What is the most effective method to prevent a soggy shortcrust quiche base?
I have seen two methods to counter this. One is the traditional way of pricking the base with a fork, then blind baking at 200C with weights etc. for 10 minutes, then giving an additional 5 minutes without the weights, then add the filling.
The other is to prick the base as before, seal with beaten egg white, place in the freezer for 30-60 minutes, then add the filling.
The latter to me, seems to be a good way of using up the leftover egg white when making the classic custard filling in a quiche, but does it deliver better results than the traditional blind baking method?
Best Answer
In my personal experience, the freezing method has never worked well. I have a traditional quiche pan - white porcelain with vertical fluted walls - and it gets very cold in the freezer. No matter how I have played with temperature and top/bottom heater setting afterwards, I have never been able to compensate for the effect of the cold porcelain (a bit like the opposite of a preheated pizza stone) - I always got an underbaked soggy crust bottom with crispy to overbaked crust walls, and a gradient in the filling's baking.
I can imagine that the freezing method might work for people using American pie tins or similar, but it has a serious disadvantage with a porcelain pan.
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Quick Answer about "What is the most effective method to prevent a soggy shortcrust quiche base?"
Add a Layer Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven. This will prevent the filling from turning the crust soggy.How do you keep a quiche from getting soggy on the bottom?
1. Blind Bake. The most common way to ward off a soggy pie crust is by a process called blind baking. Blind baking means you pre-bake the crust (sometimes covered with parchment or foil and weighed down with pie weights to prevent the crust from bubbling up) so that it sets and crisps up before you add any wet filling.Three Ways to Prevent a Soggy Pie Crust - Baking Tutorial with Chef Gail Sokol
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Answer 2
My method is like your first one, except after the first 10 minutes of baking, seal with beaten egg, and then bake for an additional 5 minutes to dry it.
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