At first, don’t let this name make you feel rather unsettled because it doesn’t have anything to do with a blindfold or your eyesight. It is merely just a fancy word for pre-baking and a major step for preparing pie crusts. And without following this step, your baking could be a failure.

Most beginners have no idea about what is blind baking. If this is the same case for you, this article is going to further enrich your baking knowledge.

What Is Blind Baking?

Blind baking is just an act of pre-baking a pie crust before filling it. And the reason behind carrying out this step is to make sure that the pie crust remains flaky and golden-brown crispy before the filling is added.

Some of you are quite foreign to this term, but it’s surprisingly a very simple step, and learning about it can brighten your day. This article will thoroughly guide you on how to blind bake your pie crust in the most uncomplicated way.

You can be a little skeptical about it, and some even don’t bother with this process. However, if you want to avoid your pie from getting a down-at-heel appearance, you should better not skip this step; otherwise, your pie will be unpleasantly soggy and chewy.

Blind Baking

There is nothing wrong with cooking your pie without blind baking the crust. The only difference that will be perceivable is the crispiness of the crust.

If you need to make your pie crust crispy, blind baking is required, and if you don’t bother about the crispiness, you don’t need to do it. But learning this step would bring out great results, and it will make your efforts more worthwhile. Better make it decent than shabby, am I right?

How to Blind Bake Your Pie Crusts?

There are several methods for blind baking, and they’re going to vary based on how much you want to bake. It will mostly differ if you want to make a partially baked pastry or a completely baked pastry.

Blind Bake Your Pie Crusts

A lot of pie recipes call for blind baking the crust. Moreover, some cooking experts will provide perplexing instructions for blind baking, and many of you would skip it to avoid troubles.  However, these are the easiest methods for blind baking if you’re ready to save your day without a headache –

  1. First, place your pastry dough in the pie dish, and then prick the base of the pastry with forks. This method is termed as “docking”. The purpose of this method is to stop the air bubbles forming on the pie crust.
  2. Chill the pie in the freezer for a certain period until it’s cold and firm. If your pie isn’t chilled enough, it will tend to sink down during the baking process.
  3. Put a greaseproof paper into the pastry pan and then place pie weights. Putting weights on your pastry will prevent the pastry base from rising up. You also need to ensure that the weights are evenly scattered around the pie dish.
  4. Sit the pie dish on a baking tray. This helps make sure the bottom of the pastry cooks well.
  5. Bake in medium heat for ten minutes.
  6. Remove the dish from the oven and take the weights and paper off the pie dish.
  7. You will notice that the pie crust is moist and soft now.
  8. If you want to bake a completely baked pie, bake it for another 15 minutes until the bottom is golden brown. However, if you want to bake a partially baked pie, bake it for 5 minutes until the bottom is pale brown.

Don’t forget to keep an eye during the process, because you need to make sure that the pastry doesn’t get excess brown color. Burnt spots can lead to bitter taste and poor texture.

9. After you take out the pie dish, the pie crust will be thoroughly cooked and sandy to touch. Allow the crust to cool for an extra five minutes before using your designed recipe.

Can We Bind Bake a Store-Bought Crust?

Technically, yes, we can definitely blind bake a store-bought crust. But, it is not appropriate to follow the instructions that we used for a homemade pie crust. Because store-bought pie crusts contain comparatively less dough than the homemade ones.

Blind Bake

So, the crust is likely to burn if we bake for the same duration and at the same temperature. Just follow the instructions from the back of the package for better results.

Cravings for some pies? Here are easy to make and delicious pie recipes that you can try at home.

Substitutes for pie Weights

Many of you would be apprehensive about owning pie weights. If you don’t have them hanging around your kitchen, there are a lot of things that you can use as an alternative.

Here are some convenient alternatives to use instead of pie weights –

Rice

Rice is a common staple food for most of us. Hence you are already having an item to weigh on your pastry at any moment.

Blind Bake

Dried Pasta

Many of us may own plenty of dried pasta in our kitchens. You can merrily use them to weigh on your pastry.

Dried Beans

You can place dried beans or dried pulse all around the greaseproof paper as an acceptable pie weight substitute.

Marbles

Funnily enough, those glass marbles can be used as an alternative too. Just cover them with an ample of them so that they don’t move around the pan constantly.

Another creative way to weigh the crust is to put a second pan over the crust. But it’s more complicated than other alternatives. Because we have to make sure that the second pan doesn’t stick to the crust, and you need a cooking spray for that process. Use this method only if other alternatives are not available.

All done! You can finally assume that blind baking is a simple but awesome method that will finally make your pie appear mouthwatering, firm, and crispy. Hence, you will never get a chance to wonder why your pastry resembles an over-blown, cracked, and bubbly puff pastry with a miserable texture.

Final Words

Worry no more and jump into baking! If someone asks you what is blind baking, you know how to guide the baker regardless of your baking skills. Before you leave, check out these essential tools that can help you show off your baking skills even better.