Why does my pastry do this?

[SidseBabettKnudsen]

This always happens when I make pies or tarts and I don't know why. They start off looking perfectly nicely shaped and end up like a banana! It doesn't matter what type of pasty, or whether it's shop bought or home made or what the filling is.

Where am I going wrong?

Are you blind baking first?

Are you using baking beans?

No, but the recipes don't say to do this. The recipe I made today (as pictured!) said to put the filling in the pastry after it's been chilled in the fridge.

I always chill my pastry in the case, and then blind bake - regardless of what the recipe says. Looks like your pastry could have been a bit too warm going in, and possibly the heat in your oven isn't even, causing the banana effect?

Chill the pastry, then blind bake it with beans first and it should stay nicely in shape. Same with cookies - cook from chilled and they will stay flat and in shape rather than them going puffy :)

Thank you very much, I will do this. My oven is about a month old so I don't think it's uneven, it certainly seems to cook and bake everything else wonderfully.

But I will definitely blind bake regardless of the recipe from now on. How long would you blind bake for?

They look a bit over cooked. I wonder if it is a bit too hot, and so the outside is cooking faster than the middle so warping as the middle starts to expand. I have a new Zanussi cooker and fan oven is v hot.

You're stretching the pastry and it's pinging back when it bakes.

If rolling out pastry, roll to a sheet and chill for 10 mins. Cut the shapes - do not twist when you do so. Lift and line the tin being careful not to warp or stretch at all. Full abs chill for 30 mins before baking in a really hot oven!

Fill and chill that should say *
(I'm a chef!)

Oh another tip - don't forget to prick the pastry with a fork before baking it.

I've also found it's easier to put the pastry in the dish and chill the whole thing than wait ages for a big lump to chill. If you roll it first you can get away with putting it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes ;)