Sunday, November 13, 2011

FOOD SAFETY TIP, #10: Storing Pies

Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to be the season for pies.

In fact, when I was driving for the food banks, I'd pick up truckloads of pies from a local Carrows to be donated to the (somewhat) nearby Marine base. They have a program where patrons can donate $1 with their meal to go toward the making of the pies. I don't know the details of that program because I spent most of my time going through the back door of that restaurant. It was a nice restaurant, it was just too far away from where I lived to go there except occasionally.

When you are getting 20-40 freshly baked pies a day but want to accumulate a hundred or more before making the run down to the Marine base, you have to figure out how to store them safely.

You can refrigerate them for three to four days (a little longer if you keep them just above freezing).

Freshly baked pumpkin and pecan pies can freeze for one to two months.

Any pies with a custard or chiffon do not freeze well. You can do it, and they will be safe to eat, but the texture can get pretty nasty.

We never messed with freezing them. We just kept them really cold and would coordinate with the restaurant to make our run to the base on the day of their biggest baking run.

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