When it comes time to prep for a big meal, I'm all doing as much work as possible ahead of time, which is why I spent the three months leading up to my wedding making and freezing fruit pies destined for the dessert table. Along the way I learned that frozen unbaked homemade pies are not only incredibly convenient, they also bake up better than freshly-made pies.
Soggy bottom crusts are one of the biggest pie disappointments, but freezing a pie before baking virtually eliminates the problem, a tip I learned from The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Because the bottom crust begins baking before the filling has thawed, it doesn't have a chance to soak up the excess juices that would normally make it soggy.
While whole frozen fruit pies bake up perfectly, custard pies don't fare well in the freezer, but you can still make and freeze the crust ahead of time. Discs of dough can be wrapped and stored in the freezer for months, and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight before they are rolled out. Or rolled out crusts can be put into pie pans, frozen, and baked straight from the freezer when they are needed. As an added bonus, a frozen crust shrinks less than a freshly-rolled crust when blind baked.
Because I rarely have a large block of free time to make the dough, let it rest, roll it out, prepare the filling and bake the pie, I often use the help of the freezer to break these tasks into more manageable chunks that I can accomplish over the course of a week — or even several months!
I should also add that while it is possible to freeze a fully baked pie and warm it in the oven before serving, I have found these pies don't taste as fresh or store as long as raw frozen pies that are baked either the day of or the day before serving.
Remember to wrap the pie or crust well in plastic wrap and/or foil before freezing, and expect to bake a whole pie for 20-45 minutes more than the recipe specifies, depending on the temperature of your freezer and the amount of filling. And although the pie above is in a glass pie plate, I do not recommend putting a Pyrex or other glass pan straight from the freezer into the oven, as it can shatter. Metal pans are a better choice.
More Tips for Freezing Pies
• Tip: Freeze Fruit Fillings for Pies Right Now
• Is It Possible to Freeze Pumpkin or Pecan Pies?
• A Helpful Tip for Make Ahead and Freeze Casseroles (this tip also works for pies!)
Do you have any advice for freezing pies?
Related: Bakers Trick: Perfectly Cooked Pie Crust, Every Time
(Image: Anjali Prasertong)
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Thanks for the tip! I have never tried this because I was afraid of the opposite effect: way too much liquid from the frozen fruit. Anjali, did you find you needed to increase the thickener at all?
Have you tried it with crumb top pies or just double crust pies?
Perfect timing! I needed to freeze some pies this weekend and you answered all my questions.
@heypielady: No, I didn't need to increase the thickener at all, but I made sure the juices were bubbling thickly all over before taking the pie out of the oven. (I used cornstarch and the bubbling indicates that it has reached the right temperature to thicken the juices.) I also use Beranbaum's technique of cooking down the juices before filling the pie, which works well.
I've done this with double crust and open-faced pies, but not crumb topped. If you try it with crumb topped, let me know how it goes!
I tried this with an apple pie last thanksgiving and it just didn't work. The filling was runny and oddly textured. Now I'm thinking about what I might have done wrong!
I've been wondering if it would be possible to make a homemade crust and then roll it up in some parchment before freezing so it would be like the roll out crusts you buy in the store. I haven't had time to experiment with it yet...anyone know whether this might work?
My mom tried this for my wedding pies, and found that the crust burned horribly and the filling never got done. They had good luck with just freezing the crusts ahead of time though...
I noticed you used a pyrex pan. I would be afraid of putting a frozen glass dish in a hot oven for fear that it would break from thermal shock.
For those of you freezing unbaked pies, be sure to bake the pie while it's still solidly frozen; don't let it thaw even a bit. I also use metal pans because I'd be wary of putting pyrex pie pans straight into the oven from the freezer.
claritygolden, I've rolled out pie crust, put it on plastic wrap, rolled it up around a chopstick (to provide a little structure), and frozen it well-wrapped. It works fine, but it needs to be thawed gently in the fridge or it will crack. I find it's easier to pat out the crust into ready-to-roll discs and do the last minute's worth of rolling after it thaws.
And I'm surprised (and sorry) to hear about your apple pie. I've never had a frozen fruit pie fail me. I wonder if it was the apples; last winter, I had to throw out a freshly-made, freshly baked, never-frozen apple pie because the filling went mysteriously mushy and dank. That's never happened before or since.
@cbreynolds & Elsa: Thanks for the reminder about Pyrex! I edited the post to include the recommendation about metal pans, which I totally agree with. I made all the wedding pies before I realized how dangerous glass bakeware can be. I'm lucky nothing shattered!
What I do is to line my glass pan with plastic wrap, form the pie and cover with plastic wrap to freeze. Once completely frozen though, I can wrap and lift the completely frozen pie out of the glass plate and then re-wrap in plastic. When I'm ready to bake, unwrap and place back into a glass pan -- saves you from using the flimsy metal pans or putting all your pans in the freezer!!!
I do the same as emily! But before baking, lightly butter the pie pan before you slip the pie in. Helps to release the pie crust when you cut it.
And ahem, I've baked many 1,000 pies in pyrex with no issues.
lots of great tips! never would have though to do this and when I try it I'll definitely also use emily! and JudiAU's tips. Thank you!
My grandma, who was an AMAZING pie-maker, always froze her pies. She's spend a day making a dozen or so pies, pack them in old film canisters (seriously - they were the perfect size for a pie tin), and stack them in the extra freezer in the basement for future family visits. Come to think of it, maybe this is why my freshly-baked versions of her recipes never come out as well....
emily! is absolutely right: a liner of plastic or foil or parchment makes it easy to pop the fully-frozen pie out of its pan to wrap for storage. (I do the same thing with lasagnas when I make a big batch for freezing, so I don't lose the use of my favorite casserole dish.)
But once you put a solidly frozen pie into a room-temp pyrex pie pan, that pan will get cold again mighty fast, and I still wouldn't want to pop it into a blazing hot oven. I've never had a pyrex dish shatter from thermal shock except when I've done something silly like pour cold water into a hot dish --- but it's a known phenomenon, not an urban legend.
Does this apply to vintage Pyrex? I was under the impression that the older stuff could go from freezer to oven. I only have vintage Pyrex plates. This would save me so much time! I usually freeze just the dough but I would love to make the whole thing when I have a chance.
Pyrex (or more generically borosilicate glass) is designed to handle swift changes in temperature - but if there's a minute fault (even if you can't see it) it might crack.
I once put a frozen quiche on a ceramic plate and straight into the oven - it cracked in under a minute! So I had to buy my mom a new white serving plate.
Silicon can also go from freezer to oven, but you might need a metal tray because they're so floppy.
I'm a little late to the party, but I'll make a counter-recommendation that Alton Brown uses. Bake initially on the floor of the oven, then transfer to the first rack. I think it does wonders with Apple Pie. Check out his Good Eats episode for "Apple of my Pie".
Awesome! I've always wondered how this would work. Thanks for de-mystifying it for me. I will try it this very weekend.
I've done it several times....a fantastic time saving technique. I feel like a genius whenever I do it.
A great idea...not one to freeze However, I am embracing this idea if it means I have more time to be with family etc. This year I'm baking an apple and pumpkin pie using Rose Levy Beranbaum's recipes from her book, The Pie and Pastry Bible. I look forward to baking them.
This is a FANTASTIC website! Love the info, photos and the way info is presented!
Carmen
I used to belong to an organization in college that did an apple pie fundraiser every year. We made 400 pies and froze at least half. People raved about them without variation.
Hmm ... maybe it would be a good idea to replace that photograph with one not featuring the Pyrex pan, for the benefit of casual readers who scan the article and miss that footnote.
I'll be sure to try this, the next time I have more pie than appetite for it, which is ... never. Oh, well. It's a great idea!
For what it is worth, I always bake and freeze and go straight to a hot oven with pyrex pans without issue. I do tend to give pies away and need to repurchase the plates with some regularity.
I'm not a big pie baker, but I love this idea. I'm sure it will especially come in handy next summer when I'm wondering what to do with all the seasonal fruit. Thanks!
Thanks for this! I just bought some delicious-looking fresh rhubarb but I'm leaving town for a week tomorrow (and cannot, however I might try, eat an entire pie tonight...)
Logistical question: Many fruit pie recipes say to cook @450 or 400 for 15 minutes (to brown the crust) and then turn down to 350 or 375 for another 35-45 minutes. With a frozen pie, do you still do 15 minutes at a hotter temperature followed by an hour or longer at a lower temp? Or longer at the hotter temperature?