Syracuse, N.Y. — After toiling for hours in the kitchen creating the perfect Thanksgiving dinner, you might just be too wiped out to make dessert. Or maybe baking isn’t your thing.
Sure, you could shell out big bucks for a custom-made pie from a top-notch bakery for something that’s going to disappear in about 90 seconds. Then again, you could take the easy way out by grabbing a pre-made apple and pumpkin pie at your local supermarket and hope for the best.
That’s exactly what five journalists from syracuse.com who write about food did last week.
This is nothing new. Over the past few years, we’ve ranked different elements of the Thanksgiving meal. We critiqued cranberry sauce, turkey gravy and stuffing. Heck, we even reviewed seven plant-based turkey alternatives for you vegans out there, and we rated nine frozen Thanksgiving turkey TV dinners. This year, we’re putting our bellies on the line to guide you to your dinner’s final course.
The judges—Chris Baker, Katrina Tulloch, Don Cazentre, Jules Struck and Charlie Miller—met at Swallow’s Restaurant on South Avenue to sample nine store-bought apple pies and nine pumpkin pies. We stuck with pies from the four largest supermarkets in Syracuse and the three most popular frozen brands. Each dessert was numbered, and we didn’t know which was which when we shoveled them into our pie-holes.
To balance out all these sweets and keep our tastebuds fair and balanced, we washed each pie down with chicken wings, french fries and some of the coldest beer you’ll find in Syracuse.
Here is how we ranked them, from our least favorite to the best:
Apple Pie
9: Walmart
Price: $5.94
Size: 10 inches by 1¾ inches
Nutritional info per slice: 340 calories; 18 grams of fat
From the judges: This is a handsome pie; no doubt about it. The cute cloud-like top crust with light brown lumps even has itty-bitty fork marks around the perimeter to secure it to the lower shell. Each tiny slice looked appealing from afar, full of large apple chunks held together by a shiny tapioca binder.
Sadly, we can’t judge a pie on looks alone. The filling was overly sweet and finished with a sour aftertaste. It was almost like apple-flavored Sour Patch Kids. C’mon, Walmart, it’s Thanksgiving time now, not Halloween.
8: Tops
Price: $8.99
Size: 10 x 2
From the judges: This pie packed a heavy tart scent, but the smell didn’t match the flavor. That’s because there really was no flavor. One of the five judges ranked this in the top five, which isn’t a huge compliment since there were only nine pies. The firm crust seemed to be enhanced with some spices, but that’s the only thing that set this apart from the others.
7: Sara Lee
Price: $6.99 (Buy one, get one free at Tops!)
Size: 9 x 1½
From the judges: For a frozen pie, this wasn’t all that horrible. You can’t beat the price. The crust had more salt than the others, and that helped it balance the over-the-top sweet apple filling. One judge characterized this pie as not offensive, but not great. “It’s the Mark Ruffalo of today’s apple pies.”
Honestly, it looks like a boring little pie, but that adds to the charm. If you were to have apple pie for breakfast, this would be the one. It tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Unfortunately we didn’t have milk at our tasting table, just beer.
6: Mrs. Smith’s
Price: $4.49 (on sale at Green Hills)
Size: 9 x 1
Nutritional info per slice: 320 calories; 13 grams of fat
From the judges: This looked more like a homemade pie than the other frozen options, but that’s probably because we didn’t leave it in the oven long enough. (My fault!)
The flaky top crust started to pull apart, making it look all that more authentic. It tasted a tad homemade too. Maybe that’s because, as the box says, it was made with “orchard-picked apples.” (As opposed to apples grown in our backyard?) The insides were a little on the runny side.
The directions say to cook this pie for an hour at 400 degrees and then let cool for 45 minutes. Seriously? Who follows directions anyway?
5: Wegmans
Price: $8
Size: 9 x 1½
Nutritional info per slice: 310 calories; 17 grams of fat
From the judges: Of all the pies we tried, this probably had the least desirable crust. It looked like it had been rolled out on a conveyor belt and stamped on top of the gooey filling by a machine in Rochester. The cute little heart cut slightly off-center makes up for it a little.
That said, don’t let the generic appearance fool you. The ida red apples inside, however, tasted more fresh than any other pie we consumed. The slices were smaller than most, allowing more fruit to be pumped into the package. The dusted cinnamon sugar on top made it sweeter than the others, but it balanced the tart fruit. This is a good pie, and if you shop at Wegmans, save yourself another trip and pick up one of these pies.
4: Costco
Price: $9.99
Size: 12 x 2½
Nutritional info per slice: 316 calories; 17 grams of fat
From the judges: If we were judging on size alone, this pie would crush the competition. Literally. The footlong pastry is just south of five pounds!
It certainly has curb appeal. It’s hard to walk by the cooler at Costco and NOT stop and stare at this whopper. But while this double-crusted is attractive, it doesn’t have a lot going on inside. This was the one pie of the lot that we flatout disagreed on.
“This is a big pie but a bad pie,” one judge said. “(It has) greater surface area to disappoint your whole family.” Yet another judge (me!) found the apples to be fresher than the others. Maybe those dissenting judges would prefer Costco to sneak in some corn syrup and not use organic apples.
3: Price Chopper
Price: $6.99
Size: 10 x 2
From the judges: What a shiny pie! It’s sweet, the apples are crunchy and tart, and the top crust is brushed with a light glaze. This pie ranked in everyone’s top three, including some of the bar patrons who grabbed a slice after we were done with our official judging duties.
For what it’s worth, this pie was made in the store about and hour before our happy-hour pie judging. It clearly hadn’t sat out for long.
2: Green Hills
Price: $13.99
Size: 10 x 1¾
From the judges: The bakery at Green Hills Farms market is one of the area’s best-kept secrets. (Try their donuts and apple fritters sometime. Just get there before 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning.) Anyway, their store-made pies are obviously put together with the same love.
The apple filling boasted a fair amount of cinnamon, and the delicate crust was buttery and flaky. If I was too lazy to make my own apple pie, I would pick one of these up when I get my turkey. Heck, I will get one anyway just in case.
1: Marie Callender’s
Price: $5.97 at Walmart
Size: 9 x 1½
Nutritional info per slice: 310 calories; 13 grams of fat
From the judges: Four of the five judges had this at the top of their list. Why? Probably because of the apple crumble that you sprinkle over the top during the last 10 minutes of baking. It’s a gimmick, but it’s a tasty gimmick. It adds just enough texture to set it apart from the less flamboyant pies. It also helps that the fruit was solid and not so mushy.
Still tasted fake to me, but I was just one of five votes.
Pumpkin Pie
9: Mrs. Smith’s
Price: $4.49 (on sale at Green Hills)
Size: 9 x 1½
From the judges: Well, this didn’t start well. This is the unanimous loser. One judge likened it to baby food. One said it was too smooth and vegetal. One said it was overly smooth, as though it was baby food AFTER the baby hurled it up. I’m sure Mrs. Smith is a nice woman, but she might want to rethink her recipe. Then again, you get what you pay for.
8: Sara Lee
Price: $6.99 (buy one, get one free at Tops!)
Size: 9 x 1½
From the judges: I wonder if Sara Lee is related to Mrs. Smith, and I wonder if they do recipe swaps. Her pie was eerily similar to this frozen pie.
Only one of the five judges ranked this higher than eighth. (We all laughed at her!) Said one judge: “Awful pie. Ugh, I hate it. Throw this in the trash.”
The pumpkin texture is gluey and congealed, and it’s hard to tell where the crust ends and the filling begins. Once you do get past the mush, you will pick up hints of nutmeg. In Sara Lee’s defense, perhaps I should’ve turned the pie around midway through the hour in the oven. The center filling fell through my fork tines, but the crust end was overdone.
7: Walmart
Price: $3.98
Size: 8 x 1¾
Nutritional info per slice: 380 calories; 17 grams of fat
From the judges: What a pitiful little pie. The Walmart website says this serves five. Five what? 4-year-olds? This isn’t much larger than one of those Hostess apple pies I used to pack in my high school lunch. The taste is OK, although it tastes a little too much like actual pumpkin, which isn’t a compliment. It had an odd aftertaste too. Walmart.com suggests you serve this pie with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. It also recommends pairing it with coffee or milk after you meal. I suggest you serve this pie with all the above. While you’re at it, you might want to get a second one of these for the rest of your family.
6: Marie Callender’s
Price: $5.97 at Walmart
Size: 9 x 2
Nutritional info per slice: 340 calories; 7 grams of fat
From the judges: This pastry crust was pretty much the same as our store-bought apple pie champion. The box claims it’s made from scratch. It’s light and flaky, although half of the top edge was burned, which is my fault. (Hey, you try cooking 10 pies at once!) The overdone crust didn’t seem to affect the flavor. The filling carried a nice mix of cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg with the pumpkin puree.
5: Costco
Price: $5.99
Size: 12 x 1¾
Nutritional info per slice: 320 calories; 11 grams of fat
From the judges: Here we go again. We have a pie made for a family of 12. If you ate this entire 3¾-pound behemoth by yourself, you’d be ingesting 3,840 calories, 372 grams of sugar and 576 grams of carbs.
Seriously, this pie has a smooth texture with mild pumpkin pie spices built on a firm crust. It doesn’t jump out at you because it’s just not all that special. I didn’t even think it tasted like real pumpkin. It was more like sweet potato pie.
But for 50 cents per slice, it’s a good value. It’s an all-around everyday middle-of-the-heap pumpkin pie.
4: Price Chopper
Price: $6.99
Size: 10 x 1¾
From the judges: I got this pie minutes after it came out of Price Chopper’s oven in Western Lights. The guy who baked it boxed it up for me right there. That’s how I know this is one fresh pumpkin pie. It tasted as good as it looked.
The filling had a deep pumpkin flavor with a touch of spices, but it was a little thin. But that doesn’t really matter because the wavy crust did most of the lifting.
3: Wegmans
Price: $9
Size: 9 x 1½
Nutritional info per slice: 290 calories; 13 grams of fat
From the judges: While we all agreed that the filling here was pedestrian, the crust more than makes up for it. Of all the crusts in all the pies we ate on this night, the Wegmans pumpkin pie crust had the most flavor. The fact that it had flavor at all put it in its own category. It brings the whole pie together. Maybe it’s the palm oil that’s listed in the ingredients. Who cares? It’s a good crust.
This is among the priciest store-bought pies we sampled, but you can’t put a price on all the time you’ll save by putting one of these in your Thanksgiving shopping cart.
2: Green Hills
Price: $12.99
Size: 10 x 1¾
From the judges: We all agreed that this pie’s filling was the most smooth and savory of the bunch. The crust, however, was too soft. Maybe we should’ve left it in the oven a little longer than we did. I’ll remember that for Thanksgiving Day. While we did have a can of whipping cream on our table (right next to the chicken wings), this pie didn’t need it. The flavor stood on its own. In fact, that was the case for the top five pumpkin pies.
1: Tops
Price: $8.99
Size: 10 x 2
From the judges: This was the unanimous favorite, and that surprised all of us once we were able to reveal the maker of each pie. We didn’t care much for Tops’ apple pie, but we agreed this pie packed the best pumpkin consistency of the nine. The nutmeg is more pronounced here than any of its competitors, and the filling was sweeter that the others. Lastly, the crust was just crispy enough to give the heavy center the support it needs.
Epilogue: The store-bought pies were better than we expected, especially those made in the supermarket’s bakery. Some of the judges said they’d be serving one (not 18) next Thursday. Others said they would turn to family-owned bakeries in town to do the work for them. Of course, we can still make our own. It isn’t all that difficult.
MORE THANKSGIVING
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Home for the Holidays: Cooking the perfect apple pie (video)
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. You can also find him on Twitter @HoosierCuse.
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