Freezing apple pies

[tagurit]

My niece and I are making apple pies to freeze Saturday (and of course, one each to bake right away) and I was wondering if it's best to bake first or freeze unbaked so I visited some cooking forums. Sounds like the majority take pies, baked or unbaked, directly from freezer to oven. Problem is, I only have pyrex pie plates and that's what I was planning to use.

Anyone have a lot of experience with freezing apple pies? I don't want to go out and buy aluminum pie plates as I have 9 pyrex as it is. But, if that's what it takes for the best result, then, so be it.

BTW, we'll also be canning apple sauce. I can't wait to have real applesauce again. It's been too long.

[rosa who else]

My best experience with freezing fruit pies was to freeze the filling, then make up the crust each time you want to bake.

Line an empty pie tin with plastic wrap. Slice your apples and toss them with Fruit Fresh so they won't turn brown. Fruit Fresh is powdered ascorbic acid, so it's safe. Fill full of sliced and spiced apples till it heaps up very high (because the apples cook down a lot when the pie bakes).

Make sure each "pie" of filling is very securely wrapped with more plastic wrap and freeze. When solid, you can store them all stacked in the freezer.

No need to thaw. Just fill your pie crust and bake. The filling thaws and cooks all at once.

[FullMetal]

my mom has frozen apple pies, what she does is half bake the pies, and then finish baking the pies when you're ready to eat them. it's worked well for her.

[tagurit]

Originally Posted by rosa who else

My best experience with freezing fruit pies was to freeze the filling, then make up the crust each time you want to bake.

Line an empty pie tin with plastic wrap. Slice your apples and toss them with Fruit Fresh so they won't turn brown. Fruit Fresh is powdered ascorbic acid, so it's safe. Fill full of sliced and spiced apples till it heaps up very high (because the apples cook down a lot when the pie bakes).

Make sure each "pie" of filling is very securely wrapped with more plastic wrap and freeze. When solid, you can store them all stacked in the freezer.

No need to thaw. Just fill your pie crust and bake. The filling thaws and cooks all at once.

That had never occurred to me. My recipe calls for lemon juice. Would you still use Fruit Fresh if adding lemon juice? Do you use flour in your apple pies, Rosa? I'm worried about the flour holding up, too. That is a much better idea than freezing the whole pie. Thanks, Rosa!

[jw]

Originally Posted by rosa who else

My best experience with freezing fruit pies was to freeze the filling, then make up the crust each time you want to bake.

I wish I'd asked this question last month. My brother gave me a huge pile of cooking apples and we had collected about ten pounds of blackberries.

With most of the berries I froze them uncooked, but I didn't know what to do with the apples, so I cooked them with some blackberries with a small amount of sugar. When the mixture cooled, I froze enough to make one pie in individual bags and ended up with nearly twenty bags! I'm planning on making pies and custard trifles during the winter.

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by tagurit

That had never occurred to me. My recipe calls for lemon juice. Would you still use Fruit Fresh if adding lemon juice? Do you use flour in your apple pies, Rosa? I'm worried about the flour holding up, too. That is a much better idea than freezing the whole pie. Thanks, Rosa!

In my copy of Joy of Cooking the purpose of lemon juice is to offset the flavor of overly sweet apples (iirc). If the apples are going right into the freazer is browning even a concern though?

[tagurit]

I use winesaps, Beach and I've always used the lemon juice. I don't think of winesaps as overly sweet, personally. Are you familiar with the variety?

[Beachlife!]

Originally Posted by tagurit

I use winesaps, Beach and I've always used the lemon juice. I don't think of winesaps as overly sweet, personally. Are you familiar with the variety?

I am, and I agree that it shouldn't be too sweet. Maybe I'm mis-remembering what I read in Joy though. I will check tonight.

Regardless, I'm not sure a fruit needs a special preservative to go into the freezer.

[rosa who else]

The apples can brown at any point when exposed to oxygen. Apples brown a little, anyway, when cooked, but without the bad taste caused by plain old oxidation.

Fruit Fresh doesn't really add a sour flavor. Go ahead with the lemon juice, if you like it, and maybe add some lemon zest.

I've never used winesaps for pie, they're so good for just plain eating, even without refrigeration. The apples I use are Granny Smiths. My Mom uses Transparents, but that was because we had a tree. I've never in my life seen them in a store. Transparents are a tastier version of the Golden Delicious.

A friend soaks her apple slices overnight in orange juice. That would give a nice taste and eliminate the need for Fruit Fresh.

I've never used flour to thicken a pie, nor have I used tapioca as is sometimes used for berry pies which tend to be juicier. The juicy pie just hasn't been a problem. So far. But you do need to let these pies cool before slicing them.

I had forgotton one other way to freeze the fruit and this can be used with berries, too. Toss any darkening fruit with Fruit Fresh . Lay the sliced fruit or individual berries on a cookie sheet and freeze. When solid, put them in bags and just take out as much as you need for any occasion. This is an exceptionally good way of keeping sliced strawberries (you can add sugar or likker to them while thawing).

[lynnejanet]

I often freeze my pies, in a variety of formats (unbaked, unfilled shells, filled and unbaked, filled and baked; bags of prepared fruit filling, unbaked, etc.).

I have the best luck with apple pies freezing them unbaked, and putting them frozen into the hot oven. About 15 minutes at 450 F, and an hour at 350 F. I think your pyrex could go from freezer to oven. If not, get some cheap tin pie plates, and freeze them in those.

When I freeze them baked, they are a little soggier, and the filling overcooked.

My pies are gluten-free, but I would think that wheat flour crusts would be the same.

[Beachlife!]

It's sugar for tart apples, corn starch for soggy apples or lemon juice for bland apples.

[tagurit]

I've been mulling over what everyone's said and I'm going to go with mixing the filling using my usual recipe which includes lemon juice, sugar, and flour, then freezing just the filling in plastic covered pyrex plates. Pyrex can't handle extreme changes in temperature, which going from freezer to oven surely would be. I like the idea of freezing just the filling as it will take up less room in the freezer. Beach, I think you'll agree winesaps are anything but bland. Still, this is the recipe I've always used and will continue with. It makes a great pie. My plates are 9.5" deep dish. I triple the usual recipe for two pies.

Thanks for your input/advice. I'll email you all a piece of apple pie!

[tagurit]

I flew out to Berkeley the Tuesday after apple pie/sauce Saturday so didn't have a chance to get back to this thread. My niece and I are very pleased with the frozen pie fillings and we're hopeful they'll bake up nicely. After the plastic wrapped fillings froze in her freezer we popped them out of the pie plates, wrapped each package tightly in freezer wrap and labeled them.

Thanks again. I love getting advice from people I trust.