For so many, fruit pies are an excellent staple of autumn and winter that is hard to live without. If youāve got a lot of fruit on hand, you might consider making fruit pies in advance and freezing them. But, is this possible?
Can You Freeze Fruit Pies?
Yes, you can freeze fruit pies for up to 4 months. You can freeze an unbaked pie in a bag for 4 months. You can also freeze a baked pie for 3 months, which is best defrosted at room temperature overnight.
Do Do Fruit Pies freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Fruit Pies? Yes
Looking for a full list of Thanksgiving foods you can freeze? Here it is!
How to Freeze Fruit Pies
When it comes to freezing fruit pies, you have top options: You can either freeze it baked or unbaked. Both of these options come with their own benefits and drawbacks:
How to Freeze Baked Fruit Pies
With a baked fruit pie, the first step to ensure that you can freeze it well and for a long time is to ensure that the fruit pie is entirely cool to the touch.
- Bag up: When the pie is entirely cool, transfer the pie in the tin, into a freezer bag. For an average-sized pie, we would recommend using a gallon-sized freezer bag since that will have plenty of room to spare around the pie itself.
- Seal: Press out any excess air, being careful not to damage the pie or the pastry, before sealing the bag shut.
- Label and Freeze: Write a clear label on the bag listing the type of fruit pie you’ve frozen – you won’t know otherwise! Then transfer it to the freezer, where it will freeze well for up to 3 months.
How to Freeze Unbaked Fruit Pies
This is a great method for freezing fruit pies if you want that freshly-baked smell wafting around your house in future. There’s also a reduced risk of burning the pastry with this method.
- Assemble: When freezing an unbaked pie, you simply need to assemble the pie as you would if it were about to go into the oven. Starting with a pastry case, following with fruit, and finishing with a pie lid and a crimped edge.
- Brush: Brush the top of the pie down with an egg wash. Egg washes will still freeze really well.
- Bag Up: Transfer the entire assembly, pie dish included, into a freezer bag.
- Seal: Press out any excess air from the freezer bag, ensuring not to damage the pie. Then, seal the bag completely before labelling it with the content – including the type of fruit, of course.
- Freeze: Transfer it to the freezer, where it will freeze and keep well for up to 3 months.
3 Tips for Freezing Fruit Pies
Now you know how to freeze them, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing fruit pies to have the best results:
Ensure the Bag is Sealed Tight
If the bag youāre sealing the fruit pie in isnāt completely sealed, then condensation and frost will get into the bag. This would be bad for the pie since the pastry will absorb this moisture, leading to a soggy pastry case, which is less than ideal for any pie, especially a homemade one.
Don’t Overfill the Pie
Overfilling the pie tin can be risky since you might end up in a situation in which the pie wonāt quite fit into the bag youāve got on hand for it. Therefore, be a little conservative until youāve got the hang of things and know the approximate correct size for the bags youāre using.
Don’t Cut Slits in the Top Until Baking It
Cutting slits in the crust will introduce moisture from the inside to the outside of the pie. This would be bad as it would lead to a soggy crust, which is a bad thing in any pie that you might eat.
How Long Can You Freeze Fruit Pies?
You can freeze fruit pies for different times depending upon if youāve baked them or not before freezing them. If the pie has been baked before freezing, it can be frozen for 3 months before the crust becomes too soggy due to freezer burn and condensation.
An unbaked pie can be frozen for a little longer since the baking process will remove water from the pastry. Therefore, you can freeze an unbaked pie for up to 4 months in total.
How Do You Defrost Fruit Pies?
To defrost an unbaked fruit pie, your best bet is to slide it straight into the oven from frozen.
Weād suggest preheating your oven to around 425F/220C. Bake the pie at that temperature for around 20 minutes before reducing the temperature to 375F/190C and baking for a further 40 to 45 minutes.
To defrost a baked pie, keep it on the counter at room temperature, uncovered, overnight. This will thaw it well, and any condensation or meltwater will evaporate.
Can You Refreeze Fruit Pies?
Yes, you can refreeze fruit pies. The main problem with refreezing things is that the water content of it could swell and damage the structure of other ingredients.
In a fruit pie, though, thereās little water in the pastry and a lot of sugar in the water from the fruit. Therefore, swelling from ice isnāt too much of a concern.
Do Fruit Pies Freeze Well?
Yes, fruit pies freeze very well. As a general rule of thumb, pastry freezes very well due to its low water content and saturated flour.
Other floury goods can absorb moisture too well to freeze properly, but since pastry is dense and the flour is saturated with the fat content of the pastry, it wonāt absorb moisture too quickly to freeze well.
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing fruit pies or pies in general, then these may help:
Pie dough can be frozen. Roll the dough out as you normally would, into a circle. Sprinkle with a little flour and then wrap in cling film. Once wrapped, bag it up and carefully place it into the freezer – ensuring it remains flat.
If you don’t want to freeze a constructed pie then you can freeze the filling instead. Stew apples, rhubarb or plums with your favourite spices and then allow to cool. Once cooled, portions into freezer bags, seal and freeze.
Yes, most fruit pies bought from the shop can be frozen. It is a good idea to check the packaging, however, as some may state that the pie is unsuitable for home freezing.
