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Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iceland. Show all posts
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Put That British Pie Week Party on Iceland
Iceland - Pie Reviews
These pies were eaten as part of the Pierateers #Pieathon Pie Pledge to see who could go the longest eating only pie during British Pie Week!
With some pies from Iceland having been Highly Recommended by Pierateer RAS I have been meaning to try them out for a while. It was good to have some pies in freezer for British Pie Week in case I started to run low on pies whilst attempting the 'Pie-a-thon' Challenge where I had to eat only pie for as long as possible. Whilst Gloucester Iceland didn't have the Chicken and Bacon pie recommended by RAS, the box of 12 Party Pies for £3 seemed intriguing. They were similar to the Morrisons version previously reviewed.
This genre of pie is difficult to get right, generally there isn't enough filling. However, these seemed to do a decent job in that respect. They had so much filling that they actually both burst open. They came in both Steak & Ale and Chicken & Stuffing flavours. Both fillings were pretty generic tasting but nice enough and I enjoyed them. The meat came in small pieces so I didn't notice whether they were chewy. Whilst small, the pieces of meat were bigger than the mince in the Morrisons version. The sauce was rich and thick. The pastry was good but a little chewy. The main downside for both these pies is that they stuck to their foil cases, so the only way to get a cross-section was to take off the lids! Certainly not what you want to happen if you are serving these at a party. A shame as they performed well otherwise. Neither of the fillings stood out so I have scored them both the same.
Condition - 5.0 out of 7
Colour - 4.0 out of 7
Cheapness - 3.0 out of 7 - £3 for 12 works out at 25p a pie which I thought was expensive for such small pies. A couple of bites and they are gone. Offers are available if you buy more than one pack. They are cheaper than the Morrisons version though!
Capacity - 4.8 out of 7 - Good capacity for such a small pie and well filled.
Chewiness - 4.5 out of 7
Content - 4.0 out of 7 - Nice enough.
Consistency - 3.5 out of 7 - Let down ultimately because they need scooping out of the foil!
Party Steak & Ale / Party Chicken & Stuffing (Iceland)
4.11/7
Whilst I was in Iceland I also wanted to try one of their regular sized pies to see how they fared against the bigger supermarkets versions. I have nothing against frozen pies, in fact I have had some pretty good ones. Pastry can cook quite nicely from frozen. There was a slightly disappointing selection of pies in my local Iceland, one Steak & Ale or Chicken & Mushroom in the individual pie size. I picked up a box of 4 Chicken & Mushroom for £1.50.
Condition - 4.8 out of 7 - Whilst not doing anything special, the puff pastry lid rose nicely and I thought that it looked well proportioned.
Colour - 4.5 out of 7 - Pretty good brown colour.
Cheapness - 3.7 out of 7 - 37.5p each is cheap although they were slightly smaller than a standard individual pie (or at least my idea of how big they should be). But then you get what you pay for...
Capacity - 2.5 out of 7 - Disaster, there was a large capacity but there was little content to speak of. The pie was filled with what I would describe as Chicken & Mushroom soup. Once this had flooded out onto the plate, it seemed pretty much empty.
Chewiness - 2.6 out of 7 - As you can imagine, with a soup-like filling there was little to get my teeth into. That said the pastry lid had a nice crunch. The shortcrust base and sides had a biscuity texture.
Content - 2.9 out of 7 - Bland, bland, bland and boring. Whilst not tasting bad, the filling didn't taste of much. A shame when the pastry tasted good! There were a few small chicken chunks. Whilst suspiciously cuboid in shape, they tasted okay.
Consistency - 2.4 out of 7 - A pie with a lack of filling like this one is just never going to work
Chicken & Mushroom (Iceland)
3.34/7
Overall, these weren't exactly Iced Gems although the mini pies might come in handy during the British Pie Week challenge of only eating pie. A bit of a disappointment but with so many other pies to enjoy this British Pie Week the disappointment won't last long.
SJL
continue reading "Put That British Pie Week Party on Iceland"
These pies were eaten as part of the Pierateers #Pieathon Pie Pledge to see who could go the longest eating only pie during British Pie Week!
With some pies from Iceland having been Highly Recommended by Pierateer RAS I have been meaning to try them out for a while. It was good to have some pies in freezer for British Pie Week in case I started to run low on pies whilst attempting the 'Pie-a-thon' Challenge where I had to eat only pie for as long as possible. Whilst Gloucester Iceland didn't have the Chicken and Bacon pie recommended by RAS, the box of 12 Party Pies for £3 seemed intriguing. They were similar to the Morrisons version previously reviewed.
This genre of pie is difficult to get right, generally there isn't enough filling. However, these seemed to do a decent job in that respect. They had so much filling that they actually both burst open. They came in both Steak & Ale and Chicken & Stuffing flavours. Both fillings were pretty generic tasting but nice enough and I enjoyed them. The meat came in small pieces so I didn't notice whether they were chewy. Whilst small, the pieces of meat were bigger than the mince in the Morrisons version. The sauce was rich and thick. The pastry was good but a little chewy. The main downside for both these pies is that they stuck to their foil cases, so the only way to get a cross-section was to take off the lids! Certainly not what you want to happen if you are serving these at a party. A shame as they performed well otherwise. Neither of the fillings stood out so I have scored them both the same.
Condition - 5.0 out of 7
Colour - 4.0 out of 7
Cheapness - 3.0 out of 7 - £3 for 12 works out at 25p a pie which I thought was expensive for such small pies. A couple of bites and they are gone. Offers are available if you buy more than one pack. They are cheaper than the Morrisons version though!
Capacity - 4.8 out of 7 - Good capacity for such a small pie and well filled.
Chewiness - 4.5 out of 7
Content - 4.0 out of 7 - Nice enough.
Consistency - 3.5 out of 7 - Let down ultimately because they need scooping out of the foil!
Party Steak & Ale / Party Chicken & Stuffing (Iceland)
4.11/7
Whilst I was in Iceland I also wanted to try one of their regular sized pies to see how they fared against the bigger supermarkets versions. I have nothing against frozen pies, in fact I have had some pretty good ones. Pastry can cook quite nicely from frozen. There was a slightly disappointing selection of pies in my local Iceland, one Steak & Ale or Chicken & Mushroom in the individual pie size. I picked up a box of 4 Chicken & Mushroom for £1.50.
Condition - 4.8 out of 7 - Whilst not doing anything special, the puff pastry lid rose nicely and I thought that it looked well proportioned.
Colour - 4.5 out of 7 - Pretty good brown colour.
Cheapness - 3.7 out of 7 - 37.5p each is cheap although they were slightly smaller than a standard individual pie (or at least my idea of how big they should be). But then you get what you pay for...
Capacity - 2.5 out of 7 - Disaster, there was a large capacity but there was little content to speak of. The pie was filled with what I would describe as Chicken & Mushroom soup. Once this had flooded out onto the plate, it seemed pretty much empty.
Chewiness - 2.6 out of 7 - As you can imagine, with a soup-like filling there was little to get my teeth into. That said the pastry lid had a nice crunch. The shortcrust base and sides had a biscuity texture.
Content - 2.9 out of 7 - Bland, bland, bland and boring. Whilst not tasting bad, the filling didn't taste of much. A shame when the pastry tasted good! There were a few small chicken chunks. Whilst suspiciously cuboid in shape, they tasted okay.
Consistency - 2.4 out of 7 - A pie with a lack of filling like this one is just never going to work
Chicken & Mushroom (Iceland)
3.34/7
Overall, these weren't exactly Iced Gems although the mini pies might come in handy during the British Pie Week challenge of only eating pie. A bit of a disappointment but with so many other pies to enjoy this British Pie Week the disappointment won't last long.
SJL
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Iceland – the land of the frozen pie!
Chicken and Bacon Individual Pie Review from Iceland
It’s not just mums that shop at Iceland you know – Pierateers
do too! With a whole large freezer draw full of pies, it was only the lack of a
nearby Iceland store that had stopped the Pierateers rummaging and pillaging
the Iceland frozen pie stock sooner for a range of buried pie treasure! Well I
can confirm that this was well worth the wait, as the selection of pies
available will prompt many a pie return, especially after how good their
Chicken and Bacon Individual Pie was. The only query I had was over the use
of the word individual – as I’m not sure how small this individual would have
to be in order to just consume one of these beauties. My thought is that I
could probably have stretched to three, however I settled at 2 for a lunchtime
snack. Fortunately they are sold in packs of 4, so just remember to account for
at least 2 or 3 per person when purchasing.
Onto the actual pie itself, and the packaging certainly
holds nothing back. It claims to be “short crust pastry base filled with tender
pieces of chicken and smoked bacon in a creamy sauce topped with a puff pastry
lid”. I can’t really put it better myself, other than to say that the short
crust pastry sides and base are both sturdy and not too thick, holding the
contents well, and the puff pastry lid is crisp, golden and delightful. The
chicken is tender and spread quite well throughout the pie and while only small
pieces, the bacon tastes good too. You can’t deny the capacity is packed to the
rafters in this pie, which comes as a great delight following a number of pubs
selling mini pie platters where the small pie has literally one or two pieces
of meat. No so here! While this pie is quite small in size, it is packed with
content. The creamy sauce is very flavoursome, though a little overpowering in
part when taking a mouthful of pie that is slightly lacking in meat and it does
get a bit much when eating the several pies you need to make this a meal,
rather than an appetiser. But that is only a slight criticism, as the creamy
sauce complements the chicken and bacon well and makes a nice change to the
gravy based pies we all know and love. The condition the pies came in was very
good, with the puff pastry certainly having a life of its own (see the photo!)
 |
| Iceland Chicken and Bacon Pies |
At £1.50 for four (small) individual pies, you really can’t find
much fault in these pies! They certainly need to be a bit bigger but with a
little more meat and a little less cream sauce I reckon this Pierateer would be
regularly pie shopping in Iceland!
 |
| Iceland Chicken and Bacon Pies Review |
Iceland Chicken and Bacon Individual Pie
Score: 6.0/7
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
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