The Case of the Scotch Pie

In our search to find what makes the best Scotch Pie we have been looking at producers big and small. Today sees the turn of supermarket chain Morrisons to come under our proverbial pie microscope to examine if their take on this classic pie is any good. Given that I am also trying to review every pie on the Morrisons pie counter I thought I would go for a bit of a double header. Morrisons also have a Chicken Curry Pie which uses the classic Scotch Pie case and reinforces the Northern roots of the supermarket chain (see our article on what makes the best Scotch Pie to see what makes these cases different).

The Chicken Curry pie was slightly more expensive at 89p but neither of these pies were going to break the bank, both being relatively cheap. They weren't very big pies but still represented some of the cheapest pies available. They were indeed made in very similar cases with classic, crunchy Scotch Pie pastry. But which would win the much coveted title of 'Best pie in a Scotch Pie case being sold at Morrisons in 2014'????

	Scotch Pie	Chicken Curry
Condition	3.0 - Excessive boil out had caused the top of this pie to have a burnt effect. A bit too lumpy.	3.2 - The pie had a bit too much boil out to be pretty, but not as bad as the Scotch pie. There was a tinge of yellow where the curry sauce had leaked out.
Colour	4.0 - Other than the boil out there was a great golden colour to this pie.	3.7 - Very similar golden colour to the pastry, a shame about the 'hi-viz' yellow of the curry sauce, only recommended if you are eating your pie in the middle of traffic...
Cheapness	6.5 - At 69p and considering this pie was quite full of meaty content, this was great value.	4.5 - Slightly more expensive, but still quite cheap, however, there seemed to be a lack of meat in this pie which meant it felt mediocre in terms of value.
Capacity	4.2 - Not bad, the rim at the top of the pie wasn't too excessive and there was minimal airgap.	3.2 - The rim did seem to be a bit excessive on the Chicken Curry, the filling was pretty shallow despite a small airgap.
Chewiness	5.5 - A great texture, crunchy pastry coupled with a nice and moist filling, only the rim slightly let this pie down (it was a little too hard).	4.5 - Similar pastry crunch to the Scotch Pie, the filling had a slightly less pleasant texture being a bit too liquid.
Content	3.3 - A standard minced beef filling. The taste of the filling was a little disappointing, it wasn't meaty enough. It had a slightly peppery kick but was a bit bland.	2.3 - Not a filling that I would recommend, the taste of a bland chip shop curry sauce. There wasn't really much in the way of chicken but a vague taste of chicken.
Consistency	4.0 - Fatty and oily, just like you would expect. A pretty good example of a quintessential Scotch Pie (if not a great Scotch Pie). Have tried this multiple times and it is consistent.	3.0 - This pie doesn't really work, there just isn't enough attention to the filling, I did get another one to check they haven't got better. They haven't.
Total	4.36 out of 7	3.49 out of 7

The classic Scotch pie wins outright! In truth, it wasn't very difficult, the Chicken Curry pie didn't put up much of a fight. But I won't take this away from the Scotch pie. If you are quite into your Scotch pies (like me) it is a pretty good option in terms of supermarket versions. They are also quite often on offer so it is something I would buy again.

Champion!

Beef Scotch Pie (Morrisons Pie Counter)
4.36/7

Chicken Curry (Morrisons Pie Counter)
3.49/7

SJL