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I'm making a savory pie - basically stew in a pie crust.

Do I want to parbake the bottom crust of my pie for this? Will doing so make it more or less likely that the bottom crust ends up as a soggy mess? I'm not sure if or how the contents being stew instead of fruit will change how the whole thing cooks.

My plan for cook time is "until the top crust looks good." The filling (stew) is essentially done when it goes in, and the ingredients are ones that are pretty resilient against overcooking, so I'm not worried about harming it regardless of how my cook time comes out.

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    Does this answer your question? When using puff pastry in the base of a savoury pie, do you need to blind bake it?
    – Chris H
    Apr 11, 2022 at 10:50
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    You should ask "how to prevent soggy bottom on a double crust pie" (or, just Google it). Because your bottom will for sure be soggy with that much liquid unless you take precautions, and as answered already you can't use parbaking as your precaution because of the double crust. (This doesn't really have anything to do with savory/sweet, it's all about the amount of liquid.)
    – user3067860
    Apr 11, 2022 at 15:28
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    @ChrisH Not a dupe, I'm using a standard pie crust recipe, not puff pastry.
    – A_S00
    Apr 11, 2022 at 18:31

2 Answers 2

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No, simply because there's no way to attach the top crust to the bottom crust, once the bottom crust is parbaked.

In general, pot pies are not pre-baked.

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    I suspect that's one of the reasons why biscuit-topped savory pies got invented - there, you can prebake the bottom crust, since the top doesn't have to be attached.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Apr 11, 2022 at 6:39
  • I'm not sure why Pilsbury call that a "pot pie", which normally only has a top crust - but the answer is correct and the statement applies to all or at least most pies with a crust all round
    – Chris H
    Apr 11, 2022 at 10:49
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    @ChrisH: Later in the Wikipedia article you linked reference is made to "pie shell and crust" differentiating and including a bottom crust (shell). So the Wikipedia article is poor evidence that a pot pie only has a top crust. In my experience, pot pies, both commercially produced and homemade, can have either a top crust only or both a top and bottom crust.
    – Dennis Williamson
    Apr 11, 2022 at 12:26
  • @DennisWilliamson I linked to WP among many others: Merriam-Webster's "pastry-covered" is ambiguous (Oxford similar); Collins in en-US has "usually with only a top crust"; Britannica "covered with a layer of pastry". Top only is the norm from this survey of definitions (biased towards US usage as in British English it's never a "pot" pie with pastry anywhere else, just a pie.
    – Chris H
    Apr 11, 2022 at 14:50
  • Maybe use foil to protect the top rim of the bottom, so you could still seal it at the top? You may have to foil more than you think because heat will transfer up the dough from the exposed parts. Cooking it closer to the lower element will help with that.
    – DrFloyd5
    Apr 11, 2022 at 15:34
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I've made countless savory pies and always baked it the same as a fruit pie. I brush the top with milk (sometimes sprinkling the top with various things,) preheat the oven to 425°, dropping the heat immediately after putting the pie in the oven on the middle rack, and have never had soggy crust or had to cover the top.

Alternatively, for a quick fix, use hot filling and a higher heat as you would then only have to cook the crust. If your crust is soggy, bake the pie on a lower rack so the bottom is closer to the heat source.

Luck!

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