Pie is a wonderful thing that we all like to try our hands at making occasionally. Normally it turns out great and if we – or the people we love – don’t gobble it all down within the first 30 minutes of it being sat on the table, then it usually means that people are stuffed from the dinner itself.
However, during these times (or maybe you want to keep the pie for later, which we frankly don’t believe), you may have to store your pie properly, so it doesn’t spoil.
If you are doing this for a fruit pie, you will want to put it in the fridge, however if you baked a pecan pie, would you need to refrigerate it, or could you store it by other means?
In this article, we are going to discuss how to store pecan pie and whether you should store it in the fridge or not.
What Is Pecan Pie?
A pecan pie is a sweet southern delicacy and brought out at special events and for when families get together. The pie filling’s main ingredients are pecans, eggs, butter, and a sweetener that is usually sugar or corn syrup.
To make pecan pie, boil the pecan, sugar, butter with water in a saucepan before mixing it in a separate bowl with the beaten eggs. Then, pour the entire affair into a pie crust before putting it in the oven and baking.
Although no one is quite sure when Pecan pie was invented, the dish has definitely been around for at least a couple of hundred years and maybe longer.
However, the first written evidence for Pecan pie appeared around 1880 in a Harper’s Bazaar magazine.
Since that time, it has gone from a southern staple to being eaten all over the country at any time of year, though many people do save the dish for Thanksgiving or even Christmas time.
The amount of variations on Pecan pie mean that if you want to, you can try your hand at it and see whether or not something works. For example, a chocolate pecan pie or even making a Praline pie from an assortment of nuts. Just give it a go and see what tastes good to you.
Since the pie is now egg rich, it needs to be kept below a certain temperature, otherwise it can spoil pretty quickly. This will also ensure that it keeps for longer and doesn’t go bad as quickly.
If you plan to keep it at room temperature, then the longest the pie will last before beginning to spoil is probably around 2 to 3 hours. At that point, the pie will start to spoil and will not be good to eat if left out all evening, due to the spread of bacterial growth.
If you plan to keep the pie in the fridge, then the longest a pie will last is probably about four days or so, however it can be shorter, and it can be longer than this as well depending on the pie.
By storing the pie below 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) or the temperature inside a fridge, you will inhibit bacterial growth for a while.
If you plan to store it in the fridge, then remember that while pecan pie can be quite robust, parts of it are quite soft.
Therefore, you should wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and be careful not to place any large or heavy objects on top of it. It might be best to keep it to its own shelf as well.
Can You Freeze Pecan Pie?
Yes, you can freeze Pecan pie, which is great. If you need to store your pecan pie for longer than a few days, then freezing it is a good idea. Generally, a Pecan pie will last in the freezer for about 3 to 4 months, due to the pie filling not being prone to splitting or breaking.
First thing you need to do is let your Pecan pie cool completely on your countertop. Putting it in the freezer warm will be bad for your freezer and bad for the pie’s consistency as well.
Then, you should cut up the pie into different portions and store them separately. This is for two reasons, the first is that once you defrost the whole pie, it shouldn’t be frozen again, and the second is that it makes the pie easy to store in general.
Once you have portioned out your pie, you should wrap each piece in plastic wrap, before putting each one in its own freezer bag. If you can, you should also double wrap the pie portions, as it will keep them safer.
Finally, label each pie piece with today’s date on the bag and put them gently in the freezer, making sure that nothing heavy is placed on them and there is plenty of room, so you aren’t pushing them in.
How To Know If Pecan Pie Has Gone Bad?
The first sign will be the smell. A Pecan pie should smell sweet and nutty, if you are detecting an off smell or a smell that doesn’t line up with that, then there is a problem.
The next sign should be sight. If you can see discoloration on the pie that shouldn’t be there or mold forming on the outside, then your pie has gone bad, at which point you should chuck it.
Finally, taste. If your Pecan pie does not taste right, it has probably gone bad, and you should probably not eat it. Save yourself the trouble and chuck it out.
Conclusion
Pecan pie uses a high ratio of eggs in its filling and as such needs to be refrigerated, otherwise it will go bad within 2 to 3 hours. In the refrigerator, it will go bad in 3 to 4 days.
Have you ever made something so delicious that you wished you could savor it forever?
Only to find that the recipe has now mysteriously vanished from your phone and the entirety of the internet. Yep, there’s not much more painful than that.
Hi, my name is Mark Williams and I have been infatuated with cooking since I was young. I would beg my mother to pull a chair up to the counter so I could watch what she was doing.
