How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust

Sometimes you need a baked pie crust for a lemon meringue pie or a prebaked crust for a pumpkin pie.  The problem some people have with baking a crust is bubbling of the pie crust while baking.  This is easily solved by pricking (docking) the unbaked crust all over with a fork or even better is blind baking the crust.  While docking the crust works well you do run the risk of unbaked filling, like pumpkin or custard filling, seeping through the holes made by the fork.  Blind baking eliminates this risk and the pie crust bakes perfectly flat without bubbling with or without holes. 

Blind Baking A Pie Crust
1 unbaked pie crust

Use your favourite pie crust recipe or use one from this site here or here.  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  If your oven is very hot reduce this if you think your crust will burn.  

Follow  the directions given below for a perfectly baked pie crust, ready to be filled and served or prebaked for a custard or pumpkin pie filling. 

To blind bake an unbaked pie crust, place parchment paper or foil on top of the unbaked pie crust.  Line the paper with dried beans or pie weights (that may be purchased in kitchen stores),  place the pie crust in the 425 degree oven and bake about 20 minutes until just starting to brown. (You can use the beans over and over again.)

This pie crust was docked before blind baking.  This is not necessary because the beans or pie weights keep the crust from bubbling while baking. 

Prebaking the crust helps keep the crust crisp when making any kind of custard pie.  You can dock (prick it with a fork) the crust but if you want to bake it with a custard filling like a pumpkin pie the filling could seep through the fork holes.  Blind baking insures you have a nice flat crust without any bubbling.   If you would like the pie crust fully baked, bake an additional10-15 minutes or until golden.

Baked flat, sides and bottom.