Chicken Pot Pie W/ Puff Pastry Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to puff pastry? ›

Always preheat your oven for a minimum of 15-20 minutes before baking, because Puff Pastry depends on even heat to rise and puff. Place pastries 1 inch apart. If you want a flaky thin and crispy pastry that's not very puffy, prick the unbaked Puff Pastry all over with a fork, which lets steam escape while baking.

If you want to make a puff pastry base for your pie

Then when you put your pie in the oven, sit the dish on top of the hot baking tray. I find that this really helps to cook the base of the Steak Pie and stop a soggy bottom.

Brush the Bottom with Corn Syrup or Egg White

During that time, the egg cooks into a glossy layer that will later prevent the filling from seeping into the crust and making it soggy.

Set the oven dial too low, and the pastry is likely to fall flat. Follow this tip: As a rule of thumb, a higher oven temperature (400°F is ideal) results in puff pastry with a higher rise. The higher temperature produces steam, which is the crucial component that makes the puff pastry, well, puff.

Milk is too runny and will burn but you can add a little to your egg wash to make it a little thinner for coating. Melted butter also burns quite quickly. Egg wash is the most reliable because it coats the pastry evenly and doesn't run off.

Blind-bake your base before adding a filling to help to firm the base and avoid liquid being absorbed into it. Prick the base with a fork to help steam escape, cover with foil or parchment, and weigh it down with ceramic baking beans, uncooked rice or white sugar.

Place pastries 1 inch apart. If you want a flaky thin and crispy pastry that's not very puffy, prick the unbaked Puff Pastry all over with a fork, which lets steam escape while baking.

A few tips when using puff pastry to bake pies is to keep it cool so the fat doesn't melt before baking. A warm filling will help with an even crust. Preheat the oven and cook at the temperature as directed. Dock the pastry by pricking with a fork and brush with an egg wash.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

I only gave my pot pie a top crust, because I feel like the bottom crust always gets soggy. If you do want to add a bottom crust, I suggest blind baking it. What does blind baking mean? It's when you bake your pie crust without a filling in order to crisp it up.

Should you poke holes in bottom of pie crust? ›

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

When making a pie with a pastry top or lid, choose a dish with a rim and allow the filling to get cold before topping with pastry. Roll out pastry large enough to cover dish and with some spare.

I.e. the pastry should not be touching the filling. Pinch and crimp the corners and edges to hold the pastry in place. Then use a sharp knife to cut off any excess (if you have any - remember to leave a cm or so hanging over the edges to anchor the lid in place).

When cutting Puff Pastry, the sharper the knife or pastry cutter, the better. A dull edge can cement layers together and prevent pastry from rising. Always cut Puff Pastry straight down, never on an angle, to prevent layers from sticking together and inhibiting the rise. Cut up and down, and don't drag the knife.

Heat is the enemy of Puff Pastry—it handles best when cold. So avoid working with it on hot, humid days, in a stifling hot kitchen or next to your oven. Puff Pastry works best when cold.

The secret is steam and hundreds of paper-thin layers of dough. Puff pastry starts out as a lean dough of just water and flour. This dough gets rolled, stretched, and folded with a healthy amount of butter again and again until all of those layers are formed.

Adding vinegar tenderizes the pastry. It inhibits gluten from forming there by making the pastry tender and flaky.