Freezing Pies - Straight to the Oven?

I made the Cooks Illustrated Apple Cranberry Pie and froze it ahead of Thursday.

Now, I have a problem. I froze it in a Chantal deep dish pie plate. Since doing so, I have heard it would have been better to put plastic wrap underneath so that I could remove the pie plate once frozen. This allows you to bring the pie plate (in this case, a ceramic) up to room temperature and avoid the thermal shock of putting it and pie together into a preheated oven.

Does anyone go from Freezer to Oven with their frozen pies and plates? I e-mailed Chantal and haven't gotten a response from them yet. I will call them tomorrow, but I expect that they will tell me not to do it.

I have gotten a couple different responses to this question. Some, say they go from freezer to oven in their Pyrex with impunity. Others, say Chantal says doing so will void the warranty and it is not recommended.

I guess an alternative would be to let the pie thaw in the refrigerator and put it in that way. Will this be a significant detriment to the texture?

I know that there are some pie aficionados on these boards, so I throw the question to the internets. I would appreciate any knowledge or experience folks have with this issue so I can decide whether or not to start thawing tomorrow.

i'm not familiar with chantal, but if in doubt i would trust your instincts and thaw the pie in the refrigerator. no point in the thing exploding in the oven. best if you can transfer it tonight, wednesday, as it can take a long time for food to thaw in the refrigerator. i dont see any reason why it shouldn't taste fine. letting it get to room temp would definitely be bad for the crust. but as long as you keep it at refrigerated temp i dont see any problem. good luck, justjoan

Can you slip the frozen pie out of the pan by setting it in lukewarm water, like a jello mold? Or maybe do a relatively quick defrosting of the bottom the same way before you stick the frozen pie in the oven?

Just to avoid the agony of having to deal with my nice pie pan, I usually make the things in foil disposables and then slip the whole thing into my Fiestaware pan after. Not ideal, but it works - you could try this if my first suggestion works out.