Sara Lee is edged out in pie-eating contest.(UP FRONT)(Product/service evaluation)

If you believed the claims on frozen-pie boxes, you'd expect something Grandma toiled over all day. Marie Callender's Dutch Apple Pie is "100% fresh apples." "With every bite" of Sara Lee Key Lime Pie, "you can almost hear the island sounds of steel drums and waves caressing the sand." And don't get us started on folksy Mrs. Smith, who might have begun creating pies "in her own kitchen" but probably didn't have access to sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, or the other ingredients needed to make a supermarket product for the masses.

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Our tasters tried six frozen pies: three Dutch apple (cinnamon-flavored with a sweet crumb top) and three key lime with graham-cracker or cookie crust. You bake the apple pies for about an hour. You thaw the Edwards and Marie Callender's key lime pies for an hour or more before serving, but Sara Lee says to slice its pie when frozen, then serve it, or wait 15 minutes and serve the pie when it's creamier.

Bottom line. Among apple pies, Marie Callender's and Mrs. Smith's were a bit like homemade and were tastier than Sara Lee. The Edwards and Marie Callender's key lime pies were slightly tastier than the Sara Lee version.

How we sliced it

In alphabetical order. For both types, Sara Lee was slightly less tasty than the others.

Dutch apple pies