Need instructions for re-heating apple pie

[csziggy]

A young friend has enlisted my help in baking an apple pie as a birthday gift to her father, but we have to bake it the evening before his birthday. So I need advice on how she can re-heat the pie on the day of his birthday. They will be re-heating the entire pie. At this point it is up in the air if we will be making a two crust pie or a crumb topping instead.

I've got the recipe, the apples, the pie crusts (store bought because my crusts make cardboard taste good, everything ready. We're doing this tomorrow afternoon. Yeah, I should have asked sooner. The father's birthday is Saturday.

Dopes anyone have any suggestions?

[hippywife]

1. I'm not sure in this answer but

I would think maybe putting foil over the entire top to keep the crust from burning and re-heating it at a lower temp on a cookie sheet might work.

[MajorChode]

2. Covered in foil in a 300 degree oven

Warm until the internal temperature reaches about 140 degrees or so in the center.

Cut and serve with a scoop of premium vanilla ice cream on top would be my preference.

[csziggy]

5. I was thinking of covering with foil before the crust browns

For the first baking, especially since my convection oven tends to over brown crusts anyway.

Then she could re-heat it with no cover just before serving and not worry about ti browning. That would make sure the crust is not soggy, as housewolf warns about.

[MajorChode]

6. If you are doing it at 300 degrees or less, the crust won't brown much if at all

Browning occurs from the sugars caramelizing and requires higher temperatures. The foil is just really there to insure things don't dry out too much and you may or may not need it depending on what temperature and how long you are warming it up. It doesn't really hurt anything, so you might as well use it. Someone else suggested throwing it in the oven while you are eating and let the residual head do its job, which isn't such a bad idea.

[Warpy]

3. What my mother did on Thanksgiving worked fine

She'd take the roast whatever out of the oven, turn the oven off, and shove the pie in. The pie would be warmed by the residual heat while we ate dinner.

Long, slow warming did the trick, as I recall.

[housewolf]

4. If you use the foil method, I suggest uncovering when it's mostly warm

Foil traps moisture, which makes the crust soft instead of crisp. I love a crisp crust, so whenever I warm baked goods in foil, I uncover them for a while once they have actually begun to warm up

[csziggy]

8. See my note above - I think I will cover it for the last half of the first baking

Then she can re-heat it uncovered to finish the browning of the crust.

So it looks like 20-30 minutes in a 275-300 F oven should do it just fine.

[grasswire]

7. at my house, a pie made in advance is gone same day

So I've learned to make two in advance. Who can resist that first apple pie?

[csziggy]

9. We made two - and I fought my baser instincts and sent them both home with her!

There are enough apples left for another pie, but I did not have any crust for one. So those are in the freezer until the next time I want a pie. Since we have to go to a wedding tomorrow, we wouldn't have been able to eat one fresh anyway.