Whether it be cheese, spinach, or seafood, the egg-based savory quiche is a staple of home comfort cooking. Made from egg and cream set in a flaky crust, quiché is designed to mix well with other add-ins. Popular ones include meats and vegetables, but experimental quiches may use anything from lobster to Doritos!
The quiche’s versatility as a dish may prove challenging when it comes time to prepare it. While it is commonly served cold, many prefer their quiché fresh out of the oven. To prevent burning it, however, quiche must be cooked at a specific temperature – a matter that may complicate itself depending on any additions present. What temperature is best for quiche? How long to cook quiche in oven?
Contents
Quiche will benefit from a slow, gentle cooking temperature. Bake your quiche crust at 400 degrees, and once the eggs have been added, dial your oven to 350 degrees. This will not only ensure that the eggs, quite sensitive to heat, do not burn, but that they won’t scramble either. From my experiences, 400 degrees is too high a temperature and will result in a lumpy, chunky quiche. If this is the temperature you prefer, feel free to keep the oven at 400 degrees.
Once you dialed the oven to 350 degree, leave it in the oven for 1 hour.
To simplify the making of quiche, it is advisable to only use pre-prepared ingredients within its shell, as to ensure an even cooking temperature throughout. Hoping that the stove will cook both your quiche and bits of raw chicken is a gamble not worth taking! From there, any add-ins should be fully mixed into your eggs. This ensures that they do not create a “top layer” of your pie, which may burn in the stove and cover your meal in ash.
When adding quiché mix-ins, ensure that they have been hand dried beforehand. Water and condensation on additions like mushrooms, broccoli, and shrimp can make the resulting dish taste soggy or diluted.
To further support the eggs, consider adding a blanket of creamy cheese at the bottom of the crust before adding them. The slow temperature will help make the cheese a solid “base” for the eggs, once the pie has hardened and is ready to serve. Thicker cheeses like brie and goat are particularly helpful, and give another opportunity for additional flavors to be added – especially if the utilized cheese is a unique flavor, like garlic or chives.
Finally, a touch of flour thoroughly whisked into your egg mixture will give the quiche a creamier texture, without the need to introduce more cream and custard into the dish. This makes for a healthier dish, and a less soggy end product!
Quiche is a dish with a lot of room for customization – but certain tricks will make just about any kind of quiche taste delicious! While more unique forms of it will require a bit of experimentation for cook time and preparation, in general, a low cooking temperature benefits quiche the best.