is it best to freeze a blueberry pie baked or not, or freeze the berries and then make the pie?

I remember a caller asking this question to the America's Test Kitchen radio, and they said that it will taste better if you freeze the berries instead of the pie. Berries freeze well. However, I know that some people just have no choice and don't have time to do it ahead of time, so I'm sure that pies have been baked and frozen...but it won't taste as good as if you can bake it fresh. Hope it turns out delicious!

Just a few days ago, I froze a dozen fully baked blueberry pies, double-wrapped in plastic. I need them for an event on Wednesday, so this afternoon I'll move them to refrigeration to thaw, and on Wednesday move them to room temp a couple of hours before I need to serve them.

My mother used to line a pie plate with plastic, make the filling and freeze it in the pie shape. She would then simply drop the filling into a fresh pie shell and cook it- unfortunately, I don't know the details; I assume she used a slightly smaller pie plate for the filling, and I don't know how a pastry crust would behave in the oven with frozen filling in it.

I have completely formed fruit pies before, up until I would normally bake them, and then frozen them for a few days. I would then bake them from frozen. With berries and cherries, it works exceptionally well (lesser so with apple). If you're crunched for time, you may want to try that. I think its one of those things that may actually benefit from a freeze. I always blind bake my crusts after a freeze, too, because I find they hold their shape better.

I would freeze the berries; blueberries freeze well, it's quick and easy to do, and all you have to do when you make your pie is add a bit more thickener to the frozen berries and sugar before you fill your pie. Don't thaw the berries before you bake them.