Quiche..do I have to blind bake with baking beans and what purpose does it serve

[Shinyshoes1]

I want to make a quiche.

ALL of the recipes i've looked at requires blind baking with a cartouche filled with Baking beans (I don't even know what these are) lentils or uncooked rice but WHY??

What is the purpose of this and do I HAVE to do it, it seems like an awful waste of food

I think it stops the pastry from rising..

but also means it doesn't then go soggy when you put the quiche filling in and cook it.

If you put the egg mix directly on the uncooked pastry it would seep through and the pastry wouldn't cook, So you blind bake it first to dry it out and seal it.

Using baking beans, which are ceramic by the way, stops the pastry from rising as pastry should do, but will still cook.

Shinyshoes, you wont want a soggy bottom, you can but the baking beans in a tub in Wilkinsons for around £ 4.00 so useful and once you've got them you can use them over and over, just line your tin with pastry, then cut out the same size in greasproof paper and tip the beans in, when pastrys cooked, take it out and brush over the surface with beaten egg and pop it back in the oven for 5mins, then fill as normal.

I always bake pastry blind first to stop sogginess and ensure it cooks (do pastry at higher temp., about 200C for 10mins and lower temp for the quiche, about 160-180C to set the filling) but never bother with the beans - just prick the pastry with a fork before you put it in the oven which stops too many air bubbles forming in the pastry as it cooks.

I dont bother but i do put a layer of grated cheese in the bottom below the egg mix which in my mind melts and stops leaks ( i am probably just so used to soggy bottoms that i dont notice any more!)

Don't worry about baking beans.

I have a coffee tin full of 1p pieces (top tip from Heston Blumenthal) for use when blind baking quiche and tart cases. I scatter a single leayer of the 1p pieces over a circular piece of grease proof laid on the base of teh quiche/tart. It works well. I also spike the base with a fork to allow any trapped air under teh pastry to escape.

It works better than baking beans because copper is a good conductor of heat.

You can use dried chickpeas and keep them to use again. You don't have to chuck them.

Disclaimer: DH is the baker in this house but that's what he uses.

Oh and a tin ful of 1p pieces is a lot cheaper than baking beans too.

A cartouche is the piece of grease proof paper used to keep the baking beans/lentils from sticking to the pastry. A great tip I got is to crumple it up in your fist a few times before using - makes it soft and easier to shape to the pastry shell.

Also YY to nannycook re brushing with beaten egg and baking for 5 mins - it really seals the pastry & makes a big diff to the crispness!

(I did a course in jan and now quiches/savoury tarts are one if the few things I can make well)

Here is a video showing you how to cut a cartouche.

Incidentally, putting an oversized cartouche directly on the surface and up the sides of the dish or pan of sauces, soups or creme anglais stops a skin forming while it is waiting to be served.

I use the reipe from the Be Ro website and have never used baking beans, it doesn't call for them either;) It is delicious:) www.be-ro.co.uk/f_insp.htm