pork pies

[Paul Kribs]

Spuddy

It would be raw onions mixed with sausage meat and allowed to cook within the pie case, delicious.

Regards, Paul Kribs

ps. If anybody else is interestd in a 'pie dolly', I found enough offcuts to make a couple and have just 1 left then no more. PM me

[sausagemaker]

Sorry Spuddy

But it's only just got there

Hi Guy's

I don't mean to be a party pooper but I keep looking at this tread for pork pies. can we please move this to chatter.

Regards
Sausagemaker

I don't mean to be picky or anything but I think you'll find that this thread IS in chatter already. Sorry

Paul

The recipe you posted looked good & I made one very similar at the week end, and I missed out the salt but I think it needs it as the bacon does not give it sufficient, one other point I hoped that the cure in the bacon would be enough to turn the meat slightly pink but it didn't Tasted OK though

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

That's funny, I thought it was always there. I certainly didn't move it.
Oh well my apologies then.

[Paul Kribs]

No more requests for pie dollies please, at least not till I do another woodwork project. I didn't realise they would be so popular. I will attempt to supply those who have already requested one.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Shaun]

Terry
I told ya . It looks like you are gonna have to go and cut a tree down .

[Shaun]

Hi Guy's

I don't mean to be a party pooper but I keep looking at this tread for pork pies. can we please move this to chatter.

Regards
Sausagemaker

This is why I feel a shoutbox would be useful on this site. It would keep things on topic. Plus it aids you to pass pleasentries to people you are familiar with. that are online. Also a spell checker would come in handy, for me anyway. especially when I've had a few jars.

[Paul Kribs]

Sausagemaker

I have not tried the pork pie recipe yet, but would not be bothered by the finished colour of the meat, ie grey. just so long as it tastes ok. I believe a lot of people use anchovy essence to preserve the desirable pink appearance to the pork. When I roast pork I eat it grey so as I say I wouldn't be much bothered.

Well the pie dollies have flown out the door, I managed to find enough wood to supply those who asked, but only by a mere 20mm. In future I will try to hang on to my off cuts.

As the pie dollies were so popular, it is best I do not mention the 'rib puller' I fashioned from beech.. oops.., Seriously, they use much less wood, and weigh a lot less than the dolly, but take about 4 times as long to make. If anybody is in to boning ribs from belly etc they are invaluable and you would probably be aware of their purpose already. For those not in the know:-
Years ago a butcher would use one of the larger wooden meat skewers, about 3/8", chop off about 4" with the large chopper.. then make a loop with about 8" of no 4 or 5 butchers twine and half hitch it onto the skewer making a hanging 4" loop. The technique was that he would run his boning knife from back to front along the rib, and when reaching the end would undercut about 1/2" around the rib end then continue along the other side of the rib. Once all the ribs were done it was just a case of turning the joint around, applying the loop under the undercut of the rib, holding the rib down with the forefinger of the other hand and pulling the rib puller towards himself, then remove the remaining cartilagenous rib with the knife.
This was more efficient for 3 reasons, firstly it was faster than completely boning with the knife, and secondly especially with pork where the rib is softer, no slivers of bone were left on the meat, also it was cleaner so less meat left on the bone. I believe these are available commercially in plastic form and use monofilament rather than twine for about �7 - �8.
I can post a photo of mine for anyone who's remotely interested. Maybe I should have posted this under 'techniques'. BTW, I will not be supplying these, too much messing about, although very pretty.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[sausagemaker]

Hi Paul

The colour didn't bother me either it was just an observation & thinking of the way the modern pie is made with cure to turn it pink I hoped the bacon would have had enough in it. I used to make pork Pies for a living down in Bournemouth many years ago for deli's & even Harrods at one stage, these were grey in colour with no preservative, strange how the public wanted them to last as long as factory produced.
As for your rib puller I used one of these when I worked for the Coop again many years ago, I would love to see a photo of the one you made.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Paul Kribs]

Sausagemaker

The Co-op's were a bit different then, normally 3 different shops. provisions/general store, greengrocer and butcher. Pity it's not still like it.
Anyhow, the ribpuller.


It is very durable having been morticed and tenoned and glued with moisture resistant PVA, has 2 seperate holes up through the middle for the #4 or 5 twine. As I say a 3/8" stick would suffice.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[sausagemaker]

Hi Paul

Nice piece of kit, brings back many memories

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Paul Kribs]

Sausagemaker

I just used it on 2 bellies, it works great.. no contamination worries either, just change the twine

Just about to try out the sheep casings, had a bit of an issue untangling them but that's down to my old dodgy eyes.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[sausagemaker]

Hi Paul

When untangling sheep's casing or hog for that matter keep them in water and swirl them around they should untangle themselves quite a bit.

Regards
Sausagemak

[Paul Kribs]

Sausagemaker

I don't normally make enough sausages to use a 1/2 hank so have to sort out a bit of a reasonable length first. I have noted that they become easy to untangle using water, as I normally rinse the salt off first by swishing them in running water and then running some water through them. Also make sure I keep hold of them as they have a natural desire to dissappear down the drain.

I found no problems stuffing the sheeps casings, even with a stiffish mix. I found it of benefit to flush them through again with water just prior to filling the nozzle. The first batch I had put a lot of casing on the filler and it tended to dry out whilst I was cleaning and mixing the second batch. I removed them, flushed them and no further problems. I did not find them as delicate and fragile as I had been led to believe and would certainly recommend everybody who is apprehensive to use them.

Now comes all the tidying up

I had a few patties of mix left (cumberland, old english and apple and pork) so I added 2 tablespoons of mango chutney and 2 heaped teaspoons of jamaican jerk paste to 1lb 12ozs of mix, stuffed them into hogs and made 3 of the biggest sausages known to man.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Paul Kribs]

Well guys, I went for it.

I could wait no longer and decided to try out the pie dolly. In the absence of fresh pork I decided to thaw some sausages and make a country sausage pie. The mix consisted of 7 ozs of Franco's Old English mixed with 1/2 a finely chopped medium onion combined raw.

The hot crust pastry, enough for one 3" pie:

100 grm plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
35 grm lard
60 ml boiling water.

The lard was mixed with the boiling water until melted, this was then poured into a well made in the mixed flour and salt. Mix until a firm but warm dough is formed.

It would appear the utilisation is not as easy as the guy on the TV made it look.I was straight in with the dolly.. wrong. Allow the dough to cool slightly to firm up, I put mine in the fridge for about 5 mins.Your hands will be a bit greasy from making the dough so run these around the end of the dolly you intend to use and then cover with flour, base as well. This will assist with releasing the dolly. If you don't you'll not get it off without destroying the walls of the pie.. Even then it's gently does it. Reserve about 1/4 of the dough for the lid. To raise the pie, place the remaining dough on a flour dusted surface and roughly form a disk about 1" larger than the dolly and about 1/2" thick.

Place the dolly in the centre and push down firmly, estimate about 1/4" thickness for the bottom of the pie. Then with floured hands cup the dough at its circumference and gently work the dough up the dolly, rotating as you go. When the optimum height is reached, you may then attempt to remove the dolly. If it will not come, then put in the fridge for about 5 mins or until it firms enough to remove the dolly. It may not seem like it, but it will come out.

In the traditional Melton Mobrey method you then throw the ball of meat mix into the centre on the pie and it is supposed to reach the corners and expel any voids. I was not about to ruin what I had created and opted for the 'put in gently' method. Once filled, wet the edges and place the lid on top and crimp.Brush with beaten egg.
Then into a pre-heated oven at 200 for 10 mins, then about reduce to 180 and cook for a further 45 - 50 mins. Remove the pie and let it rest. Voila, job done.. best eaten after it has cooled.

I did photograph the sequence, and will post them if anyone wants to see. Doubt if I will get time today though, got to be at work soon.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[phillmypintpot]

I did photograph the sequence, and will post them if anyone wants to see.

Yes please, that'd be great.

I've seen hot-water crust pastry recipes before that call for putting grease-proof paper under & tied around the pie. All that malarky put me off trying, so it'd be nice to see your technique & the results of your labour.

Cheers, Phill.