Q. How do I heat the pies at home?
A. We recommend heating the savory pies in a toaster oven or a preheated conventional oven at 400° for approximately 8-10 minutes. This gives the pies a toasted, slightly crispy crust. In the shops, we use convection ovens, which heat the pies using hot air at 400° just like a regular oven. However, a fan inside the oven circulates the air to heat the pies significantly faster, in about 2-3 minutes.
In general, we don’t recommend using a microwave oven to heat Peasant Pies, because the bread crust tends to get mushy or rubbery. If you choose to heat the pies using a microwave, set your timer for 1 minute or less on high power.
Our pies can be eaten at room temperature, because they’ve already been baked. That, combined with their portability, is what makes the pies ideal for taking to work or on outdoor excursions like picnics, hikes, and bike rides. In fact, eating the pies by hand and on the go was the original idea for all of those peasants and fishermen back in France!
Q. How long will the pies stay fresh?
A. Both the savory and sweet pies can last for about 24 hours at room temperature (about 70°). It’s generally recommended to avoid storing the pies for too long in warm conditions (such as in a car on a spring or summer day)—this is especially true for the more perishable pies containing cheese and meat. If refrigerated, the pies can stay fresh for 7 days. For more long-term situations, the savory pies can be frozen for up to 6 months, provided that they are put in a container or freezer bag to prevent freezer burn. We don’t recommend freezing the sweet pies, which are all open-faced.
Q. Why don’t you have a store in (blank) neighborhood?
A. Beside our three retail locations in San Francisco, our wholesale
business is now selling pies to upscale grocery stores and health
food stores all over San Francisco. For now, wholesaling is the best
way for us to to maintain the high quality of our products. We have a
list of retailers carrying Peasant Pies, so you can find Peasant Pies
near you.
