# Freeze pies



## yuesang (May 27, 2006)

Hi everyone

I want to freeze some chicken pies, cottage pies and quiche. Should I bake the pies before I freeze ?

How long can the pies be kept frozen ?

Should I use a microwave or oven to reheat the pie ?

Will appreciate some suggestions
Thanks
yuesang:crazy:


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

I suggest freezing chicken pot pie unbaked and then baking it when you need it. I often make two when i cook and freeze one of them and it works well. That way you keep the biscuit crust fresh and not soggy (as a microwave would tend to make it) and it tastes freshly made. 
I never froze quiches, i only ever froze the crusts, half baked, which speeds up the final process (I sometimes make 6 or 7 for a christmas party i do, and need to get them done quickly). In the case of quiche i imagine there are considerations for milk-egg custard storage which is tricky, and also teh liquid nature of the filling which would make it difficult to freeze if uncooked unless you have a huge and empty freezer. 
What i would do, personally, to save time, is to prepare anything in teh filling that needs cooking (like for an artichoke quiche , i would sautee the artichokes in advance, put them in the half-baked crust and then when it's tiem to serve, mix the eggs and milk and cheese and pour it on top. then bake normally. You'd get the fresher flavor and save time. If you had to freeze the whole thing, i would cook it first, and this one would probably be ok in the microwave, maybe putting it on a low shelf in a hot oven for a little at the end to crisp up the crust. 
I don't know what cottage pies are. 
Not sure of the freezing times.


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## [email protected] (Oct 1, 2006)

Just make sure when freezing chicken pies that the chicken has been pre-cooked before the pie was assembled. I'd be worried about the food poisoning possibilities otherwise.


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## qahtan (Dec 7, 2003)

I have frozen the odd chicken pie but as Gail states make sure the chicken /
turkey is fully cooked first.
I do freeze fruit pies also with the filling partly cooked, this way I can adjust the sugar, but the whole pie is frozen raw....

Also I some times make pastry for open tarts, quiche etc. and roll the pastry out to a 10 inch circle, put the circles between wax paper circles into a large flat Rubbermaid container and freeze that, then when wanted I remove 1/2 /3 layers however many I want, and while that is thawing I prepare the filling.
I have two containers one for plain pastry and one for sweet, any other kind that I may want I make as needed. 
Doesn't save a lot of time but, it helps.
qahtan


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## yuesang (May 27, 2006)

Hi Siduri
I agree with you that the method you suggested will ensure that the pie and quiche remains fresh to the taste and definitely the pastry will not be excessively wet. However, having the pies unbaked poses a different problem because I need to simplfy the procedure of the staff in the eatery outlet. I would like them to heat up the pie without having to do anything thing else to the pie. 

Cottage pies are like shepherd pies but minced beef is used instead of lamb.
Thanks
yuesang:roll:


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Yuesang, 
i see, i didn;t know the reason for your question. I think the only problem with freezing a cooked quiche would be the cooked milk-and-eggs thing, that is subject to food poisoning more easily. I would imagine some of the members in the food service industry would know more about this problem. As for the cottage pie, really don;t see why you couldn't freeze it, since i imagine you cook all the ingredients before hand (the meat, the mashed potatoes). And someone mentioned that the chicken in chicken pot pie has to be cooked in advance to freeze safely, but i can't imagine anyone NOT cooking the chicken first - would that be a different sort of pie?


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## yuesang (May 27, 2006)

Hi Siduri

I understand your explanation on the possibility of food poisoning arising from the eggs etc in quiche. The only reason why I need to freeze pies is because I need to distribute to several eatery outlets and sometimes the turnover is lower than expected and some pies may require a longer storage period. Sometimes the frozen pies when reheated tend to cause the pastry soggy and if I try not to put in the time stated in the instructions of the microwave oven, some of the ingredients tend to be cold. This is quite a challenge.
As for cottage pies, yes I do cook all the ingredients before I freeze them.
Thanks
yuesang:talk:


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)

Chicken pies:
Are you referring to a type of Pastie (Australian) or Swanson Chicken Pot pie?
Yes, cook the ingredients as in a chicken ala king, place in unbaked pie shells then you can freeze. I'm also assuming that it's a single serve thing. I've never heard of a chicken pie that is a full pie size like 8 inches or more. That would definitely be a different situation.

Cottage pies. Need a definition. What is your recipe and the end result that you want? If it's just a meat stew covered by mashers then by all means. That would be the best of all of your problems.

Quiche is a tricky one. You can prepare and freeze at any stage but raw eggs break down when frozen. Yes it's similar to cheesecake but the results are very different. (I haven't really explored the possibility but sugar is a natural anti-freeze so that might explain why cheesecake freezes better than quiche)

I guess it depends wholy on your situation. If it were me, I'd find the time to whip up the batches right before I needed to fill and bake. If it's a cut, heat and plate I don't really know what to tell you without sacrificing quality.

The freezer life of anything is the limitation of the most vulnerable ingredient. IE: eggs. You'll have to look up your list of ingredients, how long you can freeze your ingredients and go by the one that has the shortest freezer life.

Microwaves are useful for reheating but not something that depends on a crispy crust. There are all kinds of little tricks that manufacturers use...little sleeves and heating plates...for crispy microwave items.

I wouldn't recommend it to reheat items for important functions unless it's a gravy or sauce. You can certainly use the microwave to thaw, but absolutely finish in an oven/dry heat.

Hope this helps

April



> ote=Yuesang;145196]Hi everyone
> 
> I want to freeze some chicken pies, cottage pies and quiche. Should I bake the pies before I freeze ?
> 
> ...


[/quote]


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## yuesang (May 27, 2006)

Hi AprilB
Thanks for the helpful tips.
yuesang:roll:


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