Lots of pictures but I think the results are worth it.
First, I want to say that I HATE blind baking.
I know how to do it. I HAVE done it. I have a jar of chickpeas set aside for the purpose. A single layer of the chickpeas over a round of parchment paper works pretty well.
But I don’t LIKE the concept.
I’ve attempted the alternative … DOCKING.
Here’s what I started with. Now, using the tines of a fork, prick the pie crust all over. The base AND the sides. (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture.) And then bake as long as your recipe calls for. Then cool and fill.
And here’s the result … shrinking and bubbling up of the pie crust resulting in a shriveled up pie shell. NOT pretty.
But there’s a THIRD option. I found the technique on the King Arthur Flour website.
Blind baking using a second pie pan of the same size and laying it over the pie crust.
Then you FLIP THE TWO PANS OVER and bake.
Here’s a picture of a mini aluminum pie plate and a regular sized metal pie plate ready to go into the oven.
After your chosen bake time, flip the two pans back over, remove the pie plate on top and THEN dock. (I forgot to do this in this case.) And complete baking. I covered the full sized pie crust with a round of parchment paper to prevent sticking to the pie plate on top
I probably baked this a bit too long but I forgot that it continues cooking when you take it out of the oven.
Flip/dock or just docking … which would YOU use?