Can You Use Marbles As Pie Weights

Pie weights are used to keep a pie crust from bubbling and shrinking away from the edge of the pie plate or tart pan when you re blind baking a fancy term for prebaking a crust.

Can you use marbles as pie weights.

Commercial pie weights can be quite heavy so adjust the quantity of weights you use accordingly. Then once you remove the weights to blind bake the crust. The blind baking technique can help you avoid this. Without the presence of filling the crust can slump down into the plate as it bakes necessitating pie weights to help keep its shape.

If you re blind baking and don t have pie weights try using. If it s more convenient for you to visit a hardware store or machine shop than a kitchen store you can use steel ball bearings as pie weights. Forget weights use sugar. As far as what kinds of pie weights to use you have options.

It s not that weights aren t essential only that my go to choice is far less traditional. There are ceramic balls and also metal chains which coil around the inside of the pie crust and are easier to lift out since they re connected. If you don t own pie weights there are plenty of things in your pantry that you can use instead. You can use glass marbles as pie weights just let them cool before removing from the pan to avoid temperature shock which could cause them to break.

They may actually even work better than ceramic weights since the heat from the steel will help to cook the top of the crust to an extra crispy doneness. You can find both for around 10 to 15. Be careful though that the marbles are paint or glaze free. Some recipes call for a crisp golden crust.

Set parchment paper or foil on top of the dough then fill er up with dried beans. Rocks the right size and shape rock will make a perfect weight. Remove your weights and foil or paper half way through blind baking to allow the crust to bake fully and develop some color. You may need two layers of dried beans but only one of steel balls.

But you can also use dried beans. You wouldn t want an undercooked soggy soft crust to go with your pie. Some great ideas for fermentation weights. The key to getting the perfect pie lies in getting the crust just right.

My kitchen and budget are too tight to accommodate a bag of ceramic pie weights or marbles and i d rather save rice and beans for dinner. Marbles tied a in cheesecloth or muslin marbles work well because they can easily fit whatever size or shape jar you are using.