Pie Bird

This is a hollow ceramic device called a "Pie Bird", traditionally from Europe and are "steam vents" for fruit and meat pies since Victorian Times. Some historians claim they where used as early as the 1500s.

Pie birds prevent the pie from boiling over in the oven by allowing the steam created when the fruit filling or other contents are cooking to escape from inside the pie. They also supported the pastry crust in the center of the pie, so that it does not sag in the middle, and are hence also known as "crustholders". My favorite benefit is that it leaves the pie with no air pockets.

Traditionally they were most often made in the shape of a bird or an inverted funnel with arches on the bottom for the steam to enter, but they have always been produced in a multitude of designs. This trend has been particularly noticeable in recent times, due to their increasing popularity as gifts and collectors' items rather than simply utilitarian kitchen tools.



An old song related to them:

Sing a song of sixpence,
a pocket full of rye.
Four and twenty blackbirds,
baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,
the birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty dish
to set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,
counting out his money.
The queen was in the parlour,
eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,
hanging out the clothes,
When down came a blackbird
and pecked off her nose!



Maybe I'll bake a pie soon for an "Action" shot...