Should I drain the cherries for my pie?

Question

I am using frozen cherries for a fresh cherry pie recipe. they are extra juicy because they have been frozen. Recipe calls for tapioca. To drain, or not to drain...that is the question.

Answer 1

Since your using tapioca, i would drain 1/2 the juice and the rest will be absorbed.

Answer 2

When baking a cherry pie, it is the water content in the cherry that creates the sauce within a pie so definitely drain the frozen cherries. Otherwise when baking, the liquid will keep the crust from getting flaky and when you go to serve, the first slice will open your pie and all the contents will flow out like a compromised dam and you will have a mess. Since your recipe calls for fresh cherries, if it requires any amount of water to be added, measure that water from the frozen fruit and discard the rest. Baking is almost an art form so when following recipes, it really is best to use the ingredients the recipe calls for. That is not to say that there aren't exceptions. For a person who knows how to bake and cook, the exceptions come with understanding the process of how ingredients come together to become a dish. That was the reason behind cookbooks. It wasn't just for sharing recipes, but for giving insight to people who are not cooks or bakers. I hope this makes sense and best of success. Jody

Answer 3

Personally I would drain the liquid , bring it a boil it to a slow boil on the stove, whisk in a cornstarch or better yet an arrowroot slurry until it's the consistency of mayonnaise ,allow it cook for another 5 minutes so the starch taste disappears and then return your cherries to the now thickened liquid. Home made Comstock pie filling.
I would then reduce the tapioca by 75%.

Answer 4

I think the answer will really depend on your recipe.

Will you be cooking these before you put them into the pie? If so, you can leave all of the juice in...just be careful that before you take it off the stove that it has thickened to a consistency that you like.

Think of it this way...If the fruit had been fresh, all of this liquid would have been contained inside the fruit, and therefore it would all have been included in the recipe.

Answer 5

I would reserve the juice from the cherries, in case the pie filling needs a little bit more juicyness before pouring into the pie crust. In a conventional oven, you will lose moisture as the pie cooks.
Hope this helps.

Answer 6

I would drain them or it will be to running and the pie crust will turn out soggy

Answer 7

yes or you will have soggy pie