You may recall that in May 2013 (blimey, was it that long ago?!), I reviewed a microwaveable Kershaws Luxury Steak Pie. Needless to say, the pie didn't score well on our criteria. In my opinion, not only did the top-crust pie look terrible but it also failed to live up to its "luxury" status in any sense of the word. I finished the pie, and thought that would be the end of it.

But the Kershaws steak pie has reared its head again, for I spotted this item in the freezer section of a small superstore. The ready meal pie is back, and with a vengeance.

It's back, in a new form. And 9p more expensive.

I know what you're thinking. It's a steak pie and chips, with carrots and peas - same as before - so what's the difference? Well, this pie is billed as a classic steak pie, in contrast to the luxury pie I reviewed before. Other than that small difference, though, the pie looks virtually identical.

But my Pierate colleagues (thanks guys) assured me that I really needed to try this pie, just to be certain there was no difference. Unsurprisingly, this filled me with fear. If the luxury pie lurks down near the bottom of the pie rankings, what on earth is this classic pie going to score?

 Opening up the cardboard packaging, the pie looks much the same in its plastic ready meal packaging.

:(

Once blasted for 11 minutes (11 minutes!) in the microwave, the pie is ready on the plate. And wow, what a sorry sight. Even for £1.59 (note: 9p dearer than the luxury offering), in my opinion this is a depressing plate of food. I just don't know how you can call that a pie. And why does the rectangular slab of "lid" have weird machined dimples in it?


Yep, I'd recognise those scary cubes of meat from a mile off. This has got to be the same pie as the luxury one I ate last year. Even the chips and veg are the same.

So what's happened? Has Kershaws possibly, potentially, just perhaps, maybe taken our comments on board, and changed the name? It's unlikely, but we can dream.

I won't give it a new rating, as I'm really rather sure that it is the same pie as before (although you can never be 100% certain). But I will say I still think this pie is just as bad as when I first tried it - with a rating of 1.2/7.

TJP

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Pukka Pies Microwaveable Pie Reviews: Chicken Balti Pie and Potato, Cheese and Onion Pie

The Earth spins on its axis. The sun rises. The moon falls. The sun falls. The moon rises. We're machines of perpetual motion, working hard all day, on and on and on to make money. Pounds. Dollars. Yen. Euros. Rupees. Stock market news wraps itself round shimmering buildings dressed in glass. Suited men and women hurry up escalators, down escalators, up flights of stairs, down flights of stairs. We rush to get to work. We rush to get out of work. We rush to make money, then we rush to spend it.

Pukka Pies' 3 1/2 minute pie

Chicken Balti cross-section

First thing that strikes me is, in my opinion, how dry this pie is. I need to wash each mouthful down with water. The pastry is dry (and deliberately so, I imagine, so that it doesn't go chewy and soggy in the microwave). The lack of gravylicious gravy makes the meat dry, and I find the bottom of the pie has a tinge of burn to it so that the pastry is a bit crispy and...dry. The chicken is actually fine otherwise - not too chewy - but I feel that there's significant compromises being made here so that the pie is microwaveable. I'm really not convinced that a microwaveable pie is what the people want, and certainly not if this is the end result. The balti tasted alright, I suppose. But there wasn't any richness to it, or any smoothness. I wanted to melt away with this pie, into exotic far-away lands. Instead, I had to keep sipping at my glass of water while desperately trying to find some gravy to dip my chips in.

Incidentally, I also found this Pukka Pies 3 and half minute microwaveable Potato, Cheese and Onion pie, also in the frozen section of the supermarket.

Pukka Pies Potato, Cheese and Onion microwaveable pie

The problem with this pie turned out to be quite the opposite to the chicken balti pie reviewed above. The end result of the microwaving process was quite a soggy pie. Examining the base of this specimen, however, it seems that I've managed to burn it. It seems quite odd to me how the crispiness of the pie differs throughout its various sections.

The overall taste of the pie was, in my opinion, quite strong in it's cheese and oniony-ness, to which my personal palate isn't suited. Perhaps you need to give this pie a go if you are a fan of cheese and onion, but since in my household the cheese and onion crisps are the last to go from the multipack, I'm not convinced that fans of cheese and onion do actually exist.

These microwaveable pies are certainly convenient, but I am personally finding it difficult to nail the cooking process. I have had a pie that's too dry, one that was a bit soggy, and one that was really quite soggy. Am I doing something wrong? Or should we all just stick to oven cooking pies in the future?

Pukka Pies Microwaveable Chicken Balti Pie
Score: 3.2/7
TJP

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Kershaws Luxury Steak Pie Review

Is "luxury" losing its meaning? Too many times have I been promised something "luxury", and I have been left sorely disappointed.

But surely a "luxury steak pie" must be pretty good, right? Come on Kershaws, don't let me down! Bring back the meaning of the word luxury!

Don't let me down!

I must mention that I found this pie in the frozen aisle of Morrison's, for £1.50. If I've grabbed myself a little slice of luxury here, this would be bargain of the century. I open up the pack:

The pie pastry has strange dots on it

My initial reaction is that it looks terrible, but I remain vaguely hopeful that the pie might look more appetising  once it has been cooked. There's an option to microwave it, or to oven cook it. I'm so disappointed with the look of this pie that I'm not going to even give it the time of day to cook it in the oven. Microwave it is.

Meat cube

The steak is chopped into odd little meaty cubes. Their perfect symmetry slightly creeps me out. In short, not only do I not think this pie qualifies as "luxury", it's devastatingly also a top crust.

Kershaws Luxury Steak Pie
Score: 1.2/7
TJP

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If you've ever bought a Pukka Pie, you'll know it's essential not to compromise - and always oven cook your pie rather than microwave it! So imagine my surprise when I spot these frozen Pukka Pies that are specially made for the microwave. Also shocking is the crumbly shortcrust pastry - a shock departure from the puff pastry that adorns the standard Pukka Pie.

After 4 minutes in the microwave (700W), the pie is sitting nicely with some alphabet potato shapes. But my first doubts about the microwaveable pie arise - you would usually have a pie with chips which takes a good 14 minutes in the oven anyway! So unless you're having the pie on its own, you're not really saving any time. However, the potential rapid access to a pie makes the microwaveability a winner!

A look at the content. There are obvious chunks of chicken and the pie is filled to capacity. Excellent! Or "pukka", as Jamie Oliver might say!



I really enjoyed this pie. The meat was not chewy, and the pastry was tasty. As expected with a pie that is microwaved (especially from frozen), the pastry was a little soggy and lost out on the crunchy flakiness that you would achieve with an oven pie. But you have to balance the convenience with taste, and I would say that on balance the convenience did not act too considerably to the detriment of taste. Great work Pukka Pies! Now invent some new flavours :P

Score: 5.5/7

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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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