No Gravy?

[China Doll]

I made pasties last night (cornish ones but apparently not cornish as I'm in London) and there was a distinct lack of moisture and I'm not sure what I did wrong. Followed a recipie in a book and everything had cooked through and well, there was just no juices in the pasties. The only things I can think of were;

1) I did cook for about ten minutes longer but that is because I have a fan oven I don't trust and I used 180 and 150 rather than 200 and 180 temps. I fiddle with temps and timings when I make cakes too and they tend to turn out alright.

2) The meat - maybe I brought the wrong meat. I used Taste the Difference casserole meat.

3) They were rather an eyesore pastry wise, perhaps the few little holes didin't help. But there was no juice running all over the baking parchment and trays either and they really were not glaring great crator holes in the pastry.

Anyone have any ideas what I did wrong?

Thank you! :c)

[mccfluff]

casserole meats tends to be a tougher cut that needs to be cooked long and slow, checked with mum (devon so hers arent cornish either) and she uses rump

[Tilly2]

Did you cook the meat and vegetables before making the pasties?

[shaneystar2]

Skirt or chuck steak is the best meat for Cornish pasties .You shouldn't have any juice running out .It should all be inside the pastry.
I always make them the same as my Mum did a Cornish woman born and bred.Skirt or chuck,potatoes ,onion and swede.Definitely no peas or carrots :) Everything should be diced up very small.

[China Doll]

Dicing all done correctly and certainly no bloody carrots in there! There was no juice running out, just not really very 'moist' inside as I remember my nans being. I didn't season them enough either annoyingly even though I thought I'd added loads of salt and pepper.

Stupid question time... Would the meat say on the pack 'chuck' or 'skirt' steak? I seem to recall thinking that I couldn't see anything with names like that in the meat section.

[EcclesCake]

I reckon you'd be hard pushed to find skirt or chuck in the supermarket, by name anyway.

I read this earlier and my first thought was that a pasty is never as wet as a meat pie but is moist.

You've now clarified the moist point so I wonder if it is because you made steam holes which if you hadn't would have kept the moisture in.

I'm pretty sure most pasty recipes don't suggest making holes.

[shaneystar2]

I mostly buy meat from a butchers shop or farmers market China .
If you can't see chuck or skirt ( and it would be marked as such ) and they have a butchery counter ask there.They are cheaper cuts of meat .
Casserole meat is probably stewing steak and as such would be dry in your pasty because it's meant to be stewed or casseroled in gravy .Skirt or chuck will give you more moisture .

[China Doll]

Mmmmm... that makes sense re the holes. I need to work on my pastry then as steam holes were most certainly not intended. And get the right meat as well - Butchers for that? Need to try no holes and right meat in future and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks all for helping me work it out :c)

[China Doll]

Thank you Shaney, there is a butchers at my sainsburys so I will ask them when I go next :c)

[boxtops]

I don't think you did do anything wrong. If you pick up a pasty and eat it with your hands (as you were originally supposed to) the contents are moist but not gravy-runny. If there's runny gravy, then IMO that's a meat pie....

[EcclesCake]

LoL,sorry I thought you'd made holes like you might in a pie, didn't realise it was down to your crimping style or lack of ;-)

Definitely a butcher or farmers market for skirt or chuck.

Good luck with the next pasty session, let me know when it is as good as your Gran's I like a good pasty!

[EcclesCake]

The trouble with the meat counter in a supermarket is that it comes already butchered, you may not find the cuts you need.

Do you not have a real butcher nearby?

[EDDIE51]

Foolproof pastie recipe
Use corn beef out of a tin
1/3rd beef to 2/3rd potato . swede and carrot mix, everything cut into 1/4 inch cubes with loads of black pepper and a crumbled beef stock cube mixed well.
Just cut up everything raw and put it into the pastry case. may not be traditional but they taste great and are moist.

[China Doll]

Bleugh! Thanks Eddie but I really want to make proper ones like my nan did.

Yeah, sadly my pastry skills are a 'work in progress'. Yesterday was my first time playing with dough and I brought a ready mix because I wanted to concentrate on slicing, dicing and getting the flavours right. However I think I didn't have enough pastry (hence the holes from stretching) and next time will make my own. Plus my crimping is bloody awful!

I don't have a local butchers, and sadly where I live there are those shops that do sell fresh meat but it is ambigious as to whether they are licensed or not! I will find one though, must be one near where I work!

[China Doll]

Oh, oh... and while I think about it... Is there some sort of set measure for seasoning food? I don't really cook with or add salt to anything (cept chips and avocardos on toast) so any amount of salt seems loads to me. I thought I put a fair bit in yesterday but clearly no where near enough. And then with pepper, I like loads of that so I try to not put so much on stuff I'm making for others. So is there a guide of some sort that would help me with that too please?

[EcclesCake]

Seasoning is a bitch when preparing a raw mix like you are for a pasty.

The tedious recommendation is to season and then cook off a bit of the mixture, either by frying or wrapping a spoonful in cling film and poaching in hot water.

To make four pasties I would use probably a teaspoon of salt and at least twice of pepper.

If you are worried about that amount of salt look up the salt content of a Ginsters :-(

[China Doll]

Thank you! That's exactly the sort of guideline I need. Ok, will have another bash this weekend then :c)

It's things like Ginsters that have made me get up and start making from scratch :-/

[EcclesCake]

Good luck!

I am now having mega cravings for a pasty and might have to swing by the farm shop after my meeting this afternoon :-/