diff --git a/docs/intro/tutorial.rst b/docs/intro/tutorial.rst
index 4878ab34b..1ea377731 100644
--- a/docs/intro/tutorial.rst
+++ b/docs/intro/tutorial.rst
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ Defining our Item
 =================
 
 `Items` are containers that will be loaded with the scraped data; they work
-like simple python dicts but they offer some additional features like providing
-default values.
+like simple python dicts but provide additional protecting against populating
+undeclared fields, to prevent typos.
 
 They are declared by creating an :class:`scrapy.item.Item` class an defining
 its attributes as :class:`scrapy.item.Field` objects, like you will in an ORM
diff --git a/docs/topics/items.rst b/docs/topics/items.rst
index 5142f649b..8969bf3e3 100644
--- a/docs/topics/items.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/items.rst
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ objects. Here is an example::
     class Product(Item):
         name = Field()
         price = Field()
-        stock = Field(default=0)
-        last_updated = Field()
+        stock = Field()
+        last_updated = Field(serializer=str)
 
 .. note:: Those familiar with `Django`_ will notice that Scrapy Items are
    declared similar to `Django Models`_, except that Scrapy Items are much
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ Item Fields
 ===========
 
 :class:`Field` objects are used to specify metadata for each field. For
-example, the default value for the ``stock`` field illustrated in the example
-above. 
+example, the serializer function for the ``last_updated`` field illustrated in
+the example above. 
 
 You can specify any kind of metadata for each field. There is no restriction on
 the values accepted by :class:`Field` objects. For this same
@@ -95,10 +95,7 @@ Getting field values
     >>> product['price']
     1000
 
-    >>> product['stock'] # getting field with default value
-    0
-
-    >>> product['last_updated'] # getting field with no default value
+    >>> product['last_updated']
     Traceback (most recent call last):
         ...
     KeyError: 'last_updated'
@@ -175,28 +172,6 @@ Creating items from dicts::
         ...
     KeyError: 'Product does not support field: lala'
 
-Default values
-==============
-
-The only field metadata key supported by Items themselves is ``default``, which
-specifies the default value to return when trying to access a field which
-wasn't populated before. 
-
-So, for the ``Product`` item declared above::
-
-    >>> product = Product()
-
-    >>> product['stock'] # field with default value
-    0
-
-    >>> product['name'] # field with no default value
-    Traceback (most recent call last):
-    ...
-    KeyError: 'name'
-
-    >>> product.get('name') is None
-    True
-
 Extending Items
 ===============
 
@@ -206,16 +181,16 @@ fields) by declaring a subclass of your original Item.
 For example::
 
     class DiscountedProduct(Product):
-        discount_percent = Field(default=0)
+        discount_percent = Field(serializer=str)
         discount_expiration_date = Field()
 
 You can also extend field metadata by using the previous field metadata and
 appending more values, or changing existing values, like this::
 
     class SpecificProduct(Product):
-        name = Field(Product.fields['name'], default='product')
+        name = Field(Product.fields['name'], serializer=my_serializer)
 
-That adds (or replaces) the ``default`` metadata key for the ``name`` field,
+That adds (or replaces) the ``serializer`` metadata key for the ``name`` field,
 keeping all the previously existing metadata values.
 
 Item objects
diff --git a/scrapy/item.py b/scrapy/item.py
index fa15738b4..702ee8261 100644
--- a/scrapy/item.py
+++ b/scrapy/item.py
@@ -45,13 +45,7 @@ class DictItem(DictMixin, BaseItem):
                 self[k] = v
 
     def __getitem__(self, key):
-        try:
-            return self._values[key]
-        except KeyError:
-            field = self.fields[key]
-            if 'default' in field:
-                return field['default']
-            raise
+        return self._values[key]
 
     def __setitem__(self, key, value):
         if key in self.fields:
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_djangoitem/__init__.py b/scrapy/tests/test_djangoitem/__init__.py
index 2edac85fc..d69965009 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_djangoitem/__init__.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_djangoitem/__init__.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ class NewFieldPersonItem(BasePersonItem):
 
 
 class OverrideFieldPersonItem(BasePersonItem):
-    age = Field(default=1)
+    age = Field()
 
 
 class DjangoItemTest(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ class DjangoItemTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_override_field(self):
         i = OverrideFieldPersonItem()
         self.assertEqual(i.fields.keys(), ['age', 'name'])
-        self.assertEqual(i.fields['age'], {'default': 1})
 
     def test_save(self):
         i = BasePersonItem()
@@ -65,5 +64,4 @@ class DjangoItemTest(unittest.TestCase):
         person = i.save(commit=False)
 
         self.assertEqual(person.name, 'John')
-        self.assertEqual(person.age, 1)
 
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_item.py b/scrapy/tests/test_item.py
index 250a56335..5a55fe7c3 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_item.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_item.py
@@ -40,13 +40,6 @@ class ItemTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertRaises(KeyError, i.__setitem__, 'field', 'text')
         self.assertRaises(KeyError, i.__getitem__, 'field')
 
-    def test_default_value(self):
-        class TestItem(Item):
-            name = Field(default=u'John')
- 
-        i = TestItem()
-        self.assertEqual(i['name'], u'John')
-
     def test_repr(self):
         class TestItem(Item):
             name = Field()