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Individual quiche crust troubleshooting


JAZ

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I've been working on a recipe for a class on "cooking for one" for an individual quiche. I'm making it in a 4-inch springform pan and have the amount of pastry dough down, but I'm having some problems baking the crust off. Ordinarily with a full-sized quiche I roll the pastry, put it in the pan, line the pan with buttered foil and put in pie weights (I use pennies). Then after 15 minutes or so I remove the foil and weights and finish baking.

When I tried to do that with the small sized pan, I ended up tearing holes in the sides of the crust with the foil. The second time, I skipped the pie weights entirely, but then (of course) the crust sides slid down. I was able to remove the crust from the oven and push them back up, which was mostly successful, but kind of a pain.

I think I must be missing an obvious solution, but I'm stumped. Any ideas?

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Hmm. This may seem like a primitive solution, but it's the best I can up with. Make sure the tart edges are a bit thicker than that of the center crust, and press it it well with your fingers. Non-stick foil might help, as well as allowing the crust to completely cool. (I have my ball jar of penny pie weights too! )

Margaret McArthur

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When I make a quiche or tart I use the same pastry dough recipe regardless of whether I'm using a large or individual pan. I roll the pastry out to the same thickness and use the same blind baking technique w/weights. Same oven temperature. The cooking times are different, depending on size. I've never experienced any difference with the results between big and small.

The only distinction between my technique and yours is the buttered foil lining. I've never buttered mine, nor have I ever heard of doing such a thing. Tart/pastry crust already has plenty of fat, why add more? Perhaps you're making your crust soggy, hence the tearing?


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Maybe the problem is the foil that I'm using, which is heavy duty and not very flexible. In a larger tart pan, it works fine, but it's really hard to fit it into the individual pan without damaging the dough. I'll try a lighter weight foil.

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Hi JAZ,

Have you tried using plastic wrap/cling film instead of foil? This is a technique described by Friberg in his books, and works very well for both small and large pastry cases. Instead of using foil, place one, two or three layers of plastic wrap inside the pastry before blindbaking. I usually put some beans in there to serve as weights. The film shrinks somewhat during baking, but it's usually a breeze to lift the whole thing out (including the beans) once it's done blindbaking.

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Here's my solution, and I've trained many others to use it:

Use disposable aluminum pans.

Line the pan as per normal.

Place another pan ontop of it, "sandwiching" the pastry inbetween

Place this "unit" upside down on a baking sheet, if making more, place them all on a baking sheet.

Lay another sheet pan on top of the upside down shells. If using a convection, this will prevent the foil pans from blowing around, and prevents "puffing" or swelling of the dough.

Bake as per normal

It's all about the law, the law of gravity. Instead of fighting it, use it to your advantage.

Hope this helps

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Freezing any piecrust beforehand helps with the sliding problem.

I learned to make those little tartlets with pate sablee in lemon curd tartlets. Because it's a different pastry, maybe these suggestions are inapplicable. Anyway, here goes. At least the method is simple.

I used regular 4" tartlet pans, not springform, and I buttered them. After rolling out the pastry, I cut circles with a biscuit cutter and inserted the pastry into the pans. You can mess around with the pastry so it fits the pans; I've found small tartlets more forgiving than regular-sized tarts if you do this. All the tartlets go onto a half-sheet pan, then into the fridge (for well-chilled), or better, the freezer, until they're solid. Pop the tartlets from fridge/freezer into a preheated hot oven and bake. To remove, upend the pan, rap sharply against a tabletop and the pastry should fall out.

good luck...if you have a chance, let us know how it goes.

Edited by djyee100 (log)
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Lots of great suggestions to consider. I have a few questions, so I'll list them all here.

Have you tried using plastic wrap/cling film instead of foil? . . .The film shrinks somewhat during baking, but it's usually a breeze to lift the whole thing out (including the beans) once it's done blindbaking.

Doesn't it melt? I don't think I'm familiar with any plastic wraps that are heat proof enough for an oven.

I usually use crumpled parchment between pastry and pie weights, rather than foil. Crumpling the paper seems to improve it's flexibility.

Good to know. I always have parchment paper on hand, but have never tried that trick.

Here's my solution, and I've trained many others to use it:

Use disposable aluminum pans.

Line the pan as per normal.

Place another pan ontop of it, "sandwiching" the pastry inbetween

Place this "unit" upside down on a baking sheet, if making more, place them all on a baking sheet.

Lay another sheet pan on top of the upside down shells. If using a convection, this will prevent the foil pans from blowing around, and prevents "puffing" or swelling of the dough.

This sounds promising. Do you use the same size pan inside as outside? If so, doesn't it make the dough really thin?

Freezing any piecrust beforehand helps with the sliding problem.

You know, I thought of that after the fact. Nice to know it works.

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Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is that since I'm doing this for a class, simpler and easier is better. Which is not to say that more complex methods aren't welcome for my own use.

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Hi JAZ,

I'm not sure what quality of wrap you've got access to, but here (in Norway) I find that even the cheapest grocery store plastic wrap does the job nicely, without melting. I've been using this method ever since I read about it in Friberg's books, a couple of years ago. Minimal shrinking and no hassle.

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Jaz,

You can use any thickeness you want.

This technique is, from my experience, the fastest, cleanest, and easiest method.

Like I said, you are using gravity to your advantage with this method--gravity always pulls down. With all the other methods you are fighting gravity, and you will almost always loose--gravity always pulls down.

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I always use coffee filters to hold the pie weights. You can cut them to the size you need, I like to spray them with pan spray before the first use, they are re-usable many times and they are easy to remove from the dough.

check out my baking and pastry books at the Pastrymama1 shop on www.Half.ebay.com

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