Serious question, I swore off blind baking crusts for good until my aunt in Toledo walked me through it
Three years ago I made a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and the crust came out soggy in the middle, like actual wet dough under the filling. I got so mad I decided blind baking was a waste of time and just started buying frozen crusts for everything. Then last month my aunt in Toledo asked me to help her make two lemon meringue pies for her church group and she pulled out this big jar of dried beans she's used for baking since the 90s. She had me line the crust with foil, fill it with the beans, and bake it at 375 for 20 minutes, then take the beans out and give it 8 more minutes alone. The crust came out flaky and golden and it did not get soggy at all, even with the lemon filling sitting on it overnight. I felt pretty dumb about the frozen crust thing after that. Now I'm wondering what other baking steps I gave up on too early. Did anybody else quit blind baking and then come back to it?