Problems with my quiches...

[Changeable]

I have now tried 3 different recipes for the crust / pastry case of my quiches and they have all turned out a bit soft and soggy.

Perhaps it's just not possible to achieve a crunchy crust with all the egg / liquid / vegetables in the quiche...

Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong or provide a recipe that will give me better results please?

Changeable

[Slarti]

Are you blind baking the case before adding the egg mix?

Slarti

[todthedog]

Slarti +1
If you blind bake. No more soggy bottoms!

[Changeable]

Are you blind baking the case before adding the egg mix?

Slarti

Yes...
I am laying baking paper on top of the pastry and then filling with chick peas.
Yesterday I baked for 10 minutes at 180°C.
Is that long enough?

[Changeable]

Slarti +1
If you blind bake. No more soggy bottoms!

Alas, I still have a soggy bottom!

[todthedog]

After your bean bake take out your beans and give it a couple of minutes more.
I quite often blind bake with a slightly smallest dish inside with grease proof paper lift out the inner dish and give it a couple more minutes.
Hope this helps.

[Changeable]

[quote[/quote]

After your bean bake take out your beans and give it a couple of minutes more.
I quite often blind bake with a slightly smallest dish inside with grease proof paper lift out the inner dish and give it a couple more minutes.
Hope this helps.

Thanks, I'll try again...

Changeable

[johnstevens77]

And bake it on the BOTTOM of the oven, nothing except a piece of aluminium foil under to keep the oven clean. Of course, that is if you have bottom heat. I also heat up the CERAMIC baking beans in the oven first, why put cold beans onto cold pastry when you need all the initial heat you can get?
I never have soggy bottoms

john

[kempiejon]

....I also heat up the CERAMIC baking beans in the oven first, why put cold beans onto cold pastry ...
john

Ah I like this idea, obvious when you think about it; I'm not often caught with a soggy bottom but I like this tip. Perhaps the wetter tarts, custard, fruit etc will benefit from this idea.

[johnstevens77]

The worst tart I ate in my life was at my sister's. She sort of pre-baked a tart with some awful pastry that she made, layered it with half drained canned peach halves and some egg custard poured over and put it back into the oven to set. Like eating cardboard.

Making and cooking good pastry requires TLC.

PS. I first made pastry as a kitchen boy on the restaurant cars out of Paddington in 1959. No measuring utensils and put your arm into the oven to test the temperature as there were no thermostats. The cook told me to put a handful of flour into a bowl, looked and said, "I said a handful, that's a mit". There were some great cooks on the old GWR/BR Western Region, some b....y awful ones too!

[Changeable]

And bake it on the BOTTOM of the oven, nothing except a piece of aluminium foil under to keep the oven clean. Of course, that is if you have bottom heat. I also heat up the CERAMIC baking beans in the oven first, why put cold beans onto cold pastry when you need all the initial heat you can get?
I never have soggy bottoms

john

I completely ruined a synthetic mould by placing it on the floor of the my oven when the oven temperature was set at 220°C. It partially melted and left a mess that was very difficult to clean away.

Some more info about blind baking please...
How long should it be blind baked and at what temperature? I blind baked and also baked my quiches at 180°C.
Are chick peas a suitable alternative to ceramic baking beans?

Changeable

[johnstevens77]

"Changeable wrote:

Some more info about blind baking please...
How long should it be blind baked and at what temperature? I blind baked and also baked my quiches at 180°C.
Are chick peas a suitable alternative to ceramic baking beans?

It should be baked according to what you want to use it for. I.E. Fully cooked for a fruit flan where the pre-cooked shell is filled with crème pâtissière and fruit without further cooking, in my oven about 180C until golden brown for around 35-40mins. For a quiche, I preheat the oven to 200C and cook for 10-12 min, remove the beans and cook a further 10 mins, always on the bottom of the oven.I then reduce the temp. to 180C, fill the shell with the quiche mix and bake in the centre of the oven until still a bit wobbly in the centre, maybe 20-25 mins?. If the quiche is not coloured enough for you, then turn on the top heat/grill only and watch it like a hawk. All times are approximate, remember the TLC and check before the end of the suggested cooking time. Use a timer to remind you. Always use a lining of greaseproof paper/parchment under the beans with plenty of overhang to stop the top sides of the pastry burning and to make removal of the hot beans easier.

I use a 30 years old metal tart tin, not non stick, ceramic or plastic. You could also use tart rings as in professional kitchens, in which case a tart lifter would be usefull to remove the cooked product from the tray.

In my experience, ceramic beans are best, vegetable products can't reach the required temperature without burning. When I take the beans out of the tart shell, I let them cool a few moments then put them into a bowl of soapy water to wash. Our ceramic beans are 8 years old now.

My French MIL would rotate the tart tin over an open flame when she took her apple tarts out of the oven, but then she was cooking in a wood fired stove and used only a small amount of fat in her pastry. (Poor 1970's rural France). She did not have soggy bottoms either.

TLC

john

[Changeable]

johnstevens77

Thanks for the information, it gives me something to think about...

Changeable

[JMN2]

What the French do is 1. blind bake with a weight on grease paper 2. blind bake without paper after 3. make holes with a fork to the pastry bottom before filling it.

[johnstevens77]

3 more tips.

Prick the bottom of the raw tart shell before baking.
Press the hot beans into the sides of the tart shell, this helps to reduce shrinkage.
Return it to the oven for a minute or so after removing the beans to make sure it is as dry as possible.

john

[RedSnapper]

3 more tips.

Willy the bottom of the raw tart shell before baking.
.........

john

Sorry, but, WHAT??!!

[PinkDalek]

P r i c k (?) the base? Without the spaces when you type the word it reverts to Willy!

[Tortoise1000]

My Mum punctuated the base then used her old butter beans. When the beans got too old she started using teaspoons. I suppose the teaspoons were quite effective as they conducted the heat.

T

[Slarti]

What the French do is 1. blind bake with a weight on grease paper 2. blind bake without paper after 3. make holes with a fork to the pastry bottom before filling it.

Being careful not to poke all the way through, as I did on my first attempt and got egg mix everywhere.


Slarti

[johnstevens77]

3 more tips.

Willy the bottom of the raw tart shell before baking.
.........

john

Sorry, but, WHAT??!!

Don't know what happening here. I tried again and had the same result in the preview. Fault in the coding perhaps? To try a different word, let's say, Pierce it all over with a fork.

john