Video summary

25 Forgotten British Pie-Shop Tricks That Make Supermarket Pies Look Like a Rip-Off

Main summary

Key takeaways

Cooking

Presenter / Channel

Not specified in the subtitles (video title only provided).

Ingredient callouts (with quantities/substitutions mentioned)

Hot water crust (Number 25)

  • Lard: ~4 oz (given as “4 oz of lard”)
  • Water: ~1/4 pint (scalding; appears as an auto-gen error in the transcript)
  • Strong plain flour
  • Technique (core concept): lard + water boiled, poured into flour; fat melts through the flour to form a moldable dough.

Hot water crust / pork pie cases (Number 25)

  • No other exact ingredient quantities given beyond lard / water / flour.

Mustard powder in pastry (Number 21)

  • Dry English mustard powder: about 1 teaspoon, rubbed into the flour.

Egg wash (Number 11)

  • Beaten egg (or yolk) + pinch of salt for deep, glossy shine
  • Milk for a paler, softer finish

Steak pie kidney ratio (Number 16)

  • Kidney to steak: about 1 part kidney : 5 parts steak

Stout in gravy (Number 14)

  • Mentions a bottle of stout split:
    • “half of it went in the pot” (the other half kept for the cook)

Stew/pie filling concept (various numbers)

  • Bone stock: beef and marrow bones simmered “for the best part of a day”
  • Cheap cuts mentioned (no quantities): shin, skirt, chuck, cheek
  • Potato pie: diced potato, sometimes half and half with meat (qualitative, no exact weights)

Equipment & preparation steps referenced

  • Mixing/molding by hand (hot water crust made warm enough to mold)
  • Cold room/fridge / “cold ladder” for resting dough
    • Resting at least half an hour, sometimes overnight
  • Oven for:
    • Blind baking empty pastry cases
    • Cooking off moisture and crisping
    • Egg-white sealing (return base for ~1 minute)
    • Standard baking after assembly
  • Pie weights: greaseproof paper + dried beans or ceramic weights (kept in a jar)
  • Fork for docking/pricking the base (dozens of holes)
  • Pie funnel / pie bird: ceramic insert through the center to vent steam and support pastry
  • Enamel plate (blue-rimmed) for baking crisp bases
  • Warmer cabinet / dry heat holding after baking (explicitly not microwaving)
  • Funnel for inserting jelly into a cooling pork pie

Step-by-step method & key timings/technique cues

Hot water crust pork pies (Number 25)

  1. Bring lard and water to a rolling boil (approx. 4 oz lard : 1/4 pint water).
  2. Pour scalding liquid straight into strong plain flour.
  3. Beat until dough is warm enough to mold with your hands.
  4. Cool so fat sets into a crisp, sturdy crust that holds shape.

Shortcrust fat handling (Number 24)

  1. Chill lard/butter until almost frozen/hard.
  2. Rub cold fat into flour to keep it in separate flakes.
  3. Bake so fat bursts into steam, creating layers/flakiness. - Caution: if fat softens before baking → crust can become dense/greasy.

Water control in pastry (Number 23)

  1. Keep water ice-cold.
  2. Add spoonful at a time until dough just comes together.
  3. Stop immediately: too much water develops gluten → leathery/chewy pastry.
  4. Rest in the cold so the dough “comes together on its own.”

Resting the pastry dough (Number 22)

  1. Wrap and rest at least 30 minutes, sometimes overnight in the cold.
  2. Rest helps:
    • Gluten relax (less springing/shrinkage)
    • Flour fully hydrate for better texture

Flavor the pastry (Number 21)

  1. Rub ~1 tsp dry English mustard powder into flour before adding fat.
  2. Finished pie shouldn’t taste overtly of mustard—aim is depth and lift for beef/gravy.

Baking crisp bases: enamel plate + blind bake + docking + egg-white seal

Enamel plate (Number 20)

  1. Bake on blue-rimmed enamel plates for fast, even bottom heat.
  2. Result: crisp bottom crust “as the lid.”

Docking/pricking the base (Number 10)

  1. Prick/pricricket the base all over with a fork (dozens of holes).
  2. Docking helps trapped air/steam escape instead of forming bubbles. - Cue: docking is brief, but skipping it can cause bases to rise/hollow.

Blind bake base (Number 19)

  1. Line raw pastry with greaseproof.
  2. Fill with dried beans or ceramic weights.
  3. Bake until base is set and pale gold.
  4. Only then add meat and gravy—sealed crust resists moisture for hours.

Egg-white seal (Number 9)

  1. After blind baking, brush with a thin layer of egg white.
  2. Return to oven for about 1 minute.
  3. Egg white cooks into a waterproof seal to prevent gravy soaking into the base.

Assembly/steam venting + sealing the pie

Pie funnel / pie bird (Number 13)

  1. Insert a ceramic funnel/bird through the crust center.
  2. Vents steam so the lid doesn’t lift and the center doesn’t sag.
  3. Some whistles softly when steam passes—used as a cue the pie is “up to heat.”

Crimp/seal edges (Number 12)

  1. Use a little water or egg as “glue.”
  2. Crimp with thumb and finger until top and bottom crusts lock.
  3. Poor sealing → oven splitting and filling leakage.

Egg wash (Number 11)

  • Brush before baking with:
    • Beaten egg/yolk + pinch salt for glossy golden shine, or
    • Milk for a softer paler finish
  • Salt supports even browning.

Filling construction (stated techniques)

Bone-stock reduced gravy (Number 18)

  1. Simmer beef and marrow bones for “best part of a day.”
  2. Skim scum.
  3. Reduce until glossy/thick and sets to jelly when cooled.
  4. Pie cools: gravy sets around meat; pie warms: gravy melts back to silk.

Long, low heat with connective-tissue cuts (Number 17)

  1. Use tougher cuts: shin, skirt, chuck, cheek.
  2. Gentle simmer for hours converts connective tissue into gelatine.
  3. Results: tender meat that falls apart and thick gravy without flour.

Steak pie: add kidney (Number 16)

  1. Chop ox/lamb kidney fine.
  2. Mix through beef at about 1 part kidney : 5 parts steak.
  3. Kidney adds richness and thickens gravy as it breaks down. - Downside mentioned: kidney was unpopular to customers when seen and is butcher-time intensive, so factories dropped it.

Seasoning: flour “flowering” before browning (Number 15)

  1. Toss beef in seasoned flour before it hits the pot.
  2. Browning forms a dark savory crust and thickens gravy from within. - Cue: thickening comes naturally from browned, flour-coated meat (not cornstarch paste lumps).

Stout in gravy (Number 14)

  1. Add a splash of stout/mild ale during simmering.
  2. Long cooking boils off harshness, leaving rounded toasty malt flavor.

Pork pie finishing with jelly (Number 8)

  1. After oven, cool the pie so meat shrinks slightly, leaving a gap between filling and crust.
  2. Warm stock jelly (made from trotters and bones) to a pourable liquid.
  3. Trickle into the pie through the lid hole using a funnel until it can’t take more.
  4. As it cools, jelly sets—sealing gaps and keeping pork moist/preserved.

Filling prep timing (Number 6)

  1. Cook filling the day before.
  2. Rest it in the cold overnight.
  3. Benefits described:
    • Gravy thickens/sets
    • Seasoning spreads
    • Flavors “marry”
    • Easier to spoon into pastry without running

Other variations & pastry types

Suet pastry for steamed steak pudding (Number 7)

  1. Make suet pastry: beef suet stirred through self-raising flour, bound with cold water.
  2. Steam for hours.
  3. Suet melts at higher temp than butter/lard, holding shape longer so flour sets around it—giving a light, soft, spongy crust that soaks gravy.

Dripping in pastry (Number 5)

  1. Work roasted beef dripping into pastry alongside lard.
  2. Dripping carries roast beef flavor into crust; described as richer/golden.

Meat and potato stretching (Number 4)

  1. Mix diced potato through beef (sometimes half and half).
  2. Potato absorbs gravy, adds body, and thickens as starch breaks down.
  3. Serving note: “mushy peas and a splash of gravy” is described as a proper supper.

Baking + holding (Number 3)

  1. Bake in the oven.
  2. Sell/hold in a warming cabinet (dry heat) to keep crust crisp. - Warning: microwaving steams pastry from inside; crispness turns wet quickly (stated “in 90 seconds flat”).

Pie crust fat blend principle (Number 2)

  1. Use lard and butter together (roughly half and half).
  2. Roles:
    • Lard: shortness/crumbliness
    • Butter: flavor/color and crispness
    • Outcomes described:
    • Only lard → short but bland
    • Only butter → tasty but tough/greasy

Ultimate “it’s different” principle (Number 1)

  1. Everything is made fresh from scratch that morning:
    • pastry mixed by hand
    • meat browned and simmered slow
  2. Bones boiled for stock; gravy set overnight.
  3. The case is built/filled/crimped/washed/baked the same day it’s sold.
  4. No freezing/shipping/plastic holding “for a fortnight.” - Claim: freshness and process create flavor factories can’t replicate.

Chef tips & common mistakes to avoid (from subtitles)

  • Don’t skip fat chilling: warm fat → dense/greasy crust.
  • Don’t add too much water: gluten → leathery pastry.
  • Rest pastry: skipping rest → shrinkage/spring-back.
  • Blind bake + seal base (docking + egg white): avoids soggy bottoms.
  • Crimp properly: poor seals → pie splits/leaks.
  • Avoid microwaving: ruins crispness fast.
  • Use the right holding environment: low, dry warming cabinet keeps moisture moving out.
  • Use time/low heat with connective-tissue cuts: rushing heat → tough/dry meat and thinner texture.

Plating / serving suggestions

  • Pairing as a “proper supper”:
    • Meat and potato pie + mushy peas + a splash of gravy
  • Eating strategy emphasized:
    • Pie is best straight from a hot oven and held in a warmer cabinet (not microwaved).

Variations mentioned (concise)

  • Hot water crust pork pie (Number 25)
  • Shortcrust with mustard powder (Number 21)
  • Steak and kidney pie (Number 16)
  • Steak pudding (steamed) with suet pastry (Number 7)
  • Gravy variants: bone-stock reduced vs factory starch-thickened (Number 18 and comparison)
  • Meat-and-potato pie (Number 4)
  • Pork pie jelly finishing (Number 8)
  • Beef dripping in pastry (Number 5)
  • Holding method: baked + warmed in cabinet vs microwave (Number 3)

Original video