Blind baking is when the crust is baked without any filling. The crust
is partial or completely baked before the filling is added to prevent
the crust from becoming soggy. Prepare the single crust as instructed
in Single Pie Crust and the
follow the instructions for blind baking below.
After the prepared crust has been chilled for 30 minutes, remove
it from the refrigerator and line it with foil or parchment paper
and weight it down with pie weights, uncooked rice, or dry beans.
You can also help prevent the crust from puffing up and blistering
while it bakes by pricking it with a fork. Thoroughly prick the
bottom and sides of the crust before baking. If a single crust
is not going to be blind baked before filling, do not prick the
crust because the filling may seep under the crust while it is
baking.
Bake at 350° F until the top edges just begin to turn color.
Take the pie crust from the oven and remove the weights and then
return the crust to the oven to finish baking.
If the edges of the pie crust start to brown too quickly, cover
them with pie crust shields to prevent over browning. If you do
not have pie crust shields, you can make some out of aluminum
foil.
