What can I use for a pie funnel?
If you don’t have a pie funnel you can always use an upside down egg cup.
Is a pie funnel necessary?
Pie birds aren’t necessary, but they do help prevent soggy crusts and sticky messes.
What happens if you don’t vent a pie?
“Pie gap” happens when you bake a pie with a filling such as apples, which shrink substantially when you cook them. Without pie vents, the apples shrink, but the crust retains its original shape, producing a wide gap filled with air between the crust and the filling. The top crust collapses when you cut into the pie.
How much is a pie bird worth?
Pie birds can be classified as kitchen collectibles, but because of their popularity, they have earned their own category. Today they are highly collectible and there is a wide range in price, starting around $10 for newer ones, and $30 to $75 for the 1940s-1950s vintage examples or high-quality contemporary specimens.
How do you improvise a pie funnel?
An alternative to using a pie funnel is to cut a steam hole in the centre of the pastry lid, before baking, with a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors.
How do you remove a pie bird?
Cut a hole in the center of your second pie crust—pie birds are typically only used with double-crusted pies—and place the pie crust over the pie filling and bird’s head. If the hole you cut isn’t large enough for the bird, gently poke the bird’s head through the crust.
What can I use instead of a pie bird?
If you like the idea of venting your pie but don’t have a bird, you can call on these handy kitchen tools for a makeshift venter: cinnamon stick. a funnel made of parchment paper. inverted pastry tip.
Do pie birds sing?
History. Pies with top crusts need to be vented, to allow steam to escape. The bird shape was likely inspired by the “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie” from the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence”; that “the birds began to sing” suggests a means for a vent.
Should you poke holes in bottom of pie crust?
Poke holes in the bottom of crust prior to baking. This baking time is just for the crust, not a filled pie. However, the crust can be used for a filled by, the baking time will vary for each recipe. For a filled pie, do not poke holes in the crust.
How do you keep a pie crust from getting soggy on the bottom?
Coating the surface of the bottom crust will create a barrier to prevent sogginess. Adding a layer of corn syrup or a slightly beaten egg white before pouring in the filling will form a seal between the pie dough and the filling and will help make the crust crisp and flaky.
What is a vintage pie bird?
Related Categories. eBay. Pie birds, also called pie funnels, pie ventilators, pie cups, or pie chimneys, are small ceramic or glass kitchen tools used to vent steam when baking pies.
What is a pie funnel?
Pie birds—or pie whistles, pie vents, pie funnels, or even pie chimneys—are hollow ceramic statuettes that bakers can use to vent steam from their pies in order to prevent a filling from bubbling over. Typically, they were used in meat pies, like chicken pot pie, but they can be used in fruit pies, too.
What is a pie bird?
A pie bird, pie vent, pie whistle, pie funnel, or pie chimney is a hollow ceramic device, originating in Europe, shaped like a funnel, chimney, or upstretched bird with open beak used for supporting or venting a pie. Occasionally other whimsical shapes are used.
What is a pie bird for baking?
– cinnamon stick – a funnel made of parchment paper – inverted pastry tip – glass or cardboard straw
What is a ceramic pie bird?
A pie bird is a small, hollow ceramic tool that’s placed in the center of your pie to create a vent. Typically, they’re shaped like birds (as the name would suggest) and have an open beak. The pie birds collect moisture from your filling as your pie bakes.
What is bird pie?
To celebrate Buxton & Bird’s new partnership with Ashton Gate Stadium the acclaimed local pie-maker is giving supporters the chance to win an exclusive meal for two at their family-owned restaurant “littlefrench”, in Westbury Park. Buy a Buxton