The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Pie Fresh
Baking a homemade pie is truly a labor of love. When you have leftovers, you deserve to enjoy every slice just as much as the first. So, how do you keep your pie tasting fresh? In this guide, we will share the best ways to store your pie and how to reheat it so it tastes as delicious as when it first came out of the oven. Pie tastes best fresh out of the oven, because the crust absorbs moisture and the edges dry out with time. But with the right storage and reheating methods, you can keep your pie tasting fresh for days after baking.
How to Keep Pie Fresh
There is nothing quite as heartbreaking as serving yourself a slice of day-old pie and finding that the bottom has gone soggy. When you bake fresh pie, you want to keep it fresh until you can finish the entire pie. Today, we will break down ways to keep your pie tasting as fresh as possible. The first key will be the proper storage of leftover pie. Some pies need to be refrigerated, while others taste freshest when stored on the counter. Then we will break down how to reheat pie so it tastes as good as it did fresh out of the oven.
How to Store Homemade Pie
When storing leftover pie, make sure it has cooled completely before packing it up. As soon as the pie is cooled and you have finished what you will eat for the time being, you will want to store any leftovers. If your pie will be stored on the counter, we recommend covering the original baking dish with aluminum foil. You could also place a pie dome or an inverted mixing bowl over the container. At room temperature, creating an airtight seal will trap humidity, resulting in a soggy crust overnight. If you are storing your pie in the refrigerator, it is best to seal it airtight. You might move your leftover pie to a shallow dish with an airtight lid, or simply cover your baking dish with plastic wrap before storing it in the fridge. Refrigerators circulate air, which could dry out your pie filling if it is not sealed. The fats in the pie crust could also absorb odors from other refrigerated food, so it is important to keep your pie safe from those flavors and smells. Note: It is especially important that your pie is completely cooled before refrigerating because leftover heat creates condensation that will ruin your crust.
Does Pie Filling Need to be Refrigerated?
Different types of pie require different storage methods. Depending on the filling, you may need to refrigerate your pie after serving. Some pies stay freshest on the counter because the refrigerator can introduce extra moisture that speeds up the crust becoming soggy. Let’s break down how to store different types of pie fillings to keep them fresh.
Cream & Custard Pies: Cream pies must be refrigerated, as they will spoil on the counter after 1-2 hours. For safety, it is recommended to eat homemade cream pies within 3-4 days after baking.
Pumpkin & Pecan Pies: Because of the egg and moisture content in pumpkin pies and pecan pies, they need refrigeration to stay fresh and safe to eat. While some store-bought pumpkin pies contain preservatives, homemade pies must be refrigerated after two hours at room temperature.
Fruit-Filled Pies: Fruit pies are the exception to the refrigeration rule! Because of their high sugar and acid content, fruit pies are safe to eat if left out on the counter. They stay freshest if eaten within 1-2 days on the counter. After that, you will want to move the pie to the fridge for an additional 1-2 days before it goes bad.
Meat Pies: Savory options like chicken pot pie should be refrigerated to maintain food safety because they typically contain dairy-based gravies and meat.
For maximum freshness, we recommend eating counter-stored pie within 1-2 days and refrigerated pies within 4-5 days.
Does Pie Crust Need to be Refrigerated?
How does refrigeration affect pie crust? When you put a baked pie crust in the fridge, the cold air changes its texture. Thankfully, reheating cold pie helps to re-crisp the pastry, helping it taste light and flaky again. Baked pie crust needs to be refrigerated only if the fillings are perishable. Fruit-filled pies can sit out at room temperature for 1-2 days. Raw, unbaked pie crust that may be leftover needs to be refrigerated or refrozen immediately, though. If you have any leftover scraps of Pappy’s Pie Crust Dough, don’t throw them away! Keep them in the fridge for up to a few days before baking, or refreeze the dough for months!
Can I Freeze Leftover Pie?
If you don’t plan to eat your leftover pie, you could also store it in the fridge. It is best to eat the frozen, stored pie within 1-2 months of freezing. To reheat the pie, we recommend warming it in the oven until heated through. You may want to cover the dish in tin foil for even reheating.
How to Reheat Leftover Pie
The magic of flaky pie crust comes down to the fat. When you bake a pie, the water in the crust evaporates, creating layers of fat and flour that melt in your mouth as you take a bite. At room temperature, fats remain soft, leaving your crust tender and flaky. But just like butter gets hard when you put it in the fridge, fats re-solidify when you refrigerate leftover pie. Eating cold pie straight from the fridge may make you think your crust is stale, but after proper reheating, the hardened fats will melt again, restoring flakiness. For both counter-stored and refrigerated leftover pie, we recommend reheating in the oven. While the microwave is faster, it also heats unevenly and can create steam that leaves the crust soggy. Gently rewarming pie in the oven allows the crust to crisp up again while the fillings warm. We recommend reheating the pie at 350°F for 10-15 minutes for the best results.
Quick Guide to Keeping Pie Fresh
Always refrigerate dairy-based pies and pies with egg fillings, such as custard, cream, pumpkin, and pecan pies.
Fruit pies can stay fresh on the counter for 1-2 days and can be refrigerated for an additional 1-2 days.
Most pies can be frozen for up to 2 months after baking.
Reheat counter-stored or refrigerated pies for 10-15 minutes at 350° F for best taste and texture.
We hope these tips will help your homemade pie to stay fresh as long as possible! Follow along for more pie-baking advice.
