Freezing a chicken pot pie (homemade) cook first or later??

Question

So I have too much filling for one pie and if I make two one will go bad.

So I plan on freezing one of them for sometime when I'm too tired to cook.

I've heard that cooking it first then reheating it it better, and vice versa, what are the benefits of either, and is one way better than the other. My big issue is the crust cannot be soggy when cooked later,

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

If you cook it first then freeze it, it will take less time to reheat next time than it will to cook from scratch.  But as long as you cook it uncovered when you take it out of the freezer, the crust should not be soggy on top.  the crust underneath will inevitably be soggy either way.

Answer 2

Definitely freeze uncooked.

Think about bought frozen pies - are they lovely? No! That's because it's very very difficult to recook/reheat pastry

When you reheat a cooked pie you are recooking the gluten in the pastry which tends to make it hard, tough and brittle - yeuk!

It's also tricky not to burn it

Uncooked pies are very simple to freeze and cook - just being careful to give it time to defrost first (the pastry may look a little soggy when defrosted but don't worry about that - will crisp up fine in the oven)

Answer 3

I have been doing a lot of cooking for the freezer. In the cookbook that I use they give a recipe for pot pie filling. they advise freezing the filling in a gallon freezer bag and keeping premade pie crust in the freezer to. The day you want to eat it you pull it out of the freezer in the morning (or defrost in the microwave). when you get home you put it together quick and bake it.

One thing that does freeze quite well is meatloaf. Cook it until the pink is gone, then cool and freeze. when you want to eat it you defrost, slice and cook for like 20 minutes with some BBQ sauce on it. It is sooo good. My book also says  you can make quiche, then slice and freeze. you can then rewarm the thawed slices for like 30 minutes in the oven to serve.