A pie bird (or pie funnel) is a small hollow ceramic figure you stand in the middle of a pie dish before the filling goes in. The top crust goes over it with the beak poking out through a little hole. Old cookbooks say it stops juices boiling over and holds the pastry up so it doesn’t go soggy. Some of that holds up. The boiling-over part comes with a big catch, though: a pie bird can’t fix a runny filling.

What it actually does

It’s a chimney. As the filling heats up, steam builds under the lid. Without anywhere to go, that steam forces its way out through the weakest point, usually the edge, dragging sticky juice with it. The bird gives the steam a clear exit right in the middle.

It also props the pastry up in the centre, which is the bit that tends to sag into a deep fruit filling and go pale and damp.

What it can’t do is make a watery filling less watery. If your apples or blackberries are throwing off loads of juice and there’s nothing to thicken it, some will still bubble out. A spoonful of cornflour tossed through the fruit does more for that than any vent. Put a baking tray on the shelf underneath anyway.

Is it any better than cutting a slit?

Honestly, a couple of knife slits in the lid do a similar job for a shallow pie. A bird makes more sense in a deep dish, like a big apple pie or a chicken and leek pie, where there’s a lot of filling and the lid needs propping up in the middle. Slits in a deep pie also tend to close up as the pastry puffs.

And yes, part of the appeal is that it looks great. A little blackbird beak sticking out of the crust is just nice.

The classic Norpro bird

The Norpro Ceramic Pie Bird is the classic black bird with a yellow beak. It’s about 3.5 inches tall, made from oven-safe ceramic, and the steam comes out through the open beak. It’s well reviewed and it’s been around for years, which tells you it holds up to repeated baking.

A few things that make it work better:

  • Stand it in the centre of the base before you add the filling, then pack the filling round it.
  • Cut a small cross in the pastry lid and push the beak up through it, then press the pastry back round the neck.
  • Let the pie rest before you cut it. The bird will be very hot, so lift it out with a cloth.