Frozen pie shell? Help, please.

[jillybean]

I will be using a frozen pie shell for the first time.  I'm making pumpkin pie.  This is probably a dumb question, but I want to make sure:  Do I put the pie filling into a frozen shell, thawed shell, cooked shell?  I haven't been able to find this info anywhere.

[Outdoor Girl]

The shell should be thawed but not cooked, at least the way I make it.  Get your oven up to temperature first then put the filling in the shell and place it in the oven, according to my mother.

[amylouky]

I pre-bake mine just a little bit, because I don't like for them to get too soggy. But for some people, the mushy crust is the best part of pie.
One tip, if you don't want the crust edge to get too brown, wrap it in aluminum foil for about 1/2 the baking time.

[PastryGoddess]

You can put the filling in the frozen shell with no problems.  However, I personally like to prebake the shell just a bit to make sure that the bottom of the shell is cooked all the way through.

[Rohanna]

It also depends on whether you are cooking your filling in the shell, or pouring in a "cooked" filling that just needs to set up or brown up a bit in the oven.

[gramma dishes]

I thaw it, but I don't precook it.  As Amylouky mentioned, the edge tends to overbrown, so I cover it with foil for at least half the baking time. 

Also, depending on which recipe you're using, keep in mind that you may need to change oven temperatures after the first few minutes or so.  One year I forgot that.  The results were edible, but not exactly my best ever!   

[Acadianna]

Here's how I've been doing it for quite a few years (the recipe I use says to do it this way):

1.  Let the pie shells stay frozen.
2.  Brush unbeaten or lightly beaten egg white all over the pie shells.
3.  Put the pie shells back in the freezer until you're ready to fill them.

The pies are baked at high temperature (425^o) for ten minutes, to allow the filling to set.  Apparently, the frozen egg white keeps the pie filling from soaking into the crust while the filling sets.   After that, they bake at 350^o until done, usually about an hour.

[Outdoor Girl]

Here's how I've been doing it for quite a few years (the recipe I use says to do it this way):

1.  Let the pie shells stay frozen.
2.  Brush unbeaten or lightly beaten egg white all over the pie shells.
3.  Put the pie shells back in the freezer until you're ready to fill them.

The pies are baked at high temperature (425^o) for ten minutes, to allow the filling to set.  Apparently, the frozen egg white keeps the pie filling from soaking into the crust while the filling sets.   After that, they bake at 350^o until done, usually about an hour.

My recipe is similar - 425 for 10 minutes, 375 for 40 minutes, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean.  I make pastry leaves with a cookie cutter to put in the middle of the pie to cover the slit. 

That's interesting about the egg white; I might have to try that.