Advice sought for a pie maker

[glasgowcyclist]

A friend of mine is a maniac for good quality pies and can always find some wherever we go. However, he doesn’t make his own as he has no oven so I thought I’d get him one of these pie makers:





Has anyone tried this sort of thing? Are they any good?

 

[alicat]

No, but the reviews couldn't be better. I'm tempted and I didn't even know they existed until you posted @glasgowcyclist

 

[si_c]

Oof. Me want.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Reviews look good. Someone mentioned seasoning it before use, I think this is key for anything that gets hot. You can get bad results from a quality item through not seasoning it at the start (just like a pan). I'm seriously thinking about getting one now!

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I've never heard of them either so off I went to the Argos site and decided that I would be more enthusiastic if it had 4, 6 or even 8 slots.

With only two slots it would seem to be either a lot of hassle to create the pastry and fillings for just two pies or an irritation of preparing for say 6 pies and then cooking them two at a time.

Maybe you could use ready prepared pastry and freeze various fillings, but that seems a bit too organised and planned ahead for me.

Also are the slots big enough to make a proper size pie, whatever that size is for the user?

if you look at the empty machine the slots do look quite large, bit if you look at the pies when compared to food of a known size they suddenly look quite small.

I could see myself buying one, some ready made puff pastry and a can of stewing steak and thinking that was fun and never using it again.

Bye

Ian

 

[annedonnelly]

There's a social enterprise in Newcastle called Food Nation. They run a men's pie club and according to the photos on their social media they use that sort of pie maker very successfully.

 

[T4tomo]

No, but the reviews couldn't be better. I'm tempted and I didn't even know they existed until you posted @glasgowcyclist

same hear, never heard of such a thing, but for someone who doesn't have an oven, it looks ideal. Otherwise the ubiquitous white enamel pie dishes do a wonderful job, although I guess this gadget uses less energy than turning on the oven.

I would echo the seasoning with oil before use, but decent non stick and the butter in the pastry normally ensures a good "release"

I do love a good pie, and whilst puff pastry is hassle to make and best bought, shortcrust is so easy to make, and better for the base anyway. If am making a batch of pies then s/crust bottoms and puff tops are the prince of pies.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I want him to be able to make a substantial pie but looking through the Q&A for the above machine it appears that each cavity is only 9cm wide x 4.5cm deep. I think I’ll keep looking for something a bit bigger.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I want him to be able to make a substantial pie but looking through the Q&A for the above machine it appears that each cavity is only 9cm wide x 4.5cm deep. I think I’ll keep looking for something a bit bigger.

I've seen some single pie makers that look as if they do one which is at least salad-plate sized. But how deep it is, is another matter. They might - I emphasise might, I've not seen them IRL - be shallow pies.
In my view a smaller, deeper pie is better than a larger, shallower one. Measurements of kitchen accessories can be deceptive; bet get one of the pie he likes and actually measure it, then compare with the measurements of the pie makers/pie dishes. A pie maker of that general type is certainly going to be a lot less hassle, and cheaper, than switching on an entire oven to make one or two single or double serve pies.

 

[oldwheels]

I used to have one and the operative words are "used to " Got it in a cash and carry years ago but more faff than it was worth.
I do have a Remoska which doubles as an oven which works ok on the very infrequent times I make a pie.

 

[Reynard]

Is that the Hairy Bikers' pie maker thingy? Or should that be kingy?

I quite like the idea of it, but kitchen gadgets can be funny old things sometimes.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Is that the Hairy Bikers' pie maker thingy? Or should that be kingy?

I quite like the idea of it, but kitchen gadgets can be funny old things sometimes.

No, they have one on the market at a similar price but I’ve found that gadgets with celeb names attached are cheaper items marked up.

I’ve now seen one with deep-fill (7cm) pies for £28.99

That’s more like the size of pie I’m after…

 

[fossyant]

The only problem with pies is the pastry - not terribly healthy. If making pies, we just cheat these days and just pop puff pastry on the top only. Gives you a bit of pastry hit, without too much.

That reminds me, I need to make a chicken and leak pie soon...

 

[Reynard]

No, they have one on the market at a similar price but I’ve found that gadgets with celeb names attached are cheaper items marked up.

I’ve now seen one with deep-fill (7cm) pies for £28.99

View attachment 625110

That’s more like the size of pie I’m after…

Yeah, I kind of get that.

I do like the idea of one, but not sure if I can justify one as I don't eat that many pies. I do *like* pies though...

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I wonder if Vernon would have approved of such a thing? 🤔