recipe.

If you keep them in a tight jar, you can still make use of it the next time around you need more pie weights.

Blind Bake

Should you need an alternative to a pie weight, give blind baking a try!

This is one of the pre-baking techniques that you can do with your pie or tart crust. You can either partially or fully bake the crust depending on the pie recipe you follow.

Blind Bake

When you have pre-baked the crust, you can start filling it and bake it further when necessary.

Meanwhile, in some pie recipes, only the crusts are baked but never the filling. In this case, your pie crust will still need to be blind baked before you even start putting off the desired toppings.

Other Pie Weight Substitute

If you love baking pies, you might find the need to add lots of pie weights in your kitchen portfolio. These are essential kitchen tools for baking, especially for creating sweet pumpkin pies.

However, these tools cost a bit too much. It may also take up a lot of your kitchen space. Regardless, the need for a pie weight is still evident to achieve that perfectly brown and firm crust pie.

As an alternative to the usual pie weight, your kitchen foil can always fill the gap. A foil is such an excellent addition to all your baking supplies.

Being an avid baker, you need to look into ways and means to make your pie crust the best there is, even without that usual pie weight.

Several kitchen gadgets are worth investing in for your baking hobby. To save yourself from too much trouble, it would be a great idea if you can have all these baking needs completed before even getting started with your pie treat.

More Options to Choose

Metal Objects

When you run out of pie weights at home, and even run out of dried beans, you surely can make use of metal objects as a substitute.

You can lay both small and big metal objects on top of the pie crust as you start baking it. This might be a good idea; however, make sure to be extra careful as you remove these metal objects after baking.

Rice

No pie weights? No problem! Rice will come to the rescue. Just as dried beans, you simply need to line your pie crust with your pantry staple and pour the rice on top of it.

A pie weight substitute need not be pricey as you can have it ready in your kitchen. Using rice as an alternative is a must-try!

Pie Weights – When to Use Them While Baking?

Pie weights come in several forms. It can be a ceramic or a metal ball that is used when creating a perfectly-shaped pie crust.

As far as pie baking is concerned, there are several options for pie weights. Both the ceramic and metallic balls can be found in the market today at a reasonable price.

Pie weights are essential baking tools that prevent the crust from puffing and forming air pockets. You surely won’t love biting a fluffy pie!

Pie Weights

Without pie weights, the crust will usually bubble up, and thus, your sweet pie will never look nice. A good substitute can weigh down the dough and that shape will stay firm and nestled on the pie plate.

As to what kind of pie weight substitute you need to use, you always have an option. You just need to keep on learning and googling for the tips regarding which pie weight alternatives work best.

How to Get Pie Crust Perfectly Right?

Doing the pie crust is one of the most rewarding things an avid baker can do. It is a skill that is worth mastering.

Hence, when you aim to get a perfect pie crust, you must make use of an ideal pie weight at the same time.

Anyone wouldn’t want to bite an undercooked, mushy, and fluffy pie crust. Therefore, the key to achieving the perfect pie always lies in getting the crust firmly right.

Pie Crust

While some bakers love creating a pie crust on their own, some would also like to have it baked at the desired time along with the fillings.

Should you wish to bake a pie crust perfectly, just follow the advice mentioned above and tell us what you’ve got.

Important Notes

  1. Not all pie recipes are the same. Therefore, some pies require a crisp, golden brown one, while other pies look best with a not-so-dry crust.
  2. Always remove your pie weights to allow the crust to bake thoroughly at the desired baking time.
  3. Meanwhile, if you notice that the sides of the crust are turning brown or baking faster than the usual, always cover both sides fully with a foil to avoid it from burning.
  4. As you make use of pie weights, make sure that it is distributed evenly over the crust surface.
  5. Always use a layer of foil or parchment paper in between the crust and the pie weight.
  6. Place your pie crust in the fridge before blind baking.

Now that you’ve figured out some of these smart ideas and have learned about different pie weight substitutes, creating the perfect pie crust is no longer an issue for you!