Meat Pie .Frozen from the Supermarket or fresh from a bakers
Gourmet pies .
Vegetarian or vegan pies
Pecan or pumpkin pies
Egg and bacon pies
Fish or chicken pies
Prefer to bake my own
Not really a pie person
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This topic was visited back in 2019 and garnered over 8K views . Naturally all types could not be listed due to the constraints of the forum software .
Please feel free to add and build the topic with your thoughts on the humble pie .
I’m sure there would be some forum members who could share some hints and even a recipe to other members regarding your favourite pie . Your input would be most welcome .
The Food Champions Badge Award for January’s Challenge goes to @pamelanorth4 . There were many great posts and we appreciate the time you put in posting them .
Pies are very bad in my view - they seduce ones taste buds and with a seeming abundance of local bakeries these days there is no end of choice.
I love them, but they have this dark side called ‘calories’.
All time favourite for me: steak and kidney, with a good fluffy pastry.
Close seconds: Steak/Potato top - but absolutely only if it is ‘real mash’, Steak and Mushroom, Pepper Steak.
Worst: Mrs Macs. A while back, in the middle of covid, I was on a thousand mile drive (literally) and stopped for something to eat. I had a pie and a sausage roll and couldn’t taste either - enter the RAT! no, I wasn’t covid positive, my taste was intact - the pie was tasteless - panic averted.
Pies that remind me of home: Vili’s Gourmet Pies
Then there is the case of German bakeries and their pies (and ‘deserts’) - Adelaide Hills and the Barossa Valley have a variety of bakeries that have a lot to answer for when it comes to waistlines - and plenty of associated products to wash them down!
Egg and Bacon? - yes (‘Real men don’t eat quiche’ - an amusing Datamation article about not programming in PASCAL in the early 80’s) - but yes, quiche can be amazing. Pecan, another favourite.
Should item one meant to be two options?
I am a sucker for a great pie.
Sadly great pies are hard to come by.
Had one recently at the Hebel Cafe. Was a 10/10. Went back just in the nick of time and got another for the next day before a heap of other travellers rocked in. Demonstrates the power of the travellers App WikiCamps. Don’t care what the pie costs if a great pie. Best pies have been in Queenstown, Tasmania, Blinman, South Australia and Hebel, NSW.
I do also buy at times the Herbert Adams pies from the supermarket when on special if haven’t had a great pie for a while. Pastry not the greatest, but acceptable.
Our family like all the pie offers, whether flesh and/or vegetable, egg or no egg, and fruit. Tarts also are a hit with our family.
Home baked or bought, they are all enjoyed as long as the quality is good. Quality with store bought is hit and miss, some products always offer good results, some products are good then decline in quality, yet others start out poorly but improve after customer feedback, and yet others remain poor choices. Price should point to quality but is an unreliable marker of products.
I like to make a baked egg custard tart, additional ingredients are optional to the plain egg custard and can include stewed apple, stewed apricots, sultanas (plumped), pears, peaches, and I admit I do like quince pieces.
There’s a recurring dream of the great meat pies we used to buy way back when. Possibly due at the time to many small country towns still having a local Bakery. A business owned, run and staffed by the baker and one or more of the family. A not so great local baker would not last long. Some were so good they were worth the detour when travelling nearby. Although few bake on site anymore, the challenge remains to regularly sample the offerings, just in case they rediscover a long lost formula. They remain a healthier alternative IMO to some of the other snatch and grab calorie toppers.
For the best chunky meat pie it must be served hot with perfect pastry. Buttery and flakey on top, with the short crust al dente, gravy not too runny, the meat chunky and tender, and all well seasoned. Added mushrooms always a winner for the added umami. A 15 minute drive each way at present.
I’m also a fan of sweet potato, with a recent savory local version worth asking for. Unfortunately sold out yesterday for a late lunch. I need another sample to best describe why the textures and flavours worked so well in a great not soggy casing.
As an occasional pie eater - say one a month or less - Mr Z likes Mrs Mac’s Famous Beef Pies (4 x large frozen, 700g) and has recently discovered Baked Provisions Chicken Curry (2 x flat frozen, 420g supermarket about $6-7). He tried other flavours - chicken & vegetable, pepper steak and didn’t like them.
He has a box of 12 Snowy River Party Pies in the freezer, which he likes as a quick snack - 1 min in microwave. After more than a year there are still 4 left.
He is very particular about how he eats pies. He will lever the pastry top off, eat the contents with a teaspoon with no sauce; then eat the pie base & then the lid out of the hand.
He has fond memories of the wood fired (they didn’t have electricity) pie bakery that turned out the greasiest pies, so greasy they turned the paper bag transparent. He used to chop wood for them to get one. Pies are a comfort food with links to happy childhood memories.
usually based on a Beouf Burguignon recipe and then topped with a lid of comercial (Pampas) Butter Puff Pastry. Pastries made with oil or margarine just are not up to scratch. I have had pies with pastry made with lard and they are also good.
As a kid I loved Balfours Pies (SA) - I had one a couple years ago and realised another dimension to the innocence of childhood and the way taste matures
In slightly later years I remember on many occasions enjoying a Pie Floater at the Pie Cart in the middle of town, in the early hours of the morning, after a strenuous night out with friends - a pie floating in a bowl of pea soup. Context is everything … They have a long history where I come from and seemed to be ‘strategically placed’ - outside the central train station, the GPO, the Parade, etc by various pie companies. They all tasted the same after a big night … great!
Thats a fine looking pie @Pumpy - the description gets the taste buds going as much as the photo! As with other replies talking of homemade, there is something very special about them - and the experimentation is all part of the fun - if one batch wasn’t quite what was expected, try again - the rewards are worth it!
In my younger carefree days I would occasionally have a very chunky meat pie from Elaine’s of Mona Vale. Older, plumper and wiser I shun pastry products. My preference is a savoury quiche style without pastry.
I only have pies a couple of times each year, maybe 6-8 in total.
I prefer freshly baked bakery pies over the frozen or supermarket varieties. Like trying different pie fillings where available to add some variety to life.
Being in Tassie we have a range of options not commonly found elsewhere such as scallop pies and corned beef and white sauce pies. I have also seen mutton bird pies at a butcher when in season, as well as wallaby pie on a menu. I understand in the past possum pies also adorned some gourmet food outlets. Yet to try the last three, but would if it was pie time and the opportunity prevailed.
The local bakery makes vegetable pies which I really like . They also make good vegetable pasties which I often buy on my way home from fishing . Occasionally they have Cornish pasties which really hit the spot .
Earnest Arthur at South Nowra right next to Bunnings have a very tasty Lentil Pumpkin pie and Spicy Sweet potato roll both Vegan and excellent coffee, recommended
Tip for cooking a frozen pie in a microwave + convection oven to get a perfect crust
Total cooking time: no more than 9 minutes & 30 sec’s, according to taste.
Note that these settings are for the fancy individual Herbert Adams frozen pies, but should be close for most others; adjust accordingly.
Place frozen pie off-centre on the low or mid-sized wire rack that came with your microwave.This will ensure that pie is fully cooked through without cold spots or burnt bits.
Nuke for 4:30 at 80%.
Convection cook at 180°C for 4-5 minutes (don’t preheat!), depending on preferred crust crispiness.
Serve, & be careful not to burn yourself!
When it comes to factory pies, you really do get what you pay for. I used to work in a pie factory. My advice would be to choose pies that contain visible and recognisable meat chunks, that way you’re getting a high-quality product.
Pie, magic word which evokes fond memories of comfort food: the apple pie mum used to make, the meat pies at the footy…
It must be completely enclosed in a pastry crust but can contain fillings from savoury to sweet.
Home cooked is best and one of the tips for a crisp, non-soggy base is to pre-bake the shell, and pre-cook the fillings. Pre-cooked fillings can be Lasagne, Vegan, Leftovers, in fact any thing we like…
My favourite for a savoury pie is the meat pie, and for a dessert an ice-cream topped apple pie.
