Home delivered pies....anyone tried them?

[Ming the Merciless]

Google throws up more and more ads for companies that make and deliver pies. They normally seem to cost eg £32 for a box of 8 which, if they are good quality, seems reasonable for a delivered price.
I don't eat a lot of pies but they might be handy to keep in the freezer.
So.......does anyone use any of these companies ?
BTW.....I do not bake so won't make my own.

The road to ruin I tell thee. At least a walk to the pie shop burns some calories

 

[Reynard]

When it comes to pies, I'm a "buy a block of pastry" kind of gal. Fillings are quick to whip up, or to use up leftovers like curry or chilli. I tend to make pasties rather than pies - less faffage and less messy - as long as you get a good crimp on the edges.

I always tend to find bought pies somewhat underwhelming. Picked up a box of two slow cooked beef pies from the Tesco Christmas range for 70p on Xmas Eve. Nice enough if a little under-seasoned, and at 70p I'd have them again, but they definitely weren't worth £3.50 each.

 

[Dave7]

When it comes to pies, I'm a "buy a block of pastry" kind of gal. Fillings are quick to whip up, or to use up leftovers like curry or chilli. I tend to make pasties rather than pies - less faffage and less messy - as long as you get a good crimp on the edges.

I always tend to find bought pies somewhat underwhelming. Picked up a box of two slow cooked beef pies from the Tesco Christmas range for 70p on Xmas Eve. Nice enough if a little under-seasoned, and at 70p I'd have them again, but they definitely weren't worth £3.50 each.

Do you freeze them cooked then defrost as required ?
What pastry do you use (I would need REALLY easy stuff).
I have a can of chunky steak that would do the trick.

 

[gbb]

I havnt got much to offer other than how a pie can be very very under rated.
We stopped once for some lunch in a village pub in Stretton (near Belvoir iirc) and had game pie.
It was sublime... memorable decades later.

 

[Reynard]

Do you freeze them cooked then defrost as required ?
What pastry do you use (I would need REALLY easy stuff).
I have a can of chunky steak that would do the trick.

The Jus-roll puff pastry in block form is what I buy. You can get pastry ready-rolled as well, but it is somewhat more spendy as the packs only contains 350g less as opposed to the 500g of the block. Supermarket own brand is fine, it's just that my local Tesco doesn't stock their own brand block, only the ready-rolled. But bought puff pastry is one of my few kitchen cheats, despite the fact that I'm happy to make my own if need be. It's something I've nearly always got in.

I prefer to make pasties, pies and quiches fresh whenever needed and simply freeze any unneeded pastry. End result is much nicer. In your case, it'd be easier to portion out any pastry prior to freezing it - a quarter of a block makes two pasties, pretty well much.

Half an hour in a hot oven is ballpark. Eggy wash is nice but not needed, though a couple of tablespoons of milk with a pinch of salt in it also makes for a nice (albeit not quite so shiny) finish. You can use the wash to seal the edges prior to crimping, otherwise use a dab of water.

 

[BoldonLad]

The Jus-roll puff pastry in block form is what I buy. You can get pastry ready-rolled as well, but it is somewhat more spendy as the packs only contains 350g less as opposed to the 500g of the block. Supermarket own brand is fine, it's just that my local Tesco doesn't stock their own brand block, only the ready-rolled. But bought puff pastry is one of my few kitchen cheats, despite the fact that I'm happy to make my own if need be. It's something I've nearly always got in.

I prefer to make pasties, pies and quiches fresh whenever needed and simply freeze any unneeded pastry. End result is much nicer. In your case, it'd be easier to portion out any pastry prior to freezing it - a quarter of a block makes two pasties, pretty well much.

Half an hour in a hot oven is ballpark. Eggy wash is nice but not needed, though a couple of tablespoons of milk with a pinch of salt in it also makes for a nice (albeit not quite so shiny) finish. You can use the wash to seal the edges prior to crimping, otherwise use a dab of water.

I don't like puff pastry, is it possible to buy the other type (not even sure what it is called, short-crust?) ready made?

I have twice tried making my own, both times were disastrous, and, Mrs @BoldonLad, for all her many qualities seems to have missed all of her Domestic Science lessons at school

 

[Reynard]

I don't like puff pastry, is it possible to buy the other type (not even sure what it is called, short-crust?) ready made?

I have twice tried making my own, both times were disastrous, and, Mrs @BoldonLad, for all her many qualities seems to have missed all of her Domestic Science lessons at school

Yep, you can buy both ordinary shortcrust pastry and sweet shortcrust pastry. Just don't use the latter for savoury fillings

 

[BoldonLad]

Yep, you can buy both ordinary shortcrust pastry and sweet shortcrust pastry. Just don't use the latter for savoury fillings

Thank you

 

[BigSid]

I buy pies from Mudfoods Link . Delivered frozen. They are award winning! Lots of filling both quantity and variety. They have fruit pies not just savoury. I had a couple of their Christmas pies. They also make squiches (square quiches).

 

[Tenkaykev]

Thank you

A project that is on my to do list is to use one or both of those sheets of ready made puff party and make a giant Eccles Cake. I like Eccles cakes...

 

[Alex321]

A project that is on my to do list is to use one or both of those sheets of ready made puff party and make a giant Eccles Cake. I like Eccles cakes...

Who doesn't?

 

[vickster]

Who doesn't?

Me, I really don't like Eccles cakes because they seem to be made of weird pastry that is really dry, yet sticks to and coats the roof of your mouth in grease like lard
It's more a flaky pastry than puff. The raisins always seem to be dry, small and tough too and devoid of taste!

(admission, I don't really like pastry unless it's in the form of an extremely good pain aux raisins/au chocolat. Puff I can tolerate as long as it's not dry, but not really shortcrust, esp savoury)

 

[Alex321]

Me, I really don't like Eccles cakes because they seem to be made of weird pastry that is really dry, yet sticks to and coats the roof of your mouth in grease like lard
It's more a flaky pastry than puff. The raisins always seem to be dry, small and tough too and devoid of taste!

(admission, I don't really like pastry unless it's in the form of an extremely good pain aux raisins/au chocolat. Puff I can tolerate as long as it's not dry, but not really shortcrust, esp savoury)

That sounds like you have had poor quality Eccles cakes, though agreed the pastry isn't really puff pastry.

But the filling should be juicy and flavoursome, not dry & tasteless.

 

[vickster]

That sounds like you have had poor quality Eccles cakes, though agreed the pastry isn't really puff pastry.

But the filling should be juicy and flavoursome, not dry & tasteless.

Possibly but they've put me off for life.
I've had rubbish pain aux raisins too, but I know I can always get a decent one at certain retailers which hasn't proven the case with ECs (granted I don't live in Lancashire, but even if I did, I'd need to make sure they were suitable for vegetarians )

 

[Tenkaykev]

Me, I really don't like Eccles cakes because they seem to be made of weird pastry that is really dry, yet sticks to and coats the roof of your mouth in grease like lard
It's more a flaky pastry than puff. The raisins always seem to be dry, small and tough too and devoid of taste!

(admission, I don't really like pastry unless it's in the form of an extremely good pain aux raisins/au chocolat. Puff I can tolerate as long as it's not dry, but not really shortcrust, esp savoury)

I was planning on adapting my Barm Brach recipe and soaking the raisins in whisky for 24 hours. A nice peaty single malt would be really decadent and be interesting to try, as would the whisky once drained from the raisins. When our granddaughter has a sleepover we always have Pain au Chocolate. for breakfast, she insists on examining them and chooses the one with the most visible chocolate😁