Can you freeze pork pie for a short period.

PS done the same with large pork pies!

Elegran

A lot of things are sold in packs (fresh or frozen) that are too big for one person to finish before they start to deteriorate. I divide them up into reasonable portions before freezing them, and either repack them in smaller containers or put bits of foil ot plastic between the pieces. That way, you can get out enough for immediate use without defrosting the rest. It can sometimes make for a lot of work when I get a big supermarket delivery, but it saves waste, and bigger packs save money. (Sorry if that is teaching anyone to suck eggs)

That's exactly what I do. It only dawned on me recently when trying to bash and separate a 4 pack salmon fillets, chicken bits, and even turkey mince. (the latter cheaper than chicken and very low cal)

My other option, which may save on cooking costs, with chicken pieces and fish, is to cook them all the night I get them, have one, and freeze the rest in small separate bags then a quick microwave before eating the rest.

I wash and re use the freezer bags and save bread and other plastic bag packaging for same.

Bought one from aM&S. A large one but not as large as my daughter gets which looked Dickensian! Will be freezing if necessary. So thank you again for all your advice.

Thank you. My delivery came this morning and my Dickinson and Morris pies were not available. Local co-op only had small party size ones so going to have to hope that I can get some in M&S. So will travel and join the General bun fight. I will get some Dickinson and Morris when I can and I will certainly freeze them.

Wedi - your cottage pie will be fine defrosting slowly in fridge. Just make sure it's fully reheated as if fridge is fairly cold, it might still be bit frozen in the middle.

Most pork pies are chock full of preservatives so should not need freezing.

If it specifically says do not freeze then presumably some constituent part has been frozen and then thawed at some point.

M0nica - when I have food delivered that is in quantities that I cannot eat at one go, I always divide them up into separate bags/cling film before freezing them - I can then just pick a pack out and use it.

They never last long enough in our house to freeze, but I use the website freezeit.co.uk - it says a definite yes on there. I refer to the site for lots of freezing queries & find it a big help

Wht on earth should there be, unless you leave the heating on full and put the pie on a radiator to defrost while you are away.?

I have just collected the Christmas pork pies and shoved them in the freezer. If we do not eat them over the holidays, they will be there until Easter

Personally I think it would be fine.

I have prepared , cooked and frozen a cottage pie .
I am visiting one part of the family on Saturday 24 th , for Christmas. I am returning home to receive another part of the family on Tuesday 27th , approximately mid afternoon, traffic willing .
I dont think there will be time to either defrost the pie or cook it from frozen for an early evening meal .
Would it be OK to remove it from the freezer , before I leave on the 24 th , and put it in the fridge to defrost until I cook it on the 27th ? Any health hazards here ?

I didn't think that pork pies would freeze , but they do .

Good to know.😃
Pork pies don’t last long in this house tho.Somebody who shall be nameless scoffs them with mustard pickle.

My Dickinson and Morris is in the freezer. I eegularly freeze either those or Walkers which are made by the same company and the only ones I buy.

During the first lockdown I bought a Walkers pie direct - delivery was a fortune so I won't surprised to find it was delivered by Wells Fargo!!

Thank you everyone. My daughter usually buys a lovely pie from a butcher’s section of a market garden and because of its size I have frozen part for about a week. It has been fine. However, this year has been a little difficult so I am buying from Sainsburys. They are Dickens and Morrison pies which are sold in other supermarkets. Surprised about the not to freeze and wonder why. Wonder if it’s to cover themselves in case people have them sitting around and as have some over decide to freeze.

Some types of food have their texture changed by freezing. Fresh fruit and veg, for example. I think most people know that fresh lettuce, tomatoes, apples etc don’t freeze well, but are not actually harmful. I can’t think of any food that is safe to eat when put in freezer (ie is not past use by date) would cause any illness when taken out.

Some types of sauces separate after freezing and thawing, so possibly some types of pies with a filling might not freeze well.

I was in my local butcher this morning buying other bits when the small pork pies caught my eye. They had several different flavours so thought I’d get one to try. I asked how long they’d keep for and the butcher told me they had only come in this morning and would keep for 10 days. Must admit I wouldn’t have thought they had a shelf life that long. So I’m just saying buying from a butcher they might keep in a fridge longer than you think.

I buy frozen pork pies from the wholesaler. If they came fresh, however, I would think twice about freezing them.

I'd also get in touch with the shop and the pie manufacturers and ask questions.

I'd want to know why it says don't freeze. As other posters have said, it's quite unlikely that pork pies have been frozen and defrosted before being for sale in a shop.

So I'd probably freeze them and not worry one jot.

A lot of things are sold in packs (fresh or frozen) that are too big for one person to finish before they start to deteriorate. I divide them up into reasonable portions before freezing them, and either repack them in smaller containers or put bits of foil ot plastic between the pieces. That way, you can get out enough for immediate use without defrosting the rest. It can sometimes make for a lot of work when I get a big supermarket delivery, but it saves waste, and bigger packs save money. (Sorry if that is teaching anyone to suck eggs)

when i worked in retail they used to come in more than a week before Christmas with 26th on them all. I bought a deli pork pie it is in the freezer now. Just make sure to defrost correctly

I am in total agreement with Elegran and Farmor. I partly defrosted some crumpets last night to be able to take two out of the packet. The still almost completely frozen crumpets that i did not need were back in the freezer within 5 minutes of taking them out. I do the same with chicken, fish and any other items that stick together, possibly several times if the packet is large. Apart from a thin, very thin, layer of the surface, 99% of the food remains frozen.

I heard, somewhere, a comment from someone notable in the field, that most food poisoning takes place in catering and that the incidence of food poisoning in domestic households is very low indeed, mainly I think because most domestic cooks cook food very throughly at high temperatures. The problem with most catering cases is that the food has been warmed through and not cooked at a high enough temperatures.

Crossed posted with Elegran - both of have said basically same thing!

The not-refreezing advice does not need to be followed for all foods. It's important for some things, like chicken and mince. When these are thawed at room temperature and may be at temperatures above 10 deg for some time, bacteria (not killed by freezing) may multiply and will still be there in greater numbers when next thawed. There's an increased risk if not cooked properly, especially as after freezing, the texture of the food may be broken down releasing more juices to feed the bugs!

However, things like bread and cakes can be safely re-frozen as they don't have many bacteria to start with and also don't provide a good growth environment for the bugs.

Pork pies should be fine to freeze, unless the package specifically says not to. Even in the unlikely chance they had been frozen before, it wouldn't cause a problem, as long as they've been kept cool before freezing. In my opinion, it would be best to freeze when delivered.

The advice not to freeze things that have been frozen previously is usually because they have been defrosted for sale - which warms them up to room temperature again. This allows bacteria and other toxins to multiply. When you take it out of your own freezer, it has to be defrosted a second time, with a second spell of encouragement for the baddies. If the first defrosting was done in a controlled way,if it hadn't stood around waiting to be bought, and if your own defrosting wasn't hurried and over-warm, it will probably be fine to eat, but you can't be 100% sure of that. The sellers are covering their backs because they don't want to be sued if you get ill.