When I make a pie how do I stop the pastry being soggy and uncooked underneath but cooked on top?

[Tapster]

I do cook alot but rarely pies, partly I don't really like pastry that much but DH does and my toddler seems to as well. My first attempt flopped when I put a puff pastry top on a pie the bottom was undercooked and soggy while the top was getting burnt.

Maybe I should have cooled the filling first? Wrong oven temperature?

Did you bake the case first?

I usually prick the bottom then bake it for 15 mins or so. Then add filling & top and finish baking. No soggy bottoms here

I just want to do pastry tops not the bottom as thats way to much pastry for me.

I agree with Superbunny about prebaking the bottom a bit. Also if you put a baking sheet in the oven to preheat and put the pie on the baking sheet it helps.

Yes, definitely prebake the bottom - with a layer of greaseproof paper over it and either ceramic baking beans in, or just dried chickpeas/butter beans in to hold the paper in place for 10 min max.

Then brush it with a bit of whisked egg with salt, and put it back in the oven for 3-5 min - this gives you a glaze and stops the filling soaking through so much.

You have to bake the pastry case blind first, glazed with egg, to make a waterproof barrier against the pie filling.

Also, it's a good idea for pie fillings to already be cooked in some cases (chicken and leek for example).

Another alternative is to just have a pastry topping for the pie, and bake that on it's on and then put it on top of the pie.

If you're using puff pastry this should jusdt be for the topping if you're filling a pie dish, the bottom and sides should still be made with shortcrust pastry and baked blind first.

Another alternative is to make individual closed shaped pies (like cornish pasties) instead of filling a pie dish, as this way the pastry all gets a chance to cook properly.

Ah, just saw your post about pastry tops only.

If that is all you want to do, it's actually very easy.

Cook all your pie filling, fill it into a ceramic or glass pie dish (not a metal one), and in the meanwhile, cut out a puff pastry shape that is a little bigger than the top of the dish you are using and bake it in the oven on a tray until it is completely cooked.

Once cooked, add it to the top of the pie dish that has the hot filling in it.

Serve.

No sogginess!

If you want to do pastry tops and not bottoms, you need a proper pie dish with a wide enough rim to be able to anchor the pastry to it.

Put your filling in the dish, then roll out the pastry. Firstly cut thin strips to create an edging to go on the rim and moisten rim slightly so that the pastry edging will stick to the rim. Then moisten the top of this edging and put the pastry lid over the pie, trimming and then crimping it (or whatever) round the edges to ensure that it is fairly leak proof.

You may need a ceramic or pyrex pastry support to go in the middle of the dish so that the pastry doesn't dip too much in the middle and you will also need a couple of air holes/slits so steam from the mixture can get out without lifting the pastry top off.

Lilymaid, it's easier to just do it with my method! Then it doesn't actually matter what type of pie dish you have. The ceramic shepherd's pie type oval ones are best I find.