Blind baking

[hammerman]

Need to blind bake a pastry shell later today but i don't have any baking beans. Any substitutes ?
The pastry will be just normal shortcrust pastry and will be for a frangipane.

many thanks

[mccfluff]

think you can use rice

[carrot99]

shortcrust doesn't rise much so couldn't you just prick it all over the base?

[hammerman]

Not sure how that'll work carrot. I always thought that you blind bake it so it was part cooked and you didn't end up with raw pastry after the dish was completely cooked. I do, of course, stand to be corrected.


Mccfluff....just normal rice ? i presume you would put this onto baking paper ?

Many thanks again

[mccfluff]

yep onto the baking paper - or lentils

[ummmm]

Normal rice with baking paper.

[carrot99]

I meant prick it before blind baking - I thought the beans were just to stop puff pastry rising up when you were partially baking it and that you wouldn't really need them for shortcrust.

[joggerjayne]

I thought it was to stop the air underneath the pastry expanding, and splitting the pastry.

Not that I ever bake, really.

I'll just shut up.

[hammerman]

Nooooo don't shut up jayne. Hopefully we'll both learn something

[boxtops]

I've not done it but I hear you can crinkle up kitchen foil

[Mamyalynne]

Have you a jar of coins (pennies etc)? put them on the paper, not the jar of course. LOL