Loaf & Larder (made by South England Pastries) - Scotch Pie Review

We travel far and wide to find the most unusual pies to review. A recent trip took me to the end of the world, or at least a garden centre called World's End. I know this garden centre near Wendover, Buckinghamshire very well. It used to be a normal place but it has since ballooned into more of a vaguely-gardening related mega centre. There used to be one small cafe/restaurant but now it has a huge cafeteria style restaurant and a Costa coffee which are both somehow still busy. Where did all the new customers come from?! Anyway this is possibly a measure that I feel I am starting to get old, I can't deal with things changing. One good change however is that they now have let some space to deli company 'Loaf & Larder'. It isn't really my kind of place, it looks a bit like a farm shop but nothing is local so what's the point? However, what I did like was the massive range of pies. The primary supplier is Real Pie Company. We have previously really enjoyed their pies so much so that they currently occupy number 8 spot in our all time rankings! It was a great opportunity to indulge in some of these top ranked pies but something else caught my eye. A small pile of Scotch pies, looking somewhat out of place next to the bigger, premium pie which were adorned in flaky pastry. This isn't really the kind of place I expected to find a Scotch pies because they are not normally sold as premium products, even the best ones seem to be quite cheap. Perhaps because Scotch pies are less common in the South of England this is classed as an 'exotic' pie?! When I asked who made the pie I was surprised when they said it was made by South England Pastries I was expecting a more Northern company.

If you regularly read Pierate you might realise I have a bit of a facination with Scotch Pies and I am always on the look out for pies to add to our list of the best Scotch pies. Thus, I couldn't resist taking the plunge with this one. However, I should have more carefully checked the price first. This quite small pie set me back £2.99!!! Yes, some of the other pies cost a lot more, but they had the premium ingredients to justify it. As far as I could tell Scotch pie would not be a lot different to the ones you can get in Morrisons for 69p. It had better be good to justify the price.

Fortunately there were some things about this pie which lived up to expectations. It was a classic Scotch pie shape and browned up really well due to a good glaze. The filling was really tasty, and was very moist. There was a great fat content which oozed through the pie, not everyone's cup of tea but a must for a good Scotch pie. It had a rich beef flavour, complemented well by a bit of a peppery kick. Sadly though the pastry wasn't great which was ironic given that the company name indicates a specialism in pastry. Perhaps I over cooked it but the pastry was too hard and slightly chewy which was a bit odd. It also tasted a little doughy. It wasn't terrible but not good enough at this price.


It was nice to see a Scotch pie in England but the price would put me off getting it again even if they are more difficult to find in England. It wasn't consistently good enough to stand out from the supermarket competition and there are better premium options available in England (such as Piebury Corner). I contacted South England Pastries afterwards who confirmed that they make this pie. They said "all the pies we make for Loaf and Larder are made in England except for the Scotch Pie which is made at our Scottish site" so perhaps not such an English Scotch pie after all! Still it's easier than the 1000 mile round trip that some do in order to get hold of genuine Scotch pies!

Beef Scotch Pie (Loaf & Larder/South England Pastries)
Score: 4.26/7
[Condition 4.30, Colour 5.50, Cheapness 2.30, Capacity 4.00, Chewiness 3.50, Content 5.50, Consistency 4.70]


SJL

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Crusty Pie Company - Wild Boar & Mushroom Pie Review

I can't believe how long it has taken me to write a review of the Crusty Pie Company. I would say they were one of the first gourmet pie companies I ever came across due to regularly attending Henley Show where they normally seem to have a stall. They stood out to me due to marketing their pies with modern, upmarket branding rather than promoting the pie simply as a traditional product. Nowadays there are plenty of gourmet pies to choose from so how would Crusty Pies fare against the new competition?

Some of my family attended the most recent show and I was lucky enough to be brought back a Wild Boar & Mushroom pie. I was looking forward to it having had a few wild boar pies over the years including some very good ones. (With a great version by Plenty reviewed just last week!) This pie was £3.50 so about average for a good sized, individual pie.... as long as it is a top quality one!

This pie stood out in that it was more like a traditional pork pie but I think it was designed to have hot (or at least that's what I did). It had a classic pork pie appearance, nothing special but it looked pleasingly robust and also promised to hold quite a lot of filling.


I couldn't wait to get started, digging my knife in I found it was hot-water crust pastry so it was crusty by name and crusty by nature. It had the thick crunchy pasty that you would expect a pork pie to have. Having been heated the pastry was nice and soft in the middle which provided a great contrast in texture to the crunchy outside. So far so good, but would they be able to fill the pie with delicious content or would they need to cut corners given that wild boar is a more expensive meat choice? I need not have doubted, the content was delicious despite the choice of ground meat. It was very well seasoned and was moist even though there wasn't any gravy (similar to a good Scotch Pie). What really stood out with this pie was that it was extremely satisfying, it normally takes a lot of pie to satisfy me but this one managed it on it's own. I didn't find many downsides with this pie but one criticism I would give was that some of the meat was chewy despite it being in very small pieces. This did make me think that it might not have been the finest cuts of meat used, but hey, if it tastes good and is well filled I can't complain too much!


Overall I can see why the Crusty Pie Company have been going for a while now. They really earn their crust with services to pie! Now their work is finally being recognised with the 'Pierate Recommended' award that they deserve.

Wild Boar (Crusty Pie Company)
Score: 5.92/7
[Condition 5.75, Colour 6.00, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.50, Chewiness 5.40, Content 6.60, Consistency 5.70]

SJL

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The countdown to British Pie Week has begun!

British Pie Week 2016 - which runs from Monday 7th March to Sunday 13th March - is now just 4 weeks away and we're busy at Pierate HQ making our final pre-pie-rations for the big event! And the exciting news is that this year the British Pie Awards will be happening in British Pie Week too!

British Pie Week 2016 is from 7th to 13th March!

Some of you may have spotted recently that 23rd January is America's National Pie Day - where Americans spend a whole day celebrating the pastry beauties.

But in Britain this is simply not enough! We can't compress all our pie-excitement into one day! Oh no! We need a whole week to celebrate and enjoy the wonder of pie, which is why we are proud backers and - some would argue - the strongest advocates of British Pie Week! Yes, it's a week dedicated to pie!

Some of you may well have come across British Pie Week before, which has in fact been around since 2007 as the ingenious marketing spin off of pastry company "Jus-Rol" - and they have managed to bag the lucrative web domain www.britishpieweek.co.uk to encourage pie makers up and down the land to get involved. We're also pleased to see they're once again taking British Pie Week a bit more seriously this year by maintaining a dedicated @BritPieWeek twitter account! And we certainly can't deny we have benefited from the ease of picking up some quality Jus-Rol pastry from the supermarket to make some homemade pies in the past!

But what we at Pierate aim to do is go beyond just promoting some pastry, as good as it is, and promote THE PIE!

That's why on Pierate you won't just find an encouragement for you to make a pie this British Pie Week - though we certainly do encourage you do! We don't just suggest a reci-pie or two - though we plan to do that as well! We don't even just encourage you to go out and eat a pie (or two) during British Pie Week. We go above and beyond!

The Pierate Logo Pie made for us in British Pie Week 2014! Find out more about this Nice Pie here.

We aim to be the pie experts you turn to for all your pie rating and eating needs during British Pie Week and beyond! With over 500 pies rated and reviewed on our unique 7 Cs pie rating system, we commend pies to you, tell you which ones to avoid, and give you the low down on what we think makes the perfect pie!

We'll also once again be lending our services to the British Pie Awards as we help judge the pies on 9th March. So whatever pie (or pies!) you enjoy in British Pie Week, we hope it's a good one that rates well on the 7 Cs of pie rating! If you need any ins-pie-ration, you can of course see the hundreds of pies we've rated on our pie blog via our Pie Rankings or our Pies Categorised!

Why not watch our short video clip to find out how you can get involved in British Pie Week too! For more ins-pie-ration see our #PiePledge article!

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Plenty Pies - Pie Reviews

Since moving to Gloucestershire a couple of years ago I have been trying to build up my knowledge of where the best local pies can be found. It has been a bit remiss of me to only just review Plenty Pies now. The company, based near Nailsworth, have done well at the British Pie Awards the last couple of years including winning the award for best chicken pie in 2014. Now, having tried a few of their pies I am going to summarise my thoughts with help from our vegetarian Pierateer ARL who will give the veggie version a fair review.

Plenty was started by Marc and Kate Birch in 2010 and they have adopted a policy of baking six different flavours each week from a repertoire which is said to have include 150 different recipes. It allows them to tailor their fillings based on the seasons with creamier, lighter fillings for the summer and stock based recipes for the winter. This method of varying the pie fillings has been adopted by a few top pie producers recently (MyPie and Great North Pie Company spring to mind) and works well. It keeps the pies interesting for their regular customers as well as allowing them to use the tasty, seasonal produce available. They are also committed to making things themselves by hand. All this adds up to a unique pie experience.

Their pies are popular locally and are widely available in markets and farm shops. I have picked up their pies in various places in Gloucestershire including Gloucester Christmas Market, Over Farm Market and Burford Garden Centre.

All of these pies came in the same kind of pastry case. They were all very well presented with sprinklings of herbs or seeds which signified the flavours. The appearance was subtle but effective. I thought that the size of each pie was good for an individual pie but it is about the size you would expect in this price range (approx £3.99). Whilst in general I enjoyed the flavour of the pastry, it was a bit more crumbly that I would ideally like, some of them did start to break after a trip home in a bag but perhaps I should have been more careful! The Squab pie in particular suffered from the journey home on my bike (sorry about that Plenty). The crumbly texture of the pastry certainly helped prevent it from being stodgy.

Gloucestershire Squab Pie

First up I am going to review the interesting Gloucestershire Squab pie I picked up at Over Farm Market (who incidentally have a great range of Plenty pies as well as their own). It is nice to see this traditional local flavour being used. Although a squab is a baby pigeon, in the South West this pie usually contains mutton and apple. It is thought that this unusual combination may recreate the flavour of the baby pigeon which is said to be slightly fruity. I was very pleased that Plenty were willing to try something a bit different with this pie as I really enjoyed it. It was delightfully different with a wonderful spicy/fruity taste complementing the rich meaty flavours very well. I was surprised that I enjoyed this pie so much as I am normally not so keen on mixing my sweet and savoury flavours, but the balance in this pie worked so well. Given that I eat a lot of regular pie flavours, such as steak and ale, it was really nice to have something different. The pie was well filled with plenty of meat. Overall it does enough to gain a Pierate 'Highly Recommended' award by scoring over 6 out of 7. It was £3.99 which is around the upper end I think I would want to pay for a gourmet pie but it justified the price.

Gloucestershire Squab (Plenty)
Score: 6.04/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.75, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.00]

SJL

Next up, I got 3 pies for £10 from Gloucester Christmas Market. It was a great market, with plenty of pies on offer (including Brockleby's who we have previously reviewed) but the display of pies on the Plenty stall stood out to me. I got a Wild Boar pie, a Venison pie and a vegetarian 'Veggiestan' pie. The Wild Boar was my favourite. It had a meaty flavour but also the addition of vegetables made it a little different to most wild boar pies. Something was adding nicely to the flavour of the boar and I wasn't sure what it was, I thought the pepper helped and also I wondered if there was a bit of a tomato. There seemed to be a fair bit of tasty onion. Whatever they had added, the flavour was distinctive and worked really well for me. The wild boar was minced but there was still enough to get your teeth into. The potato was quite firm rather than mushy (as it often is in a pie). One downside was that the pastry was a bit overly thick at the base of this pie but it didn't stop it scoring highly and just about edging it over the Squab pie as my favourite of all the Plenty pies that I have tried.

Wild Boar (Plenty)
Score: 6.15/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.80, Content 6.60, Consistency 6.40]

SJL

Despite looking superficially similar when I cut these pies open, for me the venison didn't work anywhere near as well as the wild boar. It went down more of the standard route you would expect for a pie containing game meat. It had a really rich, meaty sauce. I am not sure what it was but the flavours were a little too strong for me. There was quite a powerful onion-type taste which I thought was shallot. It also seemed to have a slightly fruity flavour competing with everything else. I also got a very slight sour note to the filling, somewhat like vinegar or alcohol. Overall none of these were bad flavours and I did enjoy the pie, but it didn't quite do it for me for some reason. It contained big chunks of tasty meat which gave it some bite. In that respect it was probably better than the wild boar. It was a shame for this pie that I was eating it at the same time as the wild boar which slightly overshadowed it. On it's own it is still a great pie.

Venison (Plenty)
Score: 5.52/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.50, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 5.80, Content 4.20, Consistency 4.40]

SJL

Venison (left) and Boar (right) pies

Just to demonstrate the full breadth of their repertoire, plenty have also got a Salmon pie which I picked up from Burford Garden Centre (another place that tends to have an excellent range of pies, sometimes stocking our number 1 ranked pie by Paul's pies). The colour on this pie looks a bit paler but I think this was primarily down to the lighting, it still had an attractive appearance and I managed to squash this one less than the others! Again this was a well filled pie with no air gap. As is usual for a fish pie there was plenty of filler in there as well as the fish. As you might expect, there was some potato but I was pleased to see the interesting addition of beans. It was nice to find that the filling was moist and slipped down very well. If anything, it slipped down a little too well. As is common with fish pies they don't have as much bite. The flavours were quite delicate, especially compared to the other Plenty pies. On balance I think it could have used a bit more salmon to give it enough of a fishy taste. Overall though this was a tasty pie and it can be tricky to get a 'proper' fish pie to work (by proper I mean encased in pastry rather than topped with mash). I commend Plenty for trying and this is a nice, lighter pie to have in the summer. Another high score.

Salmon (Plenty)
Score: 5.44/7
[Condition 6.25, Colour 6.25, Cheapness 5.50, Capacity 6.00, Chewiness 4.80, Content 4.80, Consistency 4.50]

SJL

Salmon pie

Last but not least we have the 'Veggiestan' pie review by vegetarian Pierateer ARL;

I overcooked this pie a little which created a dry pastry, but it still had a good colour. It was completely packed full of filling (chickpea and vegetable), with a slightly spicy flavour- almost a sweet and sour tang. It was a very nice blend. The content was unusual- it was sort of like a fajita in pie form or some other Mexican inspired dish, which I really liked. Many vegetarian pies can be a bit bland so this was a great plus point for it. As for its condition, early in the oven the pastry slit open, however no content spilled out, luckily. This could have been because I was cooking it in an aga so the temperature was too hot, or because it came all the way from Gloucester Christmas Market (I live in Buckinghamshire!), but regardless, it loses points for this. Although the gravy/sauce was nice, it was quite thick so didn’t soften up the pastry. Despite it’s prolonged time in the oven the carrot was still crunchy. This was fab as I HATE soggy carrot, and I don’t know anyone who does. It is one of the things that makes the traditional cottage/shepherds ‘pie’ a disappointment. The chickpeas were also on the crunchier side, which while ok, were a little bit too hard for my taste. Overall, the pie contained a good selection of vegetables including peas, onion, green pepper, carrot and tomato.


Veggiestan (Plenty)
Score: 4.86/7
[Condition 4.00, Colour 6.00, Cheapness 4.00, Capacity 5.00, Chewiness 3.00, Content 6.00, Consistency 6.00]

ARL

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The Little Bakery - Scotch Pie Review

Whilst in Dumfries on a cycling trip I checked the Scotch Pie Club website to see if there were any recommended Scotch Pie available near to my route. I found a company called The Little Bakery who had won Scotch Pie Club Awards Gold in 2014 for their Scotch Pie. The name 'The Little Bakery' sounded appealing, I was expecting a cute, traditional bakery shop. We were following National Cycle Route 7 and it was about a 2.5 mile detour off our route so it took a bit to convince my girlfriend it was worth it. However, the excellent traffic free cycle routes across Dumfries really helped. Unfortunately my girlfriend didn't enjoy getting completely lost in a housing estate after it turned out that the address of "2 Downs Way" that I found on Google was pretty misleading. Because we had taken such a detour I refused to give up despite Anna starting to lose a bit of patience with my constanstly optimistic belief that it was 'just around the next corner'.

Fortunately, after some time I spotted this sign hidden in the greenry.


So it turned out the address should more accurately read Unit 2A Downs Way Industrial Estate, this was not at all what I was expecting. This was once of the least glamourous locations I have ever purchased a pie from. There was a little bakery built into the front of this warehouse with a blue facade.


Once inside it was much nicer than I expected (given the location). It seemed like any high street bakery and was particularly appealing with many different pies available to eat hot or cold. For £2.30 I grabbed a hot Scotch Pie and a Macaroni Pie to give me energy on my cycling trip. Judging by the amount of grease which had oozed out of the Macaroni pie, this was a good choice if looking for a high calorie content. The Macaroni pie was as good as any I have had, it was cheesey and stodgy in pleasingly wrong amounts. Sadly it did lack a pastry lid meaning it doesn't meet our definition of a proper pie so I haven't given it a formal score. The Scotch pie was okay, but I actually found it a little disappointing. I don't know if I was just unlucky but it wasn't well filled. The flavour of the minced beef filling was a little bit bland for me. However, the texture was good, with some crunch to the pastry and a moist filling. At £1.20 it wasn't the cheapest Scotch pie (espeically as I bought it direct from where they make them) so I don't think I would be venturing into an industrial estate to have another. I think that the reason they are based in the Industrial Estate is that they supply pies wholesale to local shops so if I chanced upon another I might get one again. See how this pie fares against all the other Scotch Pies we have eaten in our list of the best Scotch Pies.
Interestingly The Little Bakery had the best Scottish Football League football pie at the Scotch Pie Club Awards 2016 at Queen of the South for their Scotch pie, congratulations to them, perhaps we were just unlucky with the one we had.

Scotch Pie

Macaroni Pie

Beef Scotch Pie (The Little Bakery [DG1 3QL])
Score: 4.37/7
[Condition 5.30, Colour 3.70, Cheapness 3.70, Capacity 3.80, Chewiness 5.00, Content 4.40, Consistency 4.70]

SJL

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MyPie - Pie Reviews

If you have been reading Pierate recently you will realise that our favourite pies of 2015 were those made by "MyPie", a business set up by entreprenuer Chris Brumby who we first met back in 2014. In 2015 he started selling his excellent pies in London food markets from a refurbished Bedford van. The Steak & Ale has gone in at number 3 in our all time pie rankings and Chris was good enough to bring joy to our recent Pie Party by doing the catering! We had so many good comments we know it is not just the Pierateers that have fallen in love with these pies!

We do like to think that pies are quintessentially British and that we do the best pies. Hence it is perhaps a bit controversial that Chris is Austrialian and bringing a bit of Aussie pie magic to the streets of London. The Aussies are in fact more obsessed with pie that us Brits. Whilst we have an abundance of hot Cornish pasty outlets and Greggs (who sell hardly any pies) the Australians have a number of shops specialising in hot pies. We found this out first hand in our special investigation when Pierateer TJP was dispatched to warmer climes. Having tasted how good Chris' pies are I can now understand The Kinks song 'Australia'. It has the line 'everyone walks around with a perpetual smile across their face' which is not surprising when the pies are this good.

It is a bit of a treasure hunt tracking down Chris and his Bedford van. Wandering around the South Bank it took me a while to find him, you don't get the same problem with a pie shop, once you know where it is it tends to stay in the same place (if you ignore the effects of plate tectonics). But MyPie is transient and somewhat mysterious. I am now quite familiar with MyPie but I don't really know where I will find the MyPie van each day of the week. It is also uncertain what pies will be served. Then, once you have found him, before you know it he is gone again, such a tease. MyPie is much like the transient and mysterious nature of the pie itself. You never quite know what is going to be contained within the golden pastry case and if you are anything like me, once you do find out, it doesn't hang about for long. I think this all adds to the suspense and theater of the pie eating experience.

When I did track Chris down on London's South Bank, I was surprised to find what seemed like a London pie makers meeting, Paul and Nicky from Piebury Corner were busy chatting to Chris. Paul seemed quite taken with MyPie, which is a massive complement when they have been so successful with their own pie business.



All of the pies had the same fantastic pastry we enjoyed with the Steak & Ale and the Chicken, Ham & Tarragon where it was crisp on the outside and softer in the middle. They look terrific and very close to my vision of the quintessential, ultimate pie.

Firstly the Venison, Chili & Cheese. The pie was packed with chunks of great tasting meat which had a bit more flavour than your average meat pie. The chunks of meat were soft and satisfying to get your teeth into. The small amount of cheese at the base of the pie also added an interesting texture. It was a little like mozzarella in texture and didn't have a strong flavour. This kind of cheese in a pie seems to be a bit of an Aussie trait with the now defunct Jumbucks using cheese in a similar way. It is less common in British pies where Stilton seems to be the cheese of choice. The pie was full of rich gravy which had the perfect consistency in that it didn't just ooze out when the pie was cut open. It was perfectly seasoned but what made the flavour stand out was the heat from the chili. There wasn't too much of a kick but it was enough to give a good kicking to the com-pie-tition and make this pie enter into our top 10 all of all time in the number 4 spot!

Venison & Chili

Venison, Chili & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.57/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Beef & Horseradish

Beef, Vegetable & Horseradish (MyPie)
Score: 6.11/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.75, Content 5.00, Consistency 4.50]

SJL

Now onto the Mince, Bacon & Cheese. This pie was somewhat different but no less special that the others. It is the closest I have ever come to eating a cheese burger in a pie. If that sounds appealing then you should really try this pie because it really nailed it. It had a full, smokey flavour, perhaps from the use of bacon.  Unlike an actual cheese burger, the meat could be very moist which was the most beautiful thing about this pie; whilst it was like a cheese burger it was even better due to being fully encased in pastry. There was no liquid gravy as such but it didn't need it. There was a layer of classic burger cheese at the top which added variety to the flavour. In some ways it captured all the aspects that I love about Scotch pies. Despite having no big meaty chunks, it felt like the texture wasn't lacking, there was plenty to get your teeth into. Another standout effort from MyPie although scores slightly less than the venison as I think I would more often choose a pie with big chunks of meat. Also, the pastry was slightly too thick in places.

Mince & Cheese

Mince, Bacon & Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 6.46/7
[Condition 6.50, Colour 6.75, Cheapness 6.50, Capacity 6.75, Chewiness 6.00, Content 6.25, Consistency 6.50]

SJL

Onto the Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese vegetarian pie review by Pierateer ARL.

I didn’t know what flavour this was so it was a surprise. Or a sup-pies. Given the taste I guess that it was sweet potato, pea and some sort of cheese or cream. It was really tasty regardless of what flavour it was. The sauce was thick and creamy and the unidentified orange vegetable was soft and tender. The pastry was utterly perfect. It was crisp and buttery and I don’t know what else to say- it was so good. Generally, the pie lacked a depth of flavour. It was sweet (but nicely so!) and creamy, but that was all I really got from it.


Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese (MyPie)
Score: 5.93/7
[Condition 6.00, Colour 7.00, Cheapness 6.5, Capacity 5.00, Chewiness 7.00, Content 4.00, Consistency 6.00]

ARL

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It is the time of year when the weather makes a pie seem even more appealing than normal. When your hands start to get cold what could be better than a warm pie to hold? As the snow has been falling I decided to craft myself a 'snow pie' whilst I was waiting for my real pie to cook in the oven. If the cold weather has inspired you to grab a pie then do let us know with the hashtag #coldhandswarmpies.

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The Kandy Bar Bakery from Saltcoats have done it again! They have been crowed World Scotch Pie Champion for the second time, having previously taken the crown in 2014 when we were part of the Scotch Pie Club judging team. They retake the title from Murrays Bakers in Perth who were the 2015 winners. Given that the second placed pie was Beth Browning's Bakery in Kilwinning, it really is about time the Pierateers made a trip to Ayrshire. The vegetarian and fish savoury categories have been dropped this year in favour of the classic Haggis savoury which we are pleased to say was won by a haggis pie, as were all the categories where pies were against other products (which we are happy about at Pierate). Brownings the Bakers again won in the steak pie category with their famous 'Killie Pie' which we reviewed back in 2014. The full list of winners in below.

If you want to find out more about Scotch Pies, see our article on 'What Makes the Best Scotch Pie?'.

Category	Winner	Location
Scotch Pie	The Kandy Bar	Saltcoats
Steak Pie (hand held)	Brownings the Bakers	Kilmarnock
Apple Pie	Boghall Butchers	Bathgate
Football Pie	Bruce of the Broch	Fraserburgh
Hot Savoury	Nevis Baker (for Steak & Black Pudding Pie)	Fort William
Cold Savoury	Ballards Buctchers (for Poachers Pie)	Dumfries
Haggis Savoury	Foston Fine Meats (for Steak, Haggis & Drambuie Pie)	Berwickshire
Bridie	W.F. Stark	Buckhaven
Sausage Roll	Thomas Johnston	Falkirk

SJL

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Millwall Football Pie Review - Steak and Ale from The Pie Factory

When it comes to football, there can't be a more famous cup competition than the FA Cup. The history, the legend... but also plenty of cupsets! So with the infamous third round ties about to get underway, we rate the pie we had in Round 2 as Wycombe caused a shock at The Den against higher ranked Millwall with a stoppage-time winner! Would the pie rate highly or upset the fans in the stands?



The Pie Factory Steak and Ale

The pies in question were marketed as by ‘The Pie Factory’ which was a company we had previously come across at Northampton FC. Having rated the Steak and Ale pie while watching the Cobblers, Pierateers RAS and SJL were intrigued by the option of the meat and potato pie on offer - alongside the steak and ale and chicken Balti pies we were told were on sale. It therefore came as a surprise to both of us then when we got to our seats that what we actually got served was the Steak and Ale, as there weren't any meat and potato there (we just weren't told this!)

It was a shame this therefore wasn't a new flavour to add to the Pieremiership table, however we were pleased that after a few bites it was clear that the pie was a lot better quality than the version we had at the Sixfields Stadium. Once again the pies certainly looked good - golden brown in colour with a nice, crisp flaky pastry on top, but this time we weren't so disappointed with the filling. Sure, we wouldn't go as far as saying it would challenge at the top of the Pieremiership, but it was good to see that they were selling a much improved pie at the Den than they had at Northampton. It really highlighted to us what difference it makes when a pie is more thoroughly cooked and not dried out at a football ground, as I think the need for speed of service can often hinder the perfect pie being sold in football grounds up and down the country.

If anything, the pie at Millwall was probably a little too cooked, which made the pastry rather crunchy and flakes immediately fell off upon biting into it. However the extra baking meant the pie held together quite well, as nothing's worse than a football pie which collapses in on itself and falls apart, getting gravy all down your football shirt! Sure it still did break up a bit, but nowhere near as badly as some football pies we've had! It tasted decent too, due to the quite well filled capacity, with a decent amount of steak and soft, tender meaty chunks. There was still quite a lot of gravy though to bulk it out, which was a reasonably sour taste from the ale but a reasonable flavour.

At £3.40 this is on the more expensive end for a mass produced football pie, which reduces the cheapness score but certainly after some of the football pies we've eaten recently, it made a change to have a football pie I would be happy to eat again!



The Pie Factory Steak and Ale

Condition – 4 out of 7 - Looked pretty appealing, nice and tall. Particularly crisp, golden lid. Held together quite well.
Colour – 4 out of 7 – Quite golden on top but sides paler, a bit matt rather than glossy.
Cheapness – 3 out of 7 – £3.40 is quite a bit above average for a football league pie - especially one that's mass produced - and despite being decent meat content for a football pie, in the grand scheme of things this still didn’t feel like great value.
Capacity – 4.5 out of 7 – Quite tall and big capacity but still a reasonable airgap at the top. Whilst it looked like it would be satisfying, overall there was an air of disappointment. I would prefer a smaller pie without the airgap. Still, above average for a football pie!
Chewiness – 4.5 out of 7 – Pastry was a lot crisper and more enjoyable than before. Not much chewiness to the meat.
Content – 4.50 out of 7 - It was nice that the ale was noticeable but was a little too sour. The meat that was there was nice enough but still a bit too much of a gravy pie top marks!
Consistency – 4.50 out of 7 – Much improved on the Pie Factory pie previously eaten. A lot more meat and far better pastry, more cooked.


Steak and Ale (Millwall FC/The Pie Factory)
4.14/7
SJL/RAS

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Buzzfeed called upon the Pierateers to find out who sells the top rated football pies in the Birmingham area! The top social news website called upon our ex-pie-tise to advise on football pies, following our appearance on the BBC Sport website in their video on pies related to the Price of Football Survey and recent appearance on Rip Off Britain!

We Rated The West Midlands’ Football Match Pies

Pierateer Rob on BBC's Rip Off Britain

For the Buzzfeed article we were sent to try the pies at the 5 Birmingham based football clubs - Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Walsall, West Brom and Wolverhampton. While only three of them made the final cut, find out who we rated the best in the Birmingham Pie League by viewing the article!

While we are first and foremost a pie rating website, rather than specifically a football pie rating website, we’re looking to delve further into the provision of football pies as we develop our Pieremiership of football’s best half time pies. Find out if we've rated your club yet by clicking here!

We've rated over 500 pies, including a number of football pies

In our view, it’s all about a great tasting pie – filling and pastry - which is value for money. You can find out more about what makes a great rated pie by reading about the 7 Cs of pie rating. And to find out what makes a great football pie, you can also view our article on football pies when we advised BBC's Rip Off Britain earlier this year.

RAS

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Konditor & Cook - Mince Pie Review
[Colour 6, Condition 5.5, Cheapness 2.5, Capacity 4.5, Chewiness 5.75, Content 6, Consistency 5.5]

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The BBC have once again called upon the Pierateers to find out what makes a great pie! The team from BBC's Rip Off Britain called upon our ex-pie-tise to advise on football pies, following our TV debut on Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice and appearing on the BBC Sport website in their video on pies related to the Price of Football Survey.

Pierateer Rob on BBC's Rip Off Britain

Pierateer Rob - who was the chosen pie expert for the show - is seen talking about the quality of British football pies and whether they really are a rip off or not. For the eager pie-d among you, you'll know that the clip on Rip Off Britain this lunchtime was actually the same footage as back in April, but it's clearly a big talking point as it's been shown once again!

In the clip (which can be view on BBC Pie-player for the next month and features us in the pie story from minute 18 to minute 26 and Pierateer Rob specifically in minute 22), Bradford City fan Kevin was questioning the quality and price of the pies at his local football club. Like us, Kevin thinks a half time pie is part and parcel of football culture in Britain. When you think football, you think half time pie. What better during those cold, winter evenings to warm the heart, as well as the hands, during the half time interval as you watch your local team? But is that actually what people do? Or has the quality and price of football pies put off the regular football fan? Do the caterers even have enough pies to go round? And if fans do buy a pie, is it piefection or are football fans being held to ransom? Find out in the episode!

We at www.pierate.co.uk will readily admit we are first and foremost a pie rating website, rather than specifically a football pie rating website, but we’re looking to delve further into the provision of football pies as we develop our Pieremiership of football’s best half time pies.

We've rated over 500 pies, including a number of football pies

But while we realise we haven’t eaten anywhere near enough pies in different football grounds yet – despite having over 500 pies rated in our Pie Rankings from many of the regular football pie manufacturers like Pukka Pies, Holland’s Pies and Peter’s Pies – we have always been a fan of eating a golden pastry product in the football stadiums we’ve visited. And in our minds what’s more important than simply the price of the pie is how the pie rates. Is it a soggy disappointment, overly dry or lacking in content or does it meet the 7 criteria we Pierateers look for in a pie?

In our view, it’s all about a great tasting pie – filling and pastry - which is value for money. You can find out more about what makes a great rated pie by reading about the 7 Cs of pie rating. However what makes a great football pie?

Here are a few specific pointers for making the perfect football pie:

Firstly, it’s got to be cooked properly. Sadly, in the rush to serve so many customers in such a short space of time, food at football grounds can be undercooked or left sat in a hot locker for far too long, making the pie taste bad or even be pretty much inedible. We have unfortunately fallen foul to a few pies being served to us either undercooked or over baked. Naturally, the rating of such pies is badly affected.

Secondly, the football pie has got to be something you can pick up in your hands and bite into, without it crumbling all over the place. Quite a few football pies can be too soft to pick up or crumble all over the place when bitten into, so a firm but crisp pastry casing is key.

Finally, the consistency of the pie filling has got to be just right. Naturally we want a meat pie to be filled to capacity with nice, tender meaty chunks, but we also expect the viscosity of the gravy or sauce to be well thought through so that it is flavoursome but not too runny, as the last thing you want is gravy down your football shirt!

Morecambe FC won the British Pie Awards in 2012 and 2014!

All this has got to be provided at a reasonable price that leaves the fan going away happy and without a huge dent in the wallet, otherwise it's certainly a rip-off!

In summary, we think there’s nothing better than a warm, hearty pie to get you through half time. But the key thing is that they have got to be top rated pies! Too often the pies are not only overly expensive but are just not up to scratch, either too dry or undercooked. So as well as checking out the price of pies, we’ll be making sure we rate as many as possible on our 7 Cs of pie rating so that you know what pies to purchase and don't get ripped off!

RAS

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