How to Use a Porcelain Pie Bird

Porcelain pie birds are inserted in the pie while baking to vent steam.

A pie bird, also called a pie funnel, vents the steam in your pie while baking and prevents juices from bubbling over and splashing in your oven. Pie birds also provide support for the top crust of your pie to prevent sagging. Porcelain pie birds date back as far as Victorian England and may not always resemble birds. Some are shaped like inverted funnels and others come in a wide range of shapes like elephants, fish or chefs.

Things You'll Need

• Pie crust
• Pie filling
• Knife

Instructions

1. Place an unbaked bottom pie crust into the pan.

2. Set your porcelain pie bird in the center of the pie crust.

3. Pour the desired pie filling into the crust evenly around the pie bird. You may want to hold the pie bird in place as you do this so you don't knock it over or get filling beneath the base. The pie bird will not topple over while baking because the filling and top crust will help support it.

4. Hold the top crust over the pie to mark where the bird will have to poke through and use a sharp knife to cut a small slit in this spot.

5. Place the top crust gently over the pie, easing the "head" of the pie bird through the slit. Let the edges of the slit rest around the "shoulders" of your pie bird.

6. Seal the top crust around the bird by pressing the slit closed around it.

7. Crimp the edges of your crust as usual and put the pie in the oven to bake according to the recipe directions.

8. Remove the pie when it is finished baking. Leave the pie bird in the pie to vent steam while the pie cools.

9. Cut your first piece close to the pie bird and remove it from the pie.

Tips & Warnings

• Porcelain pie birds typically measure 3 to 5 inches in height and are often mistaken for a simple figurine. The difference between a pie bird and a collectible figurine is that the pie bird arches at the base to allow steam to enter the funnel and has at least one venting hole at the top. Some pie birds have holes in the base instead of arches.

References

• My Pie Bird Page: How to Use a Pie Bird
• Fante's Kitchenware Shop: Pie
• Glass and Pottery Sellers Association: The GPSA Gazette--Pie Birds