How to Make a Pie Crust Shield at Home

It’s every pie bakers worst nightmare: You pop your gorgeous pie in the oven and before the center is completely cooked, the edges have burned to a crisp. Such a shame for a perfect pie crust!

To rectify the situation, you might, like me, haphazardly scrunch strips of foil onto the edges. I can tell you, this doesn’t work so well. The foil falls off more often than not. But that doesn’t mean that aluminum foil isn’t the right tool for the job. In fact, you can make a pie crust shield from foil that actually works. Here’s how to do it.

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How to Make a Homemade Pie Crust Shield

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The first step of creating your own pie crust shield is to tear off a square sheet of aluminum foil that’s big enough to cover your pie. You don’t need to use heavy-duty foil, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Pick up this bulk-sized roll ($29) and you’ll be set for years of serious pie baking.

Then fold the foil in half, then in half again—the same way you would if you were making paper snowflakes. Cut a curve around the edge making sure that the circle you’re forming with this cut is large enough to fit around the outside edge of your pie dish. Cut another curve about three inches inside of your first slice.

You should end up with a large ring. This is your pie shield (and it’s OK if it’s not a perfect circle).

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And don’t worry about the foil ruining your scissors. It actually can help sharpen them!

How to Protect Your Pie Crust

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Using your shield is super simple. Just set the ring of foil over your crust and lightly crimp the foil around the edge of the pan so it stays in place. Don’t crimp too hard, though—you don’t want to ruin a gorgeous, decorative edge.

Now, there are two schools of thought when it comes to using a pie crust shield: Put it on early or put it on late. Both methods work just fine. If you want to use the shield right away, lightly crimp it over your uncooked crust. Then remove it with about 20 minutes to go in your bake time. You can also place the shield over your crust when it’s nearing that perfectly golden point. The foil will protect it for the rest of the bake.

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How to Make a Homemade Pie Crust Shield

How to Protect Your Pie Crust

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