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When I made chicken pot pie, the filling was fine but the puff pastry on top didn't puff up though it did cook through.
How can I remedy this?

The pastry was the store-bought frozen variety. The temperature was 375 °F and I used and egg wash for the glaze.

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How hot was your oven? did you glaze the pastry prior to baking? – Rowland Shaw Jul 22 '10 at 19:59
Did you preheat the oven? – Dan Puzey Jul 22 '10 at 20:27
Yes I did. Also, I use an oven thermometer to be sure the oven temperature is true. – kiamlaluno Jul 22 '10 at 20:41

3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

If you've baked your puff pastry in the past at 375 then it's probably not a temperature problem, however I usually bake it between 400-425 degrees (400 convection or 425 in standard oven). Lower temperatures aren't a problem for the baking aspect as it will still cook through. The problem lies in the fact that the heat won't be significant enough to generate the steam needed for expansion.

Egg wash could be a culprit as it should only be used on the top and not allowed to run down the sides where it will seal the edge together and keep it from rising unevenly.

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Now that you mention the egg wash, I used a sprig of sage to apply it thinking it would impart just a touch of extra flavor. It was a messier process than using my pastry brush. I think that may have been the problem. Thank you very much. – kiamlaluno Jul 23 '10 at 1:35
You're welcome! I'm glad the problem was solved. – Darin Sehnert Jul 23 '10 at 2:02
up vote 3 down vote

Did at any point you crimp the puff pastry? If you press the layers together too hard you will cause the dough not to puff. I don't think temperature was the issue here if you said it cooked all the way through.

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No, I didn't. I know not to do that, which is why it is puzzling that I had a problem. This was my first pot pie but not my first time using puff pastry. – kiamlaluno Jul 22 '10 at 20:23
up vote 1 down vote

Puff pastry puffs because of the steam generated during cooking so if your pastry has dried out you are not going to get a good rise out of it. You can also lose the puff if you defrost and then refreeze as you will create larger ice crystals that will bust up the protein matrix that your pastry needs to maintain its shape.

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