Pie Birds (A.K.A. Pie Funnels)

Pie birds (also known as pie funnels, pie chimneys, and pie whistles) are hollow ceramic devices used to keep pies from bubbling over in the oven by providing ventilation from the hot filling through the crust. They originated in Europe and historians often argue over whether they came about in the 1500's or during Victorian times.

The nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence" which has the lyrics "Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie" is based on pie birds. Pie birds are used with both meat and fruit pies, and in addition to helping steam escape, they also provide support to the crust, keeping it from sagging in the middle.

Nowadays, most people just cut vents in their pastry rather than using pie birds, but hard-core lovers of pie claim pie birds create the best crust. Others may enjoy the whimsical look of pie birds or may prefer to have their crust smooth and un-vented.

Using a pie bird is pretty straightforward; it simply goes on top of your bottom layer of crust in the middle of your pie dish, and your filling is placed around it, and then place your top crust over the pie bird, cutting a small hole in the middle so the pie bird pokes through the crust. Pinch the crust around the pie bird to create a seal. And that's it.

Pie birds can be purchased online - click this link to find some online sources.

(Image: Kathryn Hill)

Comments (8)

i have never heard of or seen this until today! awesome!

good timing! I just bought one at Value Village because I thought it was cute. Had no idea how to use it though... haha

I love pie birds. They're so cute, I've just never gotten around to buying one. Somewhere I saw a ceramic pie pan with a built in pie bird, but I think it was more for decoration and less for use.

I don't think your sources are correct when you say that the 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' rhyme was based off of ceramic pie birds/whistles/etc.

At best, the rhyme's ultimate origins are uncertain. References have been inferred in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (c. 1602), (Act II, Scene iii), where Sir Toby Belch tells a clown: "Come on; there is sixpence for you: let's have a song" and in Beaumont and Fletcher's Bonduca (1614), where the line "Whoa, here's a stir now! Sing a song o' sixpence!" occurs.

There are many more printed references to the song, and even alterations in the verse (from boys to birds, 1744 - Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book), but the general consensus on the rhyme's origins do not include any pie whistles.

Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 394-5.

omg, I'm just here for the Opie reference. Thanks, alicefelldown! :)

I have my beloved late grandmother's pie bird, which I always hope will infuse her baking magic into my pies.

Ooo!! I bought this same one around Thanksgiving when someone was asking on AT what their mystery purchase was and everyone was calling it a pie bird (I believe the closest guess was some sort of Japanese device for tea). I researched them and thought they were so awesome, and a great adorable/useful trinket to have on your shelf in the kitchen. I love when trivets or other tools double as decor. I haven't gotten to use mine yet, but I'm so glad you did, Kathryn!

Thanks for the details alicefelldown! I'm pretty sure the reason pie birds are actually shaped like blackbirds at all is because of the nursery rhyme, rather than the other way around.

That said, I want one! They are so cute, in a kind of sinister way.