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What are Pie Weights? And When Should I Use Them?
Pie weights are small ceramic or metal balls that are used when blind baking. When you are blind baking, or prebaking, a pie crust, pie weights keep the crust from puffing up or shrinking away from the edge of the pie plate or pan. Read on to learn more about when to use pie weights and what you can use instead, if you don’t own any.
What is Blind Baking?
Blind baking is when you partially or fully bake a premade orhomemade pie crust before filling it. You may want to blind bake a pie crust if the filling takes less time to cook than the crust or when making a cream or chiffon pie, because those types of filling are not baked at all. Blind baking a pie crust first can also help ensure that the crust remains crisp and not soggy when baking a pie filled with more wet ingredients.
Pie weights are used in blind baking to help keep the crust from bubbling, shrinking away from the pie plate or tart pan or puffing up on the bottom when there is no filling in it. Flaky pie crusts are generally going to have air pockets created when butter is cut into the flour using an attachment such as the Pastry Beater for KitchenAid® Tilt Head Stand Mixers.If the pie crust is not weighed down with filling, the air pockets can expand too much. Pie weights will help stop this from happening.
What Happens If You Blind Bake Without Weights?
If you blind bake without pie weights, you might find that your pie crust forms air pockets that bubble up or that it shrinks as it bakes. Pie weights help to weigh down the dough, so that it holds its shape and stays nestled against the plate or pan.
What Makes a Good Pie Weight?
If you do not have ceramic or metal pie weights to use in baking, there are other options. Make sure that whatever you choose to use for a pie weight is oven and food safe. Some suggested pie weights are dried beans, dried rice, granulated sugar or popcorn kernels. Dried beans are a popular choice because they are similar in shape and size to ceramic pie weights.
What are the Different Types of Pie Weights?
Three common types of pie weights include ceramic ball pie weights, ball and chain weights or disc weights. Each type of pie weight has its own benefits.
Small ceramic ball pie weights fit any pan size and can be moved easily to cover every inch of crust. Ball and chain pie weights are a bit easier to collect than the ceramic balls since all the stainless steel balls are connected. A disc pie weight covers the entire crust and there are different sizes designed to fit different pans.
How Do You Use Pie Weights?
When blind baking, the pie crust is usually lined with parchment paper and the pie weights are set on top of the parchment. Spread the weights around so they're evenly distributed from the edge to the center and not all just piled in one place.
A single set of pie weights should cover an entire pie or tart crust, but if it seems as though your coverage is uneven, you may want to purchase more pie weights or use an alternative such as dried beans or popcorn kernels.
What Can You Use Instead of Pie Weights?
Instead of pie weights, you can use dried beans or rice, granulated sugar, popcorn kernels or steel ball bearings. If you are not using pie weights, the idea is to mimic what the pie weight does and to make sure that the alternative is oven-safe.
Another idea is to lay your crust across the pie pan and nest a second pie pan on top of it, pressing them together. Then bake the pie crust upside down. It might be helpful to spray the bottom of the second pan with baking spray.
When Should You Not Use Pie Weights?
Not all recipes that require blind baking will require the use of pie weights. Pie weights are designed to weigh down flaky crusts, but with any type of crushed cracker or cookie crust, such as graham cracker crusts, you likely will not need pie weights. These types of crusts will likely stay in place on their own. You also do not need pie weights if you are going to fill your pie before baking it.
Explore KitchenAid® Appliances for Making Pies
Appliances from KitchenAid brand can help you bring your baking inspirations to life. Whether you need a stand mixer, hand mixer or a specific attachment, KitchenAid brand has a variety of useful kitchen tools to unlock baking potential.
Pie Recipes
If you’re ready to start creating, explore the pie recipes below for some delicious inspiration.
1. Blueberry Lattice Pie
Follow this recipe to create a delicious pie that uses fresh blueberries and orange zest for the perfect combination of flavors.
Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked.
Line your pie shell with parchment paper.Don't skip this step, or your pie weights might stick to the dough. Use a square or circle of parchment paper that's large enough to allow for plenty of overhang — you'll need to be able to easily grab the sides without spilling the hot weights everywhere.
Pie weights are small ceramic or metal balls that you use when blind baking a pie crust. To blind bake a pie crust means you bake it naked, without its filling. A recipe may call for blind baking if the filling itself is not baked (say, a cooked custard or a filling that sets when it's chilled).
Pie weights are little weights used to fill the inside of the blind baked pie crust, to help stop the middle puffing up in the oven. You line the chilled pie crust with crumpled parchment paper, then fill the crust up to the edges of the crimps using pie weights.
They will work just as well and can be reused just like pie weights. The only caveat: If you use an edible item like dried beans as pie weights, you'll no longer be able to eat them. But you'll be happy to have an affordable alternative on hand the next time you go to bake.
Instead of pie weights, you can use dried beans or rice, granulated sugar, popcorn kernels or steel ball bearings. If you are not using pie weights, the idea is to mimic what the pie weight does and to make sure that the alternative is oven-safe.
Pie weights perform the necessary function of weighing down an empty pie crust while it parbakes, helping the pie shell keep its shape. They also prevent air pockets from forming and encourage the crust to crisp (no soggy bottoms here).
If you don't have pie weights, you could use something similar like pennies, dry beans, dry rice, or even sugar. I don't recommend blind baking your crust without anything to weigh it down though, because it will likely lose its shape, bubble, and shrink.
Most fruit pies bake at a temperature between 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Some recipes call for baking the pie in a 450 degree F oven to begin with, then turning down the oven to about 350 degrees F.
This means that if you're cooking in a skillet over medium, medium-low, or low heat, you'll probably be fine using parchment. Hill uses it in the oven all the time for any temps under 450°F, but never risks using it on the grill, with the broiler, or in a skillet over high heat because the temperature can exceed 500°F.
If you have dried beans in your pantry, these can come in handy as pie weights, too. The type doesn't matter, so use chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, even lentils. After using them a couple times, retire them as pie weights and turn them into dinner. (This Instant Pot method is a great place to start.)
Line the chilled crust in the pan with parchment or foil. Fill the crust with pie weights completely flush to the top edge of the crust to prevent shrinking or slumping. Place on a rimmed, parchment-lined baking sheet. This will help catch any butter that might bubble over.
If you use sugar as a pie weight, you'll be left with about 4 cups of lightly caramelized sugar granules which you can (and should!)easily reuse. Let the sugar cool to room temperature, run it through a food processor to break up any lumps, then store it in a cool, dry place like any other granulated sugar.
Don't be misled by the small containers of pie weights sold in stores — every time you par bake a pie, you should fill the pie plate all the way to the top edge with weights. This rule holds true no matter what type of pie weights you use, from dried beans to sugar to ceramic weights.
You can roll pie dough on any surface when your dough is extremely cold, because the cold dough is what really helps to keep it from sticking. Just a light dusting of flour applied many times is better than one big thick coating of flour. Just add flour as needed as too much flour can toughen the dough.
It's also more granular than any other option. That lets sugar settle into every nook and cranny of the aluminum-lined crust, distributing its considerable weight across the bottom and sides of the pan, and butting up against the taller edges, too.
But there are alternatives to baking beans – some of which you may even have in your cupboard. If you're new to blind baking, the simplest homemade solution is rice. It acts as a great pastry weight and does not burn – plus it's easy to tip out or save to use again.
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