Pies : Meat pies , frozen , fresh , which brand do you buy?

Just got given a 6 pack of Woolies meat pies - apparently a Bunch freebie - will report :slight_smile:

Typically it goes one of two ways - if its going to be with chips and gravy or a floater, any pie will do really - 4n20 or Sargents cheapies. If itā€™s on itā€™s own, or with some mash/etc then I do like the Herbert Adams and thereā€™s a couple of the Sargents that are ok too.

Way back I made my own. That is a whole other topic - there simply is no comparison. Hmmm, there was talk of a cheapie pie maker at that K place ā€¦ some weekend fun perhaps ā€¦

That. Sounds. Good.

Reasonable taste and cheap (you get what you pay for) - had a couple with oven fries, steak cut.

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That is Coles modus operandi.

Anytime they get anything really good, including their own brand items, they delete it.

Hatterā€™s Vegetable range to attract kids to eat veggies.

Kombucha pumpkins.

Heston Blumenthall pies and meat.

Slow cooked pork belly.

Inghamā€™s ckicken products.

Mr Chenā€™s crippy spring rolls & crispy wontons.

Dairy Farmers Pyhsical Milk.

McLeanā€™s Run Free Range Eggs.

Pea Beu insecticide spray.

McVities Go Ahead Crispy Slices biscuits.

Leggoā€™s Traditional Chunky Pickles.

Etc, etc, etc.

I guess it cuts down on the amount of work they have to do, and perhaps they even hope all the extra sales that Woollies and IGA get will exhaust the competition.
image

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The ā€œcheapie piemaker at that K placeā€ is a winner!

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i previously purchased sargents pies but everyone keeps says herbert adams are good i have never had before. someone else mentioned aldi 2 pack pies. to be honest i am never sure which tastes better. i just dont like when eating pies they put rubbish pieces of meat in them.

Four Nā€™ Twenty Angus Beef range pies are much better even though they are from the same company

National Pies from Tassie are great if you can find them in your area.

Garloā€™s Pies and Sausage Rolls are fantastic, and I buy in the fridge section at our local Coles when they have been marked down.

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thank you for that information. i remember years ago forn twently were a bit dicely with filling maybe they improved.how about other pie manufacturers like villis pies or patchets pies i have heard of these both but have never had them. i find the difficult thing is finding a pie with above average meat quality wise.

We find the grocery options are highly variable from box to box from good to very ordinary. Our best are sourced from a non-chain grocer and a deli. And then there are bake shops with pies, some superb and others ordinary but each consistent with their product.

i still remember bakeries when i was younger just like take away shops were better then multi nationals come in and take over .im sure food places still exist. im suprised choice doesnt rate individual take away shops or bakeries. i know they went around to supermarkets seeing who was good value for money etc. and also good quality referring to the food quality. maybe someone should be asking choice to survey small outlets but i suppose not all of us live in a certain suburb to be able to travel if a good bakery exists or a good take away shop.

At risk also of causing said outlets to become so popular locals need to queue early or miss out. Locally we have one good and one average option. The good used to be great, but now has a new proprietor. There is still one a little further away with really really terrific pies and pastries. Family run and carrying on the Vietnamese tradition of doing pastry and bread better than the Colonial French.

Given the majority of bakeries are now franchisees it is best to avoid these in the search for the fair dinkum Aussie meat pie. The local bakery CJā€™s has outlets across a number of local Sunshine Coast hinterland communities. They do a steady trade with the locals and visitors alike. Buckā€™s Bakery in Landsborough does a good coffee, great pies and fresh bread. It can get busy.

How as a disparate group could we collectively and fairly compare the fare from multiple outlets across the nation. Short of a great Aussie coffee and pie tasting tour, individual preferences also considered, I can taste the kilojoules. It might need to be on foot or two wheels ā€œLe tour de le tourte Ć  la viandeā€.

P.S. excuse the poor French. It likely translates with some humour. :wink:

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No need to. Here is the answer.

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The bakery also took out the top place for best gourmet pie (BBQ pork and quail egg),

Victoria! A long way to go for a pie @Fred123?
Not sure about the egg. Our Quails are all free range and might object to offspring on the menu.

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How about Tassie, famous for its scallop piesā€¦

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The best supermarket meat pies ive tried are sargents beef chunky ,the worst was balfours square meat pies that i bought at coles ,so bad no one would eat them so three packets were binned .

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Beware the difference between ā€œmeat pieā€ and ā€œbeef pieā€. Meat can mean almost anything. Beef has to be normal cuts of beef.
Herbert Adams gourmet (frozen) and National Pies (fresh) I find good.

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I am not sure that is correct. Beef means from a cow/cattle where meat means any animal. A beef pie can contain any part of a cow, likewise a meat pie any part of an animal. A meat pie ingredients list will outline what animal meat is in the pie (e.g. beef, chicken, lamb, scallops etc).

Foods Standards Australia has information on meat definitions used in the food (pie) industryā€¦

https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/generalissues/meatpie/Pages/default.aspx

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This brandā€™s Gourmet range is the best I have found - for ā€˜realā€™ meat & flavour. They also have a new Artisan (limited - only 3 options) range, quite expensive, with a pastry that microwaves brilliantly: the ā€˜lidā€™ puffs & is crisp, but the filling, IMO, doesnā€™t pack the flavour punch I expected. Have only tried the Butter Chicken & Thai Style Red Chicken Curry (there is also a Moroccan Vegetable). Only purchased when on (a very good - ie half price, or close to) specialā€¦

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Herbert Adams product is usually very good. We have on occasion gotten their pies, all variations, having large chunks of fat or grisly meat. We bag it and photo it, and back to the grocers; to their credit they have always been replaced without hassle, although that does not compensate for the meal that would have been. They were always happy with the photo, but the bag was always ready in case :wink:

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ā€œFootball, Meat Pies, Kangaroos, and Holden Carsā€.

Oops.

ā€œFootball, Meat Pies, Kangaroos, and Honda Carsā€?

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I stand corrected. Beef means from a cow. But I expect the contents to be muscle type meat and not just anything found in a cow.

The pie standard explains the definition of meat in pies. According to the Code, meat flesh means:

ā€˜The skeletal muscle of the carcass of any buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep, slaughtered other than in a wild state (i.e. not bush meat), plus any attached animal rind, fat, connective tissue, nerve, blood and blood vesselsā€™.

Offal isnā€™t under the definition of meat and must be declared as a separate ingredient on the packaging.

So whether it is labelled as a meat pie (with beef as the meat in the ingredients list) or labelled as a beef pie, the meat can be from the same parts of the beast. Calling it a beef or Angus beef pie rather than a meat pie is a marketing tool to try and differentiate it from other similar meat pies. They also often use it to claim premium (price) product.

Choice has covered pies and the link is in @grahroll above post frĆ²m September 2019 (number 11 in this thread).

The media occasionally reports neat pies containing offal (brains, kidneys and such like), but usually such claims are made by a pie maker trying to promote their product. Making outlandish claims seems to capture the mediaā€™s attention.cc

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