As I geared up for Thanksgiving dinner, my thoughts turn to refrigerator space. It’s at a premium, to put it mildly. The more ingredients and completed dishes I can leave out on the counter, the better. And that brings up my constant quandry. Do baked pies have to be refrigerated?
But I’m big on food safety and would rather be safe than sorry.
I’d like my Thanksgiving dinner to be memorable for the good time family and friends enjoyed, not their recollections of recovery from food poisoning.
This year (2023) and the first year I wrote this post (2014), I made pumpkin and pecan pies. The first year I wrote this post, my friend Jill (of copycat Cosi salad fame) made apple crisp. Do I have to use precious refrigerator space for the pies and apple crisp? My instinct (in 2014) was that I have to refrigerate the fully cooked pumpkin pie has to be refrigerated, but not the pecan pie and apple crisp.
But I was wrong and here’s why.
By the way, the Nestlé Company (Libby’s brand canned pumpkin) gives advice I wouldn’t follow concerning refrigerating pumpkin pies, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
Which Baked Pies Have to be Refrigerated?
- If a pie contains milk, cream and or eggs, refrigerate it. This includes milk and cream in any form – (no matter what the fat content), buttermilk, sour cream, and cream cheese. Also, refrigerate pies containing evaporated or condensed milk products. Those ingredients contain high levels of protein and moisture that are fertile grounds for the growth of bacteria.
- What pies contain milk, cream or eggs? Check your recipe. Typically pumpkin and pecan pies do contain eggs, but fruit pies do not. Lemon meringue and all types of chiffon pies contain eggs, so they have to be refrigerated. My Boston Cream Pie is egg/custard-based and must be refrigerated.
- How does refrigeration help? Refrigeration prevents the growth of bacteria, although not indefinitely as the occasional science experiment at the back of my refrigerator (a/k/a a forgotten container of leftovers from a long forgotten meal) attest.
- Refrigerate pie quickly. After baking, refrigerate the pie once it is cool enough to handle. Then, as you bring it back to room temperature for serving, only leave the pie out for 2 hours or less. In other words, don’t leave the pies out all day prior to Thanksgiving dinner, whether you make them the day before or bake them in the morning. Ugh – the refrigerator space they’ll take up! But at least now I know to plan that they will occupy a narrow refrigerator shelf for most of Thursday.
- Why do you see pumpkin and pecan pies sitting out, unrefrigerated, in groceries and bakeries? Those pies contain preservatives and shelf-stable ingredients that allow them to be displayed and stored at room temperature. Commercially prepared pies that can be sold at room temperature should display an “RT” label; in any event they should be refrigerated after opening. The pecan pie below is homemade, and therefore I had to refrigerate it.
What advice from Nestlé wouldn’t I follow? On its site, the company says (paraphrased):
How do I store a pumpkin (or pecan) pie once baked?
After baking, leave the pie at room temperature as the cooling process normally takes 2-4 hours. Within 4 hours, place the pie in the refrigerator. Cover loosely with plastic wrap until serving. You can keep pumpkin or pecan pie refrigerated for 2-3 days.
But the American Egg Board and the FDA do not recommend leaving a pumpkin pie on the counter for 4 hours. Both recommend refrigerating home-baked pumpkin pies within 2 hours. The Q&A does refer specifically to cooling after baking, and the Egg Board and FDA recommendations are more general.
Still I’d go with the shorter time, especially because bacteria like warmer temperatures. While you might not sicken your guests by leaving the pie out for 4 hours, do you really want to take that risk?
Update PS – In 2018 I made 2 pies, a sour cream pumpkin
and a chocolate pecan slab pie.
Although neither was a work of art visually, both were delicious. (The former is Stella Park’s crust from her book, Iconic American Desserts. The latter is Cathy Barrow’s recipe from Pie Squared.) I didn’t have enough room in the refrigerator to store them, so I kept them on an unheated porch. Of course, you can’t leave food where animals can get at it. However, keeping pies in an enclosed porch that stays just above 32 degrees works fine in a pinch.
What About Vegan/Plant-Based Pies?
Do vegan/plant-based baked pies have to be refrigerated? This question arose because my son and his husband are vegan. This year (2023) I made 2 plant-based pies, a pumpkin one and a pecan one with a chocolate base.
I wondered whether I had to refrigerate them. They have no dairy or eggs, so I decided they could ber at room temperature. However, for taste reasons, I refrigerated them anyway. It turns out that the venerable New York Times Cooking site agrees with me on this.
I’ve updated this post twice since I wrote it in 2014. The first time was 2018 and the second is 2023.
Connie Burns says
Oct. 22, 2015
Very informative page. I appreciate “words of wisdom”. My Great-Great Grandparents owned a bakery in a little town, New Baltimore, Mich. They were the first bakery in the town. My Grandfather use to deliver Bread from the bakery on his bike to homes and restaurants. I’m thankful that I being the eldest Grand Daughter, I know cherish all the bakery recipes. It amazes me that she would say, “a pinch of…” or “a scant of”… and “nut meat”. lol Took me awhile to figure out the meaning and measurements for those terms.
Have a Blessed day.
Laura says
Connie, What wonderful memories you have. I can imagine that the treasured family recipes give you no end of pleasure. Can you make any of them or are they all scaled for bakery size portions:)? Best, Laura
Karen @ Karen's Kitchen Stories says
Thanks for all of this information! I always wondered about this! Awesome.
allie @ Through Her Looking Glass says
Very interesting information Laura, that I didn’t know. The last thing any of us wants is someone to get sick from a meal at our house at Thanksgiving. Many thanks for the great tips, I look forward to the next post.
Laura says
Thanks Allie – yes, it’s important to keep the memories of a holiday happy:)
Renee@Renee's Kitchen Adventures says
This is great advice Laura! I’ve often wondered why grocers can store baked custard type pies without refrigeration. Now I know.
Laura says
Renee, It’s a topic that came out of my own experience. The best posts (non-recipe) seem to come to me that way. And I still remember sitting here in my kitchen with my homemade pie and not really enough space in the fridge, hoping I wouldn’t have to refrigerate it.
Kristen Chidsey says
Laura, So glad to read this. I am not a pie person but because I am in food industry am asked all the time about refrigerating pies. I will point them to this article! Thanks!
Laura says
Wonderful Kristen – thanks so much for encouraging others to be food safe when it comes to their pies.
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan says
Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Laura says
So glad you found this post helpful Srivdhya.
Beth (OMG! Yummy) says
Great food safety tips for the upcoming holidays!
Laura says
Thanks Beth
Cathy Grossman says
I agree 100% on custard and cream and eggy pies — as long as they are in some kind of nut or crumb crust (think cheescake) that won’t turn to cardboard from being refrigerated.
Even so, I do my best to bake morning of serving — allowing enough time for the filling to cool and set up.
But refrigerating fruit pies destroys crust flavor and texture of classic butter/flour/lard pie doughs.
Laura says
Right Cathy – fruit pies do not need to be refrigerated (and indeed should not be.) I’m never organized enough to make my pumpkin and other eggy or custard pies the morning of, so I have to refrigerate them.
Becky says
As my family is so scarse, there’s only my hubby n I. I do bake pumpkin pies. From experience I know these cannot sit out, they mold quickly. With just the 2 of us, I now I can freeze it. Used to bake 3 at a time n sent most home with family. Freezing we can have some for later. Thank you for all the great info. Bjl
Laura says
You’re quite welcome Becky. Glad to help. I freeze a lot too now that we’re only two at home.
Linda says
Does that mean the apple crisp does not need to be refrigerated?
Laura says
That’s right Linda. As long as the apple crisp does not contain any dairy (like a custard filling), it does not need to be refrigerated.
Henderly says
I leave pies out like sweet potato pie and cakes with cream cheese frosting and am still alive to tell the tale.
Laura says
Henderly, It’s certainly possible that you didn’t get sick. I know of people who haven’t gotten sick even though they haven’t followed the best practices from a food safety point of view. The concern is not that everyone will get sick but that the practice (of leaving pies with custard or another “wet” egg/dairy base unrefrigerated) may cause illness to some.
Liam says
Thanks for all of this information! I always wondered about this! Awesome.
Laura says
Glad you found it useful Liam.
RealityCheck says
I’ve been ServSafe certified for 15 years. Compliance walks, ect, ect for a major company. There is nothing special in cakes or pies that you see on display without refrigeration. They are made a certain way sometimes to last longer but they generally come frozen and are thawed at the point of sale. They are good for a week or so and then they just don’t have good taste but are still safe. While there are certainly places that are producing some weird Hostess Twinkie type products, good(and even eh ones) bakeries don’t put a bunch of preservatives that you wouldn’t use yourself.
The reason baked goods don’t make people sick is the same reason why you can leave pizza, chicken, or whatever out overnight after cooking it and still be 99.9% sure it is fine the next day.
When you heat things up it kills bacteria. Your kitchen, hopefully, is reasonably clean. Once you cook something, it is pretty inert unless it gets bacteria or something in it. Sure, there are millions of bacteria flying around but that isn’t where the food borne illnesses come from for the most part. It comes from cross contamination. The rules are a big deal in restaurants and production kitchens because they usually have dozens of things happening, raw and ready to eat foods, and lots of people touching everything. Even with that, I can promise you that violations happen in every kitchen every day. Food borne illnesses are very rare when you consider that there are 350m people eating 3x’s+ a day in the USA.
I brew beer. Brewing beer works the same way that cooking does. You heat it up, you kill the bacteria that is natural in the food. If you cover the pot and leave it sit, I can tell you from experience that it will be a long time before it does anything at all. I regularly leave my wort for a day or two at 60 degrees (either being busy, by design, or drinking too much and forgetting). It doesn’t ferment or get bacterial infections on it’s own if it is covered with a simple piece of foil. This is 5 gallons of liquid intentionally set up to make sure that yeast can thrive easily in it. I boil it outside in the yard in an open pot and then just put foil over it when I’m done. Even when you intentionally infect it with yeast or bacteria, it isn’t like magic. This is with throwing ounces of them into it.
I’ve never even heard of someone getting food poisoning from a cake and I’d say the vast majority of them are made with egg and/or dairy. The only way you are likely to get sick from it is to cross contaminate it with something like that turkey you’ve had your hand stuffed up in AFTER cooking the cake.
Even if you did cross contaminate it, didn’t refrigerate it, and it went badly and grew something, it would still be pretty unlikely anyone would get sick from it. I’d never put a cake in the fridge unless it was something like a cheesecake or straight custard and that is really only because I’d prefer them cold.
Let me end this by saying… I am a germophobe. I have sanitizer in every door of my car, my truck, and in my motorcycle bag. I force sanitizer on people. I keep a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol at work for use on keyboards and mice. I literally keep spray bottles of food grade sanitizer in my kitchen and regularly use it. I don’t even double dip chips in my own dip on my plate most of the time. I can barely shake someones hand because I know they have been touching their face, eyes, and going to the bathroom without washing their hands. Yet, the risk of a cake or pie on the counter is so low that I do it without hesitation even knowing and actively calculating the risks. Just Sayin.:)
Laura says
Thanks for stopping by. Let me start by saying that I am not a scientist. My reading on the possibility of getting sick from cooked rice indicates that it is not common, but can happen.
Michelle says
I have to agree working in the food industry myself its mainly cross contamination,
some people don’t really realize that’s the main problem, I will say we have left our pies on the counter for over 73 years and never became ill, but that’s just our friends and family so Im speaking from personal experience, bottom line don’t cross containmanate while cooking, or preparing food.
Laura says
Michelle, Your experience shows that not everyone will get sick even from a practice that is less than perfect food-safety-wise. But better to be safe than sorry, right?
Lisa Van Gundy says
I am having a fund raiser at work. It will be a bake sale and I was planning on making my grandmother’s pecan pie which has 3 eggs in it, along with corn syrup, salt, flour and pecans. How can I keep this pie out for a bake sale. My concern is, I don’t want anyone to get sick. I am making the pie the night before. I’ve looked into dry ice, ice packs for lunch boxes, etc. Can I serve the pie out on a table with the other bake goods. A pie in the refrigerator is not going to generate sales. Please advise.
Laura says
If I were you, I’d check with the USDA Ask Karen consumer help. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/informational/askkaren I believe that you’d be OK if you used pasteurized eggs, but you should check with USDA or other food safety expert to be sure. Some colleges have extension services that have food safety experts. Hope that helps.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
Very helpful and now I know!
Laura says
Glad to have made your thanksgiving holiday a bit safer. Hope you had a lovely one.
20bet says
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