Jennifer Henry
IMPORTANT TIPS FOR THE PERFECT SHELL:
The right pie plate: Glass is the best pie plate since it heats slowly and more evenly. Ceramic is also a good option. And while all crusts will shrink a little when you bake them, metal pans shrink the crust unevenly, and you lose the nice fluted edging.
Avoid a shrinking shell: don’t overwork the dough. This will activate the gluten and make the pie shell shrink. It’s best to chill the dough in the fridge BEFORE rolling it into the pie shape, and BEFORE putting it into the oven for about 10 minutes each time.
Add a little weight: if you are using a cooked pie, you can add your filling and bake the pie as per normal – the filling will act as its own weight. If you are making a chilled pie, poke fork marks in the bottom and sides of your pie shell, place a piece of parchment paper on top of the crust and fill with beans. This weight will help the shell to maintain its shape. After baking, cool with the beans and remove only after the shell has cooled (about an hour or so).
Don’t rush the cook: bake @ 350°F until browned nicely (each oven will be different) – this can be 20-40 minutes for an unfilled shell, or twice as long for a filled one. Every pie will be different so allow yourself lots of time.
Allow it to cool: Allow pies to completely chill on the counter, nice and slow, before putting it into the fridge. Fruit pies will have lots of juices that will soak up and slightly solidify over a couple of hours. Custard pies should be left to sit on the counter about 4 hours before putting into the fridge.
