The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Freezing

fminparis's picture
fminparis

Freezing

Not bread; apple pies.  I know this is a bread forum but I need information.  Traveling to Madison, WI for Thanksgiving and am in charge of bread and pies.  Bread I will bake there.  Apple pies present the question-  is it better to bake the pies here and carry them frozen to Madison or get them ready for the oven here, then freeze them and in Madison thaw and bake them.  Never tried the 2nd choice.  Has anybody tried? Opinions?

flournwater's picture
flournwater

IMO, freezing the pie and baking it later when you reach your destination would be the best way to approach the issue.

However, be sure that you pack the pies in air tight packaging - freezer quality vacuum packages are the best.

Regular kitchen quality plasic wrap may seem to be air tight but it isn't.  It will protect food in the refrigerator for a few days but it has no value as a freezer wrap.  Microscopic pores allow air to pass through it and, with the air, moisture.  That'll create "off" flavors and, depending on how long the food is held, freezer burn. 

Dianne244's picture
Dianne244

I have had better luck with freezing the pie before cooking, then baking it at the destination.  Fruit pies freeze well, and I think are much better when they are cooked  afterward instead of cooking , then freezing.. agree with the other comment about making sure they are air tight when freezing... as with most anything.  Happy Thanksgiving

 

chickadee3's picture
chickadee3 (not verified)

I know I'm a novice, but I've tried freezing my potato knishes after baking them.  They've always gotten soggy and schlumped when thawing out.  When I've frozen them before baking, they've cooked like I've just made them (just more time for thawing).  Happy baking and happy Thanksgiving! 

flournwater's picture
flournwater

Even the novice baker has experiences that provide good information for others.  It's the willingness to share that counts.

copyu's picture
copyu

I make (small) Australian meat pies a few times a year, using standard short-crust pastry for the bases and puff pastry for the tops. The meat filling is cooked and then COOLED prior to going into the pie shells...I often freeze the 'leftovers' of the batch (AFTER baking completely.) I re-heat them very slowly between 60-100°C in the oven within a week or two after freezing. There is no real difference from 'fresh-baked' at this time-scale.

I could imagine myself doing this with a fruit pie, also...but ONLY with sliced-apple pies, which should work OK! [Cherry, blueberry, grated apple, etc, pies sound like potential disasters to me!] Sorry, but I don't know any pie-crust recipes that are guaranteed to tolerate having fresh fruit plonked on top of the raw crust and then being frozen. 'Pre-baking' of the pie crust (very "old-fashioned"!) could solve the problem [?]

It would be nice to see your recipe. (Standard or sweetened short-crust? Graham flour/cracker crust? Thick or thin? Lemon/lime juice in the fruit formula?)

Too many questions and too little time, I know!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Adam