What Is Blind Baking? It’s a Must-Know Pie-Baking Technique

Seasoned pie bakers might already know about the trick of blind baking. If you don’t, it might just be the one step you should incorporate into your Thanksgiving meal prep.

So, what is blind baking? Essentially, it’s a way to prevent your pie crust’s bottom from getting soggy when filled. To use this method, all you need to do is pre-bake your crust before adding your filling.

Blind baking isn’t just useful for making sure your crust doesn’t get soggy on the bottom, though. In some cases, pies’ crusts take longer to bake than what’s inside. To prevent your filling from overcooking or your crusts from being doughy, you blind bake, making sure the crust is fully done first before filling. Of course, there are also pies that require no baking at all. These include desserts like cream pies, which are great candidates for the method as well.

If you want to try blind baking for Thanksgiving this year, it’s a simple process. You’ll line the pie crust with parchment paper and then fill it with dry, uncooked beans or rice (or you can purchase special pie weights). This will prevent the crust from bubbling up and make sure the edges stay flat.

When done, bake the crust for 15-20 minutes or until the edges turn a golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let cool until you’re able to take the beans and parchment paper out. Finally, fill the crust with your planned filling, and finish your dessert.

Now that you know what blinding baking is, why not look into another baking secret: pie birds.