Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Just followed yet another bogus set of instructions for blind baking a butter crust before making quiche. Of course, it slumped; there's no way to blind bake butter crust and NOT have it slump.

Never again. Dinner, ruined.

that sucks. Even from frozen it slumps?

Did you line it with foil, and weight it down? I never have a problem, though it does shrink a little - the reason I always squeeze it out about 1/4 " above the tart pans. I also bake it longer than is usually recommended - 15-20 min. before removing the foil and weights. By this time, it will have firmed up completely. Then, I brush with egg or egg white, and bake briefly to "seal" the crust, if I am baking a filling in it, or I'll bake it until browned just right, if it will be filled, but not baked.

I am a cake and cookie baker, basically always approach baking pies with trepidation. However, I've not had problems with pre-baked pie crusts. For butter crusts, I've had excellent results using CI's butter crust recipe, as well as the vodka crust as well as the ones from SE. I do follow the directions exactly ( I don't always for CI's overly fussy recipes). I use old Pyrex glass pie pans and an oven proof white covered deeper one, never metal, foil and KAF ceramic balls. Like Dave, I bring it up as high as I can get it.

My favorite is the CC butter cream cheese one though. It much easier than the others. If you want any of the specific recipes, please let me know.

Dave,

I lined it with parchment and filled it with beans. The beans were inadequate for holding back the slumping; they just mounded up instead.

Since at Hoosier Mama Pie Company I blind bake all butter pie crusts just about every day, I can offer a few tips:
1) freeze the crust for at least 20 minutes.
2) line the crust with a large coffee filter or parchment tall enough to stand abou 1" above the edge of the crust.
3) fill the crust with beans, rice or the weights of your choice. We use about 1 quart of beans in a 9" shell.
4) Bake in a 400F oven for 20-24 minutes, turning it half way through.
5) remove the weights by lifting out the filter/parchment.
6) poke the bottom of the crust with a fork if there are any patches still unbaked, then put it back in the over for two minutes.
7) if making a quiche, brush the hot crust with some egg white. This will seal it and keep it from becoming soggy.

Becky,

Funny, my sweetie just checked out the book from Hoosier Mama. How are you enjoying work there?

It's good. I do enjoy the excitement I get when I tell people where I work-having random people gush about what you do is nice. The boss is ok, the crew works hard and I work a four day week, high can be really nice when I have stuff to get done. And every season there is some fun task-juicing key limes, peeling rhubarb, pitting cherries, peeling peaches.....

Becky,

You need a hydraulic press for the key limes. You can press 20 at once.

We have been promised a Zumex, as soon as the key lime assembly comes out of the factory, real soon now. I have looked up table top presses to adapt, but the juice collection gets tricky.