The Quiche of Your Dreams

The ideal quiche has a crust that is golden brown on the bottom and the sides and an interior that's soft and silky. A completely cooked, nicely browned crust needs a hot oven initially, around 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and then a lower oven temperature. On the other hand, custard remains soft and silky when it's cooked at a low, gentle temperature of about 325 F.

What Can Go Wrong

If you put your quiche in a hot oven for 15 minutes then turn the oven down slightly to 350 F, the crust will cook, but the filling may be overcooked, dry and crumbly unless you're cooking a deep-dish quiche with eight eggs and about 3 cups of milk or cream. But if you keep the oven at 325 F, your filling will cook perfectly but your crust will remain uncooked on the bottom and sides.

Scientific Explantions

If you leave the temperature of your oven at 400 F, the quiche filling cooks too quickly. because the egg proteins move around rapidly, coagulate and separate from the liquid around them -- in other words, they curdle. In gentle, lower heat the egg proteins aren't jostled and remain silky within the liquid. But with an ideal 325 F temperature for the custard, the crust would never brown, again making the point that partial cooking for the crust is you best option.

Partial Baking How-Tos

To partially bake the crust, spray a large sheet of foil with cooking spray so it doesn't stick to the dough. Then, place the foil on the crust, making sure it covers the edges of the crust -- they will brown later when you bake the quiche itself. Weigh the foil down with dried beans, which you can save and use again for your next partially baked crust. Cook the crust at 375 F for about 20 minutes, then fill it while it's still warm and finish cooking it at 350 F.