How to Make a Pie Crust Shield to Prevent a Burnt Edge

It’s every pie baker’s worst nightmare: You pop your gorgeous pie in the oven, and before the center is completely cooked, the edge has burned to a crisp. The ultimate shame for your perfect pie crust!

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

What are pie crust shields?

The term pie crust shield might sound pretty intense, especially when paired with sweet fruit pie recipes. However, a pie crust shield is a pretty basic bit of kitchen gadgetry. It’s a simple protector placed around the circumference of your pie to keep the edge from browning too quickly. Over-browning or even scorching isn’t uncommon for pies with longer bake times or ones with crusts that have been blind baked (which just means the crust is baked before the filling is added).

You can find manufactured pie crust guards in many kitchen shops. These silicone or metal shields work just fine, but I’m here to tell you that you don’t need to make a special trip or place an online order to protect your next pie.

How to Make a Homemade Pie Crust Shield

Step 1: Tear a sheet of aluminum foil

The first step when 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.

Fold the foil in half, then in half again—the way you would if you were making paper snowflakes.

Step 2: Cut a curve

Cut a curve around the edge, making sure that the circle you’re forming is slightly larger than the outside edge of your pie pan. Cut another curve about three inches inside the first one to create a ring.

This large ring is your pie shield. Don’t worry if it isn’t a perfect circle. You can adjust it to be perfect when you fit it to your pie pan.

How to Use a Pie Crust Shield

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

Now, there are two schools of thought when it comes to using a pie crust shield: putting it on early or putting 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.