Freezing and Canning Apple Dishes

[Chris Amirault]

Like a lot of us, I've got a glut of great apples that I need to put up for the winter. We eat what we can and what we can't, well...

I've never really taken on apples in fall, so I'm trying to figure out what I can freeze without degradation and what needs to be canned. For starters, I'm thinking about a chutney or two, pie filling, and applesauce. I'd also be interested to know if there are ways to freeze slices for later use, or if that will just lead to mush.

What are you making with apples, and how are you putting it up?

[snowangel]

Chutney is a great idea, Chris. What are you thinking of for additional ingredients.

Now, as to pie -- a trick I got from my grandmother (and this works for peaches as well). Make your pie filling. Line pie pans with foil, fill with filling, fold foil over -- encasing filling. Freeze, and when it is frozen, remove pie pan. When you want to make a pie, just line the pan with pie crust, plop in the frozen filling, top with top crust (if desired) and bake. You'll probably need to add about 10 minutes to the baking time. I"ll do this with a batch of local Haralson's this week; I couldn't be bothered to can.

I've never tried freezing apple slices, but I would imagine the texture would be compromised.

[Chris Amirault]

Well, I'm thinking about the recipe from In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis, which includes lemon juice, ginger, garlic, vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, and sultanas.

What happens to the consistency of the pie filling when you freeze it? Do you make any accommodations for those changes in the initial recipe?

[rooftop1000]

I often just cook apple chunks with rum, sugar, and spices and freeze it. It works defrosted as pie filling or over cake or icecream

thats genius to freez in the pie pan, I do that sometime with lasagna... make small ones for just the 2 of us and pop them out of the baking dish so I dont have to lock the dish up in the freezer

tracey

[CaliPoutine]

Chutney is a great idea, Chris.  What are you thinking of for additional ingredients.

Now, as to pie -- a trick I got from my grandmother (and this works for peaches as well).  Make your pie filling.  Line pie pans with foil, fill with filling, fold foil over -- encasing filling.  Freeze, and when it is frozen, remove pie pan.  When you want to make a pie, just line the pan with pie crust, plop in the frozen filling, top with top crust (if desired) and bake.  You'll probably need to add about 10 minutes to the baking time.  I"ll do this with a batch of local Haralson's this week; I couldn't be bothered to can.

I've never tried freezing apple slices, but I would imagine the texture would be compromised.

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I used your trick last Summer(2006) with peaches. It worked great!!! We had a great peach pie in December.

[viva]

I assemble a mess of apple turnovers (I use a lard/butter crust) and individually wrap them for the freezer. Take one out, bake it, and there you have it...hot apple turnovers!

[Abra]

As you've probably surmised, applesauce freezes wonderfully. Normally I put up about 20 quarts or so to eat all through the winter. Alas, now that I have a small French freezer I won't be doing that this year, so make some extra for me.

[snowangel]

What happens to the consistency of the pie filling when you freeze it? Do you make any accommodations for those changes in the initial recipe?

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Chris, the texture is a bit softer than if the pie is made with fresh apples, but given that I am using an extremely crisp apple to begin with, it's much less "mushy" than if I were using an out of season supermarket apple.

BTW, I always use tapioca as a thickener.

[snowangel]

I don't know if you've taken care of your glut of apples, but we arrived home today from S. MN with a glut of our own, and my friend reminded me of something she does with her glut (her in-laws own an orchard). If you have a copy of the Gourmet Cookbook, dig it out and make the apple muffins. You can either bake them as muffins or as a quick bread, and this freezes beautifully!

[Fat Guy]

The freeze-in-the-shape-of-a-pie trick is brilliant, however I should also note that in my opinion whole unbaked apple pies (crust and all) freeze quite well too. They deliver 95% (or something like that) of the satisfaction of a freshly made pie, and the convenience is incredible. If I had a huge freezer, I might fabricate like 50 whole pies at once each fall and have one every week during the rest of the year.

[snowangel]

The freeze-in-the-shape-of-a-pie trick is brilliant, however I should also note that in my opinion whole unbaked apple pies (crust and all) freeze quite well too. They deliver 95% (or something like that) of the satisfaction of a freshly made pie, and the convenience is incredible. If I had a huge freezer, I might fabricate like 50 whole pies at once each fall and have one every week during the rest of the year.

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If one were to freeze the whole damned pie, would one need to devote a pie pan to it? Or, could one slip it out and freeze it in foil or a ziplock?

[Fat Guy]

I've always seen it done in disposable aluminum pie pans.

[MelissaH]

But there's no reason why, once it's frozen, you couldn't slip it out of the pan. Then when it's time to bake, you can just put it back into the pan. And in the meantime, you'll have the pan available for other uses.

I have bad memories left from every time I've tried to use a disposable foil pie pan.

MelissaH

[Fat Guy]

I suppose that would work, but if you're making several pies at once then disposable is the way to go. My mother always doubles up any foil trays she uses for anything, and has good luck with that method -- it provides extra rigidity and protection against punctures.

[snowangel]

I think one of the reasons I just freeze the filling separately is that I am dealing with so many apples that I don't have (or want to take the time) to do a dozen double crusts.