While the majority of pie funnels are made from pottery there is also quite a selection made from Pyrex glass, aluminium and plastic. The majority of the early examples were produced commercially by larger potteries that manufactured a wide range of white ware, but later the smaller potteries produced limited editions of real works of art. In the forefront was Stuart Bass, who has produced over 300 different designs since the mid-1970s. The traditional inverted funnels, with arches on the bottom for steam to enter, were followed by ceramic birds; and from the 1940s they have been produced in a multitude of designs. [1] Creigiau Pottery of South Wales produced a 'Welsh Pie Dragon' in copper lustreware. 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.

https://ezinearticles.com/?Tips-on-Collecting-Pie-Funnels&id=6355043 by Marion Aston http://tialillycomsecondhand.wpsuo.com/the-intermediate-guide-to-victorian-light-pull The Improved Pie Funnel’ was produced by Grimwade and it is quite rare and it sold so well that an updated version was produced and named ‘The Improved Popular Pie Funnel’. These came in various sizes, advertising early grocery and china shops as well as department stores around the world, from T W Robinson Co Ltd of Moose Jaw in Canada to Ritchies of Dunedin in New Zealand as well as from all over the UK. A pie bird is a tool, usually made of ceramic and shaped like a bird, that aids in venting steam from your double-crusted pie effectively preventing boil overs from juicy fillings and helping you attain a nice, crisp crust. They are also sometimes referred to as pie vents, pie chimneys, pie whistles and pie funnels. Whether bird-shaped or not, they are usually tall, narrow and always hollow (the steam flows up and out through the hollow center). Ceramic versions are classic, but they come in silicone now, too, as seen on the right in the photo below. The pie funnel, also known as pie ventilator or pie bird, as the Americans like to call it, is a late Victorian utensil. They were designed to prevent the juices spilling onto the pastry or the floor of the oven and also to support the pie crust and stop it from sagging. A pie bird is a hollow ceramic tool that bakers place in the center of pies to prevent bubbling over. They can also be called pie vents, because that hollow core allows steam to escape during baking.

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Antique Stores: If you have a favorite local antique store or flea market, keep your eye out for an old-school pie bird. Place your bird right in the middle of the dough. Spoon your filling evenly around the bird. Step 4: Add the top layer of dough We love our modern kitchen tools, but it turns out your grandma probably had the perfect solution for preventing this mess all along: a pie bird. What is a pie bird? Why do I need one?

Follow your recipe of choice to prep all the ingredients as noted. Step 2: Place bottom layer of dough Pie funnels were used to prevent pie filling from boiling up and leaking through the crust by allowing steam to escape from inside the pie. [3] They also supported the pastry crust in the center of the pie, so that it did not sag in the middle, and are occasionally known as "crustholders". Older ovens had more problems with uniform heating, and the pie bird prevented boil-over in pie cooking.

Picture it: You’re making Grandma’s legendary apple pie. Let’s say you blind baked your crust—even remembered your pie weights—and properly vented your top layer of pastry, but somehow your pie still ends up a soggy mess. Does that sound familiar? Cut an X in your top layer of pastry dough.You can also cut a small circle out of your dough if you feel confident in knowing how wide the bird is, but the X will do just fine. Carefully cover the pie, allowing the pie bird to poke through the X. Step 5: Bake! A pie bird, pie vent, pie whistle, pie funnel, or pie chimney is a hollow ceramic device, originating in Europe, shaped like a funnel, chimney, or upstretched bird with open beak used for supporting or venting a pie. Occasionally other whimsical shapes are used.