Throughout cooking school, I lastly discovered the trick to making a completely flaky pie crust: pie weights.
The weights hold the crust– store-bought or homemade– in location, and they assist it keep its crisp structure while par-baking or blind-baking, leading to a completely even layer to house the filling (I like pecan). I have actually attempted baking pie crusts with and without weights, and I have actually constantly discovered a plain distinction.
With pie weights, the outcomes are almost constantly impressive. The crust is smooth and even on the bottom and crisp along the edges. Plus, it stays flush with the baking meal on all sides. On the other hand, crusts baked without pie weights frequently wind up deflated or bubbled up in the center, that makes real estate a pie’s valuable filling almost difficult. (Crumb crusts are the only exception, and I can typically get away with not utilizing weights when baking a graham cracker crust.)
So when I heard that Erin Jeanne McDowell, a baking professional who composed a whole cookbook committed to pies, introduced a line of multiple-use silicone pie beans, I understood I needed to check them.
To see what these sleek brand-new beans might do, I started a baking treasure trove. And thanks to their thoughtful style, I found they’re far more resilient than any pie weights I have actually attempted in the past, and they’re probably more effective than utilizing routine ol’ beans to yield the best pie crust.
Personnel choice
These silicone pie beans, which are available in a pack of 650, are indicated for par-baking or blind-baking pie crusts. They’re simple to tidy and completely multiple-use.
Pie weights are available in all sizes and shapes. Some folks choose keeping a crust in location utilizing kitchen staples like dried navy beans or raw rice, whereas others may choose ceramic-coated pie weights. Although the previous choices are rather affordable, they’ll ultimately ruin. On the other hand, the latter are typically expensive yet exceptionally delicate, and they can chip with time (which is why I didn’t include them in my screening).
These silicone pie weights apparently attend to those problems, and they differ from any pie weights I have actually attempted. They have a smooth, rubbery surface, that makes them resistant to use and tear. They’re completely multiple-use– that makes the substantial cost feel more understandable– and they’re basically an artificial, somewhat bigger dupe for the edible, dried beans I generally utilize for par-baking.
The silicone beans are likewise heat-resistant (approximately 700 ºF), and they are available in a mesh bag, which keeps them included while you’re cleaning them by hand or, more easily, in the dishwashing machine (another advantage of utilizing silicone pie weights, given that I would not suggest tossing raw navy beans in the dishwashing machine).
To put them to the test, I par-baked 3 crusts and compared the outcomes of utilizing silicone beans, navy beans, and no beans.
I utilized store-bought Entirely Wholesome natural pie crust to line 3 Pyrex Easy Grab 9.5″ Glass Pie Pans. And I utilized the suggestion of a fork to poke holes throughout the surface area, to help with ventilation. Then, to assist make clean-up much easier, I covered the raw crust with a crumpled piece of parchment paper before including the beans.
After I par-baked the crusts per the guidelines on package, the crust with no beans became an unfortunate, soaked stack of dough that diminished and totally lost its kind. On the other hand, the 2 crusts made with the beans efficiently avoided air bubbles from forming. The beans kept the shape of the crusts almost undamaged while they uniformly baked to golden, crispy excellence.
The outcomes were essentially similar from par-baking with silicone versus with navy beans, which may use the latter look like a no-brainer. However I ‘d still pick the silicone beans over any other pie weights choice. Here’s why.
To fill a 9.5-inch pie pan, I required 2 16-ounce bags of navy beans to finish the job, and this expense me approximately $6. Nevertheless, from a food-waste viewpoint, this produced 32 ounces of inedible navy beans that were bound to ruin within the next couple of months, which felt generously inefficient.
Nevertheless, the silicone pie beans are fairly costly, which is my primary issue about this item. Scoring a bag of these silicone beans will cost you a quite cent ($ 70, to be precise, for 650 pie beans– simply enough to fill one 9-inch pie pan). Even then, however, they’re exceptionally efficient, wonderful to utilize, and probably worth the rate.
Thinking About that they do not have an expiration date and they yield excellent outcomes, and that I bake pies numerous times a year, I believe the silicone beans will ultimately balance out the preliminary cost and deserve the financial investment in the long run.
Although I can’t talk to the efficiency of ceramic pie weights (another popular par-baking tool), based upon this test, I have actually discovered they’re generally more costly than the typical bag of navy beans and similar in rate to these silicone weights. Plus, based upon my previous experience, ceramic pie weights are way more susceptible to breaking, and they aren’t as resilient or easy to tidy as these silicone beans.
After a great baking sesh, it actually does not get a lot easier than cleaning up these silicone beans. A fast dunk in hot, soapy water was all it required to scrub away any recurring buttery grease. I even left them in the bag on top of an absorbent towel to dry over night. Though spreading them on a meal towel may accelerate the procedure.
Other kitchen staples– like a bag of navy beans– obviously do the par-baking task simply as well, however for real pie enthusiasts, these multiple-use pie beans are enjoyable to deal with. And they’re probably the best novel-yet-practical present for the pie enthusiast who currently has all of it.
This short article was modified by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Home Builder.
