Pie in the Sky

March 7, 2016 1:05 PM

I would like to bake a blackberry pie and take it with me on the plane. Will the TSA allow this?

On Friday I will be flying from LAX to SeaTac. I would like to bring a blackberry pie with me. Is this something that the TSA would have a problem with? Pie filling is only semi-solid, so would it violate the restrictions on the volume of liquid you can have in carry-on? If you’'e not certain of the answer, do you know to whom I should direct my inquiry?

I wanna fly my pie!

posted by Parasite Unseen to Travel & Transportation (17 answers total)

TSA website says yes, but it may require some additional screening.
posted by damayanti at 1:09 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

Here's what the TSA says when you search for "pie":

Solid food items (not liquids or gels) can be transported in either your carry-on or checked baggage. Liquid or gel food items larger than 3.4 oz are not permitted in carry-on baggage and should be placed in your checked baggage if possible.

All food products should be properly packaged to avoid spilling during the screening process and damaging security equipment and other passengers' belongings. Cakes and pies are permitted as carry-on items, but could require additional screening.

Even if an item is generally permitted, it may be subject to additional screening or not allowed through the checkpoint if it triggers an alarm during the screening process, appears to have been tampered with, or poses other security concerns. The final decision rests with TSA on whether to allow any items on the plane.

As long as the filling isn't so goopy that it's sloshing around like water, you'll be fine. Happy travels to you and your pie.
posted by zachlipton at 1:09 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

I brought an Uncle Tetsu's cheesecake back from Canada, so I'm guessing yes.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:12 PM on March 7, 2016

This past weekend, my good friend carried on a frozen Chicago deep dish pizza (this is his go-to move when he visits former Chicagoans who have moved away). Other than TSA jokes that they wanted to confiscate it for lunch, he has never had troubles.
posted by AgentRocket at 1:43 PM on March 7, 2016

Not a pie, but related large food item: I took a 2-foot-long sausage back from L.A. once in my carry-on. No issues!
posted by limeonaire at 1:47 PM on March 7, 2016

I regularly take this five bean meal with me on planes. I imagine it is approximately the texture of a pie filling - it has wet stuff than you can see in the touched-up professional photo. I have taken it with me in my backpack well over a dozen times Once, about two years ago, the screener stopped to see what it was and then grumbled a bit of letting it through. Every other time it has been fine - they didn't even open the backpack to see what it was.
posted by metahawk at 1:56 PM on March 7, 2016

The TSA has rejected my jar of Vegemite, which is a thick not-liquid paste, so it is possible one of them will have a psychopath moment and reject your pie. There is no way for you to know in advance how reasonable the agent who sees you will be, and there is nobody who can give you a guarantee that it will be allowed through.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:11 PM on March 7, 2016 [7 favorites]

Can you freeze your pie? Frozen, it's not liquid.
posted by bonehead at 2:18 PM on March 7, 2016 [2 favorites]

Adding to the litany of non-pie food items i have successfully gotten past post-9/11 TSA:
-a whole smoked beef brisket (in vacuum sealed bags)
-burritos (many, like basically any time i am flying back from SF).

As noted in the first answer there were some additional screening of my items (though one time i was like 99% sure the TSA agent just wanted to abscond with my burrito - a fact he eventually admitted as a half-joke. i do not joke about burritos).
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:40 PM on March 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

This person in a previous ask flew with the pie, per their update at the end of the thread.
posted by gudrun at 3:31 PM on March 7, 2016

I have flown with pecan without an issue (other than everyone from the TSA agents to the pilots wanting a slice) though that might be a little more solid than your typical blackberry pie. I'm pretty sure my mom's flown with apple pie though with no problems. Good luck!
posted by radiomayonnaise at 4:33 PM on March 7, 2016

I once had a jar of mostarda confiscated. It has about the consistency of pie filling. Basically, be braced for the possibility of capricious enforcement.
posted by praemunire at 4:41 PM on March 7, 2016

I know airport security is the last place you're supposed to be shifty, but if a TSA gives you a hard time, tell them you'll check it/give it to a waiting family member/eat it before going through security, and then just attempt a different line. A lot of this is agent discretion.
posted by i_am_a_fiesta at 6:18 PM on March 7, 2016

If you can bring it through completely frozen, the TSA is cool with it. Never mind that it will unfreeze by the time you're on the plane!

I've also had vegemite confiscated. I managed to plead my case on a jar of homemade preserves and they let me keep it, so it's a bit of a crapshoot.
posted by BungaDunga at 10:41 PM on March 7, 2016

The dodge for "no liquids" from cool packs, is, of course, dry ice. The TSA is fine with dry ice (see link).

Dry ice is quite inexpensive ($5 to $20, usually as a minimum purchase) and can be had in pellets or blocks (you don't care). Looking up "dry ice " usually turns up lots of options. Bang that into a cooler, wrapped in a towel, so you don't burn yourself, then the pie. Add the label the TSA wants (see link, again) and you're 100% pie-legal.

Speaking from a handling safety point of view this is moderately insane, but the TSA makes these rules, not OSHA.
posted by bonehead at 1:52 PM on March 8, 2016

I'd like to second the fact that this is probably agent discretion. PDX confiscated a brand new sealed jar of peanut butter from my carry-on, so it depends on how they're personally interpreting solid vs. gel. If they question it, I'd have a heart warming story prepared.
posted by sweetmarie at 10:33 AM on March 9, 2016

Response by poster: I took the pie on the plane, and it was fine. All
six of the TSA staff members with whom I interacted joked that I had to give them a piece.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:44 PM on March 15, 2016