Prepare and chill your pie crust as indicated in the recipe.

Transfer chilled pie dough to a clean, lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out to a circle that is approximately 12” (30cm) wide.

Transfer to a 9-10” (23-25cm) pie plate and flute or crimp the edges. When preparing my edges, I like to fold any excess dough beneath the edge, allowing for a thicker crust (rather than simply trimming and discarding it).

Place pie plate with pie crust in freezer and preheat oven to 375F (190C). You must chill the pie crust for at least 20 minutes and allow oven to fully preheat before proceeding (important note: do not chill the pie plate for longer than 40 minutes, if it becomes completely frozen a glass or ceramic pie plate could crack or shatter when moved to the hot oven).

Once oven is preheated, remove pie plate from the freezer and line with parchment paper or aluminum foil, using enough that the paper or foil goes up all the way up the inside of the pie crust and beyond (you want to have enough that you can easily lift the paper/foil and weights from the pie crust when you’re done with them).

Fill lined pie crust halfway full with pie weights or dried beans and place the pie plate on a baking sheet.

Transfer to the center rack of 375F (190C) preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Carefully remove from the oven (don’t turn it off!) and carefully use the parchment paper to lift the paper and weights from the pie and transfer them to a heatproof bowl to cool.

Pierce the bottom of the pie all over with a fork then return to the oven to bake until beginning to turn light golden brown, about 10-15 additional minutes.

Use blind baked pie crust as desired! Be mindful that some recipes will call for the pie crust to be cooled completely, while others require a still-warm pie crust.