Suggest that they get partially thawed just to mix in the sugar. Allowing a full thaw will mush them even more than freezing does alone. Also suggest adding some thickener like Clear Jel or cornstarch along with the sugar. The sugar is your decision as to how much to add, it can be tasted before you fill the pie shell. I use a bottom crust and spread a good layer of soft margerine on the rolled out shell. It helps to prevent a soggy bottom crust. If you have ginger powder, fresh, or crystalized, add a teaspoon of that as well. It goes well with peaches.

Thanks, Ken!! :^)

Edie

I always thaw my apple slices to make it easier to arrange them in the pie shell (since I don't freeze them in the pie shape). I don't notice any change in quality.

Whatever you decide, be sure to allow extra time if baking from frozen or partially frozen. Thick juices are the sign that your pie is done - don't pull it out early or the filling will be runny. If it browns too early, you can shield the top with foil (around the edge or a flat sheet sitting on the whole pie).

Melissa

For future reference I find it easier to freeze fruit slices or berries in a single layer on flat trays and then bag then up so that the are not frozen in a clump. They freeze individually and then you can pour them out of the bag. (I've never done peaches. They are a pricy imported treat here and we just eat them as they are. Never have a surplus to cook with.)

I can't believe that it would be a good idea though I have never done it...It would take too long for the fruit to thaw and cook so I am sure the crust would be soggy and that the top crust would be way over done....

I always thaw my fruit fully before thickening for pie. But I have baked frozen pies and never a problem with a soggy crust. However, the thickening may be a factor. I use ClearJel.

I love peach pies but that's one I generally reserve for fresh. I've frozen peaches and peach pies, but unlike some other fruits, I never felt satisfied with the results.

Carol

Flora,

Maybe its time to invest in a peach tree? They are fast growers and only have about a 20 year life span. I have one here that has grafts for plums, and an apricot as well as the peaches. Also saw a company selling a mini peach tree thats only 3 feet tall, but produces full sized fruits. If your planting zone is similar to our zone 6, another option is the Pluot. Its an apricot plum hybrid. Patented and sold under a license. I have one coming soon from California, but because our soil is frozen solid with 3 feet of snow, it will have to wait in my garage, probably until the end of April.

Yes, I too advise the thickener because that fruit will have a lot more juice in it when it thaws than it ever had fresh. Enjoy that wonderful summer flavor!

ksrogers - peaches are not very suited to our climate unfortunately. The problem is not winter cold, but lack of summer heat. Our summers are just not warm enough to ripen the wood or the fruit reliably. We also get peach leaf curl very badly and unpredictable spring frosts which can destroy the blossom. I did have a peach tree once and although it was planted against a South-facing wall it produced only one tiny edible fruit in about 5 years. It was a martyr to leaf curl too. They are definiteley a high risk tree here. They can be grown but only with a lot of fuss and protection or even inside a greenhouse. I have eaten lovely peaches grown in Munich, Germany where the Winters are ferocious compared with ours but they consistently have much better Summers. The new dwarf trees are more reliable but sadly my garden just doesn't get enough sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing peaches in the UK

That tiny 3 foot tall peach might be interesting to look at. This one is small enough that it can stay in a pot and for leaf curl, it is a 5 second job to get it sprayed. I have a small fig tree here that isn't really suited for my colder Z6, so its taken in to my garage for the winters. Its disease and pest free and has produced twice to far in 3 years. I wa sin the hospital this past summer and so the figs never got picked, They were all dried on the ground when I got back home. With very early blooming, I use a white plastic fabric draped over the trees if there is a predicted late frost. It helped save my plums that past year. I also use orchard mason bees that are very early pollinators. They go back into man made tubes about mid May, where they lay their eggs and put in food for the babies for teh following year. The open ends of the 1/4 inch tubes are plugged with mud, hence the name 'Mason'. They are non agressive and can pollinate 10 times more flowers compared to regular bees. This past spring, one of my Asian pear trees had big two fruits, thanks to the Q-tip cotton swab and manually pushing pollen around the blossoms. I will do that again next year, when the other two Asian pear trees show signs of flowering. With a small tree in a big pot and having the pot on wheels is an easy thing to deal with, for chasing for the sunlight. My next door neighbor hs a bug bunch of oaks, and pines that hover over my fence and cause most of my blueberry bushes to grow 'sideways'. They also also not producing very much in recent years. I can't fix that unless go out and cut the neighbors trees down. Some are huge, and were supposed to be removed this past summer, but he got the estimate at $6000 which was a bit much. He has a big shed that has trees growing out from underneath it. One has already grabbed into big aluminum ladder and has forced it up against the siding of the shed. I expect it will crack the wood siding by next spring, or at least destroy the ladder that can't be removed without chopping the tree down. My peach/plum is on the opposite side of the garden, where it sees sun from the rise until only about 3PM.

So would it be better to let the slices thaw in a colandar and collect the juice, cook it down and thicken it then add the peaches?

I have a dwarf white peach tree (supposed to be self-pollinating) that has been planted for 3 years. I hope to someday get at least one peach off of it!

I do apply fruit tree fertilizier to my trees. I get it from Gardens Alive. They have a build-up formula for the first treatment, and a maintenance formula that is applied yearly after that. I use it in by raspberry patch too. As to the peaches, as mentioned, partially thaw them. Yes, draining the juice out and thickening it first, then add back the peaches would be a good idea. My canned peaches are so soft, that they have to get the Clear Jel mixed in at room temp, and then poured into the pie shell. If I cook or stir even a little, they nearly disintegrate. I used free stones, which are softer than a cling type.

This past summer, every last peach dissappeared off the grafted branches of my tree overnight. It was amazing that even the stones were gone. I should have picked them the day before, but wanted to see a bit more red blush. I think it may have been a deer that got them during the night. Next summer, I will be putting out my 'contraption' again, that senses motion, switches on bright flood lights and sounds a loud irritating noise to scare off critters at night. It did help my watermelons to survive.

Thanks Ken! I do get the Gardens Alive catalogs but have only briefly browsed through them. I will have to look for the fertilizer.

That's a real bummer about your peaches. Reminds me of something that happened to us when I was a young girl. My Dad had 3 or 4 raspberry bushes and one year, every berry that was almost ripe enough to pick would disappear before he could get to them. He was blaming everyone from the neighbor kids to birds. Then one morning, he let our dog out and instead of just going back in the house stood out there and watched her. She made a beeline for the raspberry patch and proceeded to eat every berry she could find! Smart dog -- she'd curl back her lips so she wouldn't get stuck on the thorns and just get the berries in her front teeth. A raspberry-eating dog - who'd a thunk it??

Hmmm. Interesting. My brothers dog loved tomatoes. He had to put a fence around them. My red raspberries are thornless, so its easy to pick them. He had a very poor season for raspberries this past summer. Not sure why, when the year before I had a lot.

The pie came out perfect! Thank you all so much. I did as suggested and buttered the bottom crust and it was not at all soggy. I boiled the juice that I collected and added corn starch and cooked it for a while, then added the sugar and cinnamon to it. After letting it cool for a little bit, I put the peach slices in the pie shell and poured the thickened juice over top of the slices. I didn't try to really mix anything because as I was warned, the slices were trying to fall apart. Everyone enjoyed it. Thank you to Ken and everyone else who offered such great suggestions!

Hope Santa was good to everyone.
Edie

In the future, I suggest that you look into the modified food starch called Clear Jel. Its much more stable compared to regular corn starch and if you ever wanted to thicken any home canning, the Clear Jel is a much safer product to use. I don't even have regular corn starch in my house anymore. I even use the Clear jel as a thickener for gravy. It also holds up much better to high acid fruits, compared to regular corn starch, where acids make the regular starch tend to weap.
Happy holidays to all..