Some pie recipes call for placing weights on the pastry when it is cooked prior to the addition of fillings.
Why is this necessary? What effect does it have?
Some pie recipes call for placing weights on the pastry when it is cooked prior to the addition of fillings.
Why is this necessary? What effect does it have?
The purpose of pie weights (or improvised equivalents) is to keep the shell from bubbling up and warping when blind baking (baking without filling).
If you dock the shell well, and are lucky, it may not buckle, but the weights give additional assurance of a good outcome.
See also: How to use pie weights?