Holland’s Steak and Guinness Pie Review

It seems only right that as I dug into my Holland’s Steak and Guinness pie on a Saturday night in July, in front of me Holland’s players were cruising to third place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Crisp, neat finishing, decent content and hitting the back of the net. And the football team didn’t play too badly either!

Holland's Steak and Guinness Pie delivery

I have to say I did very much enjoy the flavour of this Steak and Guinness pie, with a thick, flavoursome gravy that clearly had been tried and tested, adding a real richness to the tender pieces of steak. There was a reasonable amount of steak in these pies, with a quite decent capacity. However it was certainly not wall-to-wall steak like we have had in a number of bigger, albeit more expensive, rival steak pies. And there was a bit of fatty gristle in one of the two pies I ate, which wasn’t ideal. (I had two because one just didn’t look – or indeed become – enough.)

The pastry was firm and crisp, although I would have preferred a slightly lighter, flakier top crust to balance out the very nice shortcrust sides and base. The colour though was good too and, while the edges did crisp up a little more than the centre of the lid, the condition was good too. The pie even seemed to be enjoying Holland’s performance on the pitch, breaking into a little smile!

These Holland's Pies seemed quite happy with Holland's 3-0 win!

It was however a little shallow as pies go, meaning it didn’t have quite the ideal pastry:filling ratio, but the filling was very good and with a little more meat it would have been close to being spot on. The Steak and Guinness combo we know works well (after all, our current number 1 pie is also Steak and Guinness flavour!) and the flavour of this pie was what pleased me most about Holland’s effort. The gravy was just the right consistency and quantity, which is important for the flavour. I was also pleased that it wasn’t loaded with pepper, as the Holland’s Peppered Steak Pie I rated at the Emirates Stadium was a bit too seasoned!

Holland's Steak and Guinness Pie Review

I’d certainly be very much up for enjoying another of these Pierate Recommended pies soon and will look out for them, priced at a very affordable £2 (RSP) each. Thanks once again to Holland’s Pies and Christine at Mason Williams for providing the 28 pies, which will primarily be enjoyed at half time of the World Cup final!

Holland’s Steak and Guinness Pie
Score: 5.46/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 5.5, Consistency 6, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5, Content 5.75, Total: 5.46/7]
RAS

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Hollands Frozen Potato & Meat Pie Review

Anyone remember that McCain Micro Chips advert from the 90s? It was trying to sell substandard chips but it was okay because they were 'Quickety Quick', they only took three minutes to cook in the microwave. I loved watching this again, when did the 90s start looking so retro? The expression on the kid's face when he looks at the crinkle cut chip is classic...

Hmm... why was I talking about microwave chips...? Oh yes, we love food that can be microwaved, even if it doesn't taste quite as good as the normal version. Convenience is king nowadays in our busy lives, even sometimes when it comes to pies! There are many pies which can be heated up in the microwave, but very few specifically for the microwave market. Pukka pies do a microwave 3 1/2 minute chicken pie which we were quite impressed with back in 2011.

Now it seems that Holland's pies are getting in on the act, with ultra-convenient packs of small frozen pies which can cook in the microwave in just 4 minutes. Yes, it is 30 seconds longer than the Pukka option, I will leave it up to you whether this would affect your choice to buy these pies. I have a moderate amount of patience and I found that I didn't mind waiting for 4 minutes.

If you are a follower of Pierate you might have heard that I ate pie for every meal during British Pie Week (a total of 21 pies). Watch the video of a Hollands Potato & Meat pie being eaten for dinner on Day Six of the challenge to see what I thought. I got this four pack of pies and they were very convenient to have in the freezer, as a quick meal or even better as a snack. I would get them again as an emergency pie. They are only 177g so they are quite small but at £3 for the pack of 4 this was good value compared to other pies. They are certainly not gourmet, the pastry does taste different to 'normal' pastry, it seems these have been specifically produced to be frozen and microwaved. The pastry was quite pale, similar in some ways to the Pukka effort. The fact that there was only 9% meat didn't seem to matter, the potato was soaked in meaty gravy which gave it a classic Meat & Potato taste. I would note that one of the pies I had was a little chewy, despite there being little meat. The pie also wasn't filled very well despite being a small pie. These things stop it getting a great score but it didn't taste bad and they could be worth buying for the convenience.



Holland's seem to be good at tapping into the microwave pie market. Their non-frozen pies which we have reviewed before can also be microwaved. In our previous test, we did find however than the non-microwave option was best. The frozen version, although not quite as good, compares favourably to the non-frozen variety. Traditionally a Northern brand, Holland's pies can now be found in the South as well. I got this pack in a Bristol supermarket. We were also very impressed with the Holland's Big Steak pie which is now on sale at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.



Potato & Meat (Hollands)
3.87/7

SJL

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Its the age old problem. Your pie will take 45 minutes in the oven but you want it NOW if not sooner. This is why a quick 'zap' in the microwave is often the preferred choice of pie lovers everywhere. But it is generally considered that pies cooked by this method don't taste as mouth wateringly delicious, but is it true? Time for a pierate official verdict which will use similar rock solid scientific taste-o-meter techniques that were employee in the Welsh pie taste. The taste bud doesn't lie.

But there's no need here to go with an already reviewed pie. Hold onto your hats because we're about to attempt a science experiment with a review of two new pies! People with a weak heart are advised to stop reading now because the excitement might just be too much for you.

Introducing Holland's Pies, beloved pie makers in the North West of England since 1851. Nowadays they are part of a large food group and their pies can often be found cheap in the supermarkets, although this may be limited to the Northern reaches. The two pies purchased were for instance on a two for £1.50 offer in Morecambe Morrisons. This scores highly for cheapness but lowers my expectations of the standard of product, maybe unfairly because it could always be a bargain.

I chose a Potato and Meat Pie as the microwave option and a Just Steak Pie as the oven cooked pie of choice. Why, you ask, did I not chose two pies the same to make it a fair test? Well cos I didn't want to eat two pies the same and this is my test and I make up the rules.

On the left we have the P&M and the right-hand pie is the steak. You can see from this picture how the pastry from the steak pie had crumbled. Hollands advertise their pastry as of excellent quality and for the steak pie I agree with this. The crumblyness (that mythical 9th C) is in this particular pie a good thing. It also has an excellent taste whereas often pastry can have a good texture but lack any real taste at all. It is certainly different to the competition. However this is where the microwave option fails the P&M pie as it's pastry had a pretty horrible texture and was overly chewy. Fillingwise they were pretty similar despite differing cooking methods. So that it is then in summary, if you want pastry perfection then remember good things come to those who wait.

Now a quick rundown of the pie content and the scores on the doors. They both had nice gravy and a good capacity. However the actual meat and potato was a bit mushy with not a great consistency. The steak was a bit too chewy and a bit cheap in my opinon. These pies to me seem like a mass market contender rather than anything resembling a premium product. But overall they are really cheap and outstanding value when on offer. Recently this seems to be happening regularly so maybe stock up when the chance comes.

Potato and Meat Pie (microwave) - 4.1/7

Just Steak Pie (oven) - 4.7/7

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