Recipes

[Demitra1]

The bottom of my pie crusts don't cook thoroughly. I made squash pies yesterday, and the filling was done perfectly, the edges of the crust were nicely browned, but the bottom crust was soggy. What am I doing wrong? Is there a trick I don't know about? TIA. Demitra

[Yahooey]

I would like to know all about pie crusts too. I've only blind baked when I have put a filling on top.

I've only just started doing my own pie crust - still in the learning stage.

[Mom2Dogs]

I don't have an answer for you but my question would be why do they SHRINK so much!!

I put the ingredients in the fridge before rolling out into my pan and I also use pie weights but still the crust shrinks, grrrrr.

If anyone knows I'd appreciate the advice!

[Wiskota]

OP Do you put your Pie on the bottom rack? That puts the bottom closer to the heat source and should help get bottom done.

I remember my mother baking her pie crust on the bottom of the pie pan. She turned it upside down and put it over it then baked. She then used another pan to turn it into. It seemed to help with the shrinking.

[kittymomNC]

momtodogs, The one thing I've found to help with shrinking is to just barely crimp the edge of the crust over the edge of the pie plate so it holds it there as it bakes. I do this with a single pie crust I'm baking in advance, and also when I do a top crust. It just seems to keep it in place.

[Sammijo10]

Believe it or not, I've found that my Granny's old speckled metal pie plan makes the absolute best pie crust. The glass, ceramic, pottery pie pans look wonderful, but I've never been able to get the bottom crust to brown sufficiently in them, even on the bottom shelf of the oven.

I like the idea of the upside down pie pan or tucking the crust over the edge to prevent shrinking, however. The upside down is really intriguing as that means no pie weights or dry beans. Thanks Wiskota and Kitty!

[lovesrecess]

make sure to use a metal pie pan and place on bottom oven rack to make sure the bottom of the crust bakes thoroughly....if you still have problems with it, try baking the empty crust for a few minutes prior to putting in the filling. hope this helps!

[kittymomNC]

As lovesrecess said, I also bake the bottom crust for a few minutes before filling it to help keep it from absorbing too much of the moisture in the filling. I cut a piece of aluminum foil and put it around the outside edge to keep it from getting too brown. If I'm making a one crust pie, I just leave that on until a few minutes before the pie is done, then take it off and let the edges finish browning. If I put on a top crust, I put the foil back and continue as for the one crust pie. You can buy the metal things, I don't know what they're called, to put around the edge instead of using the aluminum foil, but I've just never bothered, the foil is easy enough.

[Dorothy11]

On 7/15/2014 momtodogs said:

I don't have an answer for you but my question would be why do they SHRINK so much!!

I put the ingredients in the fridge before rolling out into my pan and I also use pie weights but still the crust shrinks, grrrrr.

If anyone knows I'd appreciate the advice!

The most likely reason the crust is shrinking is overworking the dough. Flour contains gluten (a protein) and when mixed with liquid will start to strengthen and get elastic. This is great if you're making a yeast bread, but not so much for pie dough.

After cutting in the fat (I use only butter), mix the water in very gently and only until it holds together. Flatten into a disk and refrigerate 10-15 minutes or longer before rolling out. When rolling, don't overwork the dough. Let it rest again in the refrigerator.

For a blind crust - put gravity to work! Put another pie pan over the crust and turn the whole thing upside down to bake. This works best with metal pans.

Hope this helps!

[oceantown]

I have heard that shrinking crust is caused by stretching the pastry when putting into the pie baker. I roll the pastry onto my rolling pin, then unroll it over the pie dish. Then pick up the edge and carefully ease it into the pan. Then crimp the edge, slightly overlapping the pie dish.

I have never had soggy crust. I would think that your temp is not high enough. When I make an apple pie, I start it in a hot oven, preheated to 450 degrees. Bake 10 minutes at 450, then reduce temp to 300 degrees and continue baking 60 minutes or more until juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

When I make pumpkin pie, I use the recipe on the Libby's pumpkin label (plain pumpkin, not pie filling).

Before:

After:

I would be happy to post the pastry recipe if you would like.