Classic Meat Pie Recipe - 100kRecipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the minimum meat content for a meat pie? ›

The Food Standards Code stipulates that a meat pie must contain a minimum of 25 per cent of meat flesh.

There are several reasons why pie crust can become hard. You don't have a great recipe. Pie crust needs a ratio of 3 parts flour, 2 parts butter, 1 part water, all ice cold, plus a pinch of salt and a tablespoon of sugar. Ratios are by weight, not volume.

Flour as Pie Filling Thickener

Teaspoon for teaspoon, you will need to use about twice as much flour as you would cornstarch or tapioca to achieve the same thickening effects. Adding too much flour to your pie filling will turn it cloudy and pasty, with a distinctly floury taste.

If you are making a pie with a crust you'll need to decide which type of pastry to go for. Shortcrust pastry is the best for pies that fully encase a filling as they tend to be firmer and less likely to leak. Puff pastry is great if you prefer just a pastry lid on top of the filling.

The suggested total intake of meat on a weekly basis, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines, is approximately 23 to 33 ounces, depending on the total calories you eat per day. This recommendation includes meats, poultry, and eggs.

A question we often get is “How much meat do I need?” The starting rule of thumb is: Boneless Meat: 1/2 lb. per person for adults and 1/4 lb. per person for children.

The acidic properties of vinegar inhibit gluten, some will say. This theory proposes that once the water and flour are combined, gluten starts forming, causing the dough to grow tough. Adding an acid, the theory goes, stops the gluten in its tracks and rescues the crust from toughness.

In pie crust, you don't want gluten to form so you don't want to mix too much and overwork the dough. For a flaky crust, cut the butter so that chunks of butter about the size of walnut halves remain. The chunks of cold butter create the layers in the dough.

If you've ever made a meat pie, stew or sauce you know that one of the challenges is to get that right consistency. You don't want it to be too runny, nor too thick. One of the most common tricks you might have used in such a case is to add a little bit of flour or corn starch. A spoonful can already do wonders here.

Watery filling

Water can be released from your pie filling while cooking in the oven. To avoid turning your pie into a sloppy mess, add flour to the filling or add some nuts to thicken it up, like in our Chicken and Leek Pie. This will help to absorb any excess water while it's cooking and will keep the pastry crispy.

Do you have to blind bake the bottom of a meat pie? ›

You don't have to blind bake your pie shell without the filling, but it does help give you a crispier crust. Another option is to place the pie on the lowest rack in the oven. The bottom will cook faster, the filling won't soak into the crust, and the top can bake more slowly so it doesn't burn.

What kind of flour makes the best pie crust? Well, not high-protein bread flour! Use that for your chewy bagels. What you want for pie is flour that yields a tender, flaky crust, which means medium-protein all-purpose flour or low-protein pastry flour.

Metal pie pans bake up the most even crusts, since metal is a great thermal conductor. While stoneware can bake up a good pie, the material isn't as conductive and retains heat better, which can result in less evenly browned crusts.

The average pie size of 175g was determined by calculating the average weight of 18 pie products analysed in this CSP (Appendix C). Based off the results, meat pies are a high fat containing product. The average meat pie filling analysed contained 13% of the average person's daily intake of fat (Table 4).

The 1lb (454g) steak pie serves three people, the 1.5lb (680g) steak pie serves four people and the 2lb (907g) steak pie serves five to six people. Storage: Supplied chilled. Store at < 5°C.

Dietary goal

If you eat red meat, limit consumption to no more than about three portions per week. Three portions is equivalent to about 350–500g (about 12–18oz) cooked weight. Consume very little, if any, processed meat.