It’s common for people to bake pies to mark special occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and other life events that are worth celebrating. You put a lot of effort into baking these delicious treats, so you want to ensure that things turn out perfectly.
This is why it’s annoying when the pie crust edges come out a bit burnt. If you’ve ever had this happen, you might be wondering what went wrong and how you can fix it in the future.
Continue reading for tips on keeping your pie crust edges from burning. This will ensure that you’ll be able to enjoy your pies to the fullest with your family.
1 – Create a Pie Shield to Protect the Crust
The most practical way to deal with this problem is to create a pie shield to protect the edges of the crust. You might not understand how to do this, but it’s simple once you know the details.
You make a shield for the crust by using aluminum foil. Grab a sheet of foil and cut out a circular piece that will be able to properly cover the pie crust edges.
It’ll be easier to do this when you have your pie crust in front of you so that you can measure things out. It has to be wide enough to cover the edges so that you can protect them.
You don’t put this shield on right away when you start baking the pie, though. It’s actually best to wait until it’s been in the oven for about forty minutes.
Once this time has been reached, pull the pie crust out and place your shield on top of it. Put the crust back in the oven and continue baking it for the remaining time.
This should allow you to bake the pie crust without having the edges get burned. It’s a simple way to solve this annoying issue.
The only problem with this method is that some people might find it to be a bit annoying. Having to cut out the shield from a piece of foil each time you’re baking a pie would be a bit tedious.
2 – Just Buy a Pie Crust Shield
You might not have ever heard about this, but there are products that you can buy that will replicate the method that is explained above. If you don’t have the time to cut out pieces of aluminum foil to protect the pie crust that you’re baking, you could simply buy a retail product that can do the same thing.
It’s easy to find pie crust shields online that you’ll be able to use over and over again. You’ll always have to discard the shields that you make out of simple aluminum foil after using them, but that won’t be the case here.
You can purchase a shield that’s made out of aluminum online without spending much money at all. For less than $10, you’ll have exactly what you need.
There are versions of the aluminum shield that are meant for 9” pies and ones meant for 10” pies. You’ll simply have to choose the right size and you’ll be ready to bake pies without having to worry about crust edge burning issues.
It’s also notable that you can use these commercial shield products in different ways. Some people put them on the crusts after baking the pie for forty minutes, but you could also just put the shield on at the beginning of the process.
3 – Bake the Crust at an Appropriate Temperature
Of course, there could be other issues that you’re encountering that are causing you to burn your pies. Burning the pie crust edges is very common, but sometimes these issues can be worse if you’re making mistakes.
For example, you might not be baking the pies at the appropriate temperature. Generally, a pie recipe is going to have a recommended temperature for baking the pie.
It’s always best to follow the recipe recommendations for temperatures when you’re baking something. This ensures that you’ll be more likely to have things turn out as intended.
If you make a mistake and wind up baking the pie for too long, burning issues will ensue. Perhaps you didn’t look at the recipe closely and you set the oven at a higher temperature than you were supposed to.
Go back and check the recipe so that you can get things right. Sometimes it is safer in certain ovens to bake things at a lower temperature.
4 – Oven Hot Spot Issues
Have you ever had part of your pie crust burn on one side? This might seem like a very odd thing to have happen, but it isn’t super uncommon.
You might bake a pie and you’ll notice that the left side of the pie crust edges will be burned. If the right side is perfectly fine, that might be an indication that you’re dealing with oven hot spots.
A hot spot in your oven refers to sections of your oven that get hotter than they’re supposed to. If your oven has a hot spot, it might be more likely to burn things that are placed in certain sections.
You can tell if your oven has hot spots by placing pieces of bread on the oven rack and toasting them. Toast the bread at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes and then see how things look.
If you have some pieces of bread that look burned toward one side of your oven, that’s an indication that your oven has hot spots. In this situation, you’re going to want to avoid baking things on the side of the oven that has hot spots.
Some people correct baking issues by turning their pie pans partway through the baking process. In theory, this should help the pie to bake more evenly instead of baking too fast on one side.
Final Thoughts
Burning your pie crusts will be very frustrating, but there are ways to prevent this from happening. It just takes a bit of time and ingenuity to solve this issue.
You most likely have aluminum foil in your kitchen already. Cut out a circular piece of it that can be used to protect the pie crust.
Bake the crust for forty minutes and then take it out to put your aluminum shield on it. Continue baking it for the rest of the remaining time and you should get good results.
If having to make your own shield each time seems too annoying, you could also buy aluminum shields from online retailers. You might also be able to find these at department stores or some grocery stores.
They’re very affordable and can be used many times instead of needing to be discarded after one use. For many people, it’ll be the best way to take care of this problem.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re baking pies at the correct temperature. Temperature mistakes can cause you to burn a pie whether you’re using the shielding method or not.
Ensure that your oven doesn’t have hot spots as well so that you can position the pie in the oven appropriately. So long as you’re looking out for these issues, it’ll be possible to get good results when baking pies.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.