The day a pastry chef in Portland changed how I blind bake pie crusts

I was at this tiny bakery called Tarts & Treasures in Portland last summer, watching the owner prep for a big order. She didn't use pie weights or beans, just docked the dough and threw it in the freezer for 20 minutes before baking. I asked her about it and she said the cold relaxes the gluten so nothing shrinks or bubbles up. Tried it at home on a lemon meringue last week and my crust came out flat and sturdy for the first time ever. No more fussing with parchment or spilled beans in my oven. I still use pie weights for big tart shells sometimes, but for standard 9-inch pies this method saves me like 15 minutes. Has anyone else ditched the weights for a deep freeze trick?

3 comments

3 Comments

julia_patel1mo ago

Wait, you just freeze the whole dough after docking it?

kevin_dixon29d ago

Yep, straight into the freezer. Keeps the docked holes from sealing back up.

perez.patricia14d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, the freezer trick works better if you chill the dough after rolling it out too!