I Got a Pie Maker for Free… Sort Of…

One of my friends popped round for a catch up a couple of weeks ago and it was the first time they’d been since we moved house so they got the obligatory tour of the house, ending in the kitchen where we put the kettle on and chatted while we waited for it to boil.

She spotted a couple of my kitchen gadgets which got us talking about some of the random gadgets we both own and as we chatted, we both realised that we had a stack of kitchen gadgets each in our kitchens – some of which we use all the time and some are just gathering dust at the back of the cupboards. 

Somewhere in the middle of that conversation, we ended up doing a little kitchen gadget swap. I handed over my Lakeland egg bite maker and she promised to drop off her pie maker on the way home from work the next day which felt like a brilliant swap to both of us.

I’d wanted a pie maker for ages – ever since I saw someone on Tik Tok making a mac and cheese pie with theirs. Not that I think I’ll be making that myself but it really made me think about how much I might be able to use a pie maker myself. I love anything that helps me turn leftovers into something a bit more useful, and individual pies sounded like they had real potential but I didn’t want to buy one myself as I know what I’m like and I know that there was a high chance that I was going to use a shiny new pie maker and then relegate it to the back of the cupboard and I wanted to avoid that. 

But seeing as it was practically free, I was actually quite excited by the prospect of pie making. 🥧

The only slight issue when she dropped off the pie maker the following day was that I didn’t get the instructions with it as she couldn’t find them. She’d also lost track of the where the pastry cutters that went with the machine. So my first attempt at pie making involved a bit of common sense, a bit of guesswork and a couple of Ikea kids plates being used as pastry templates. 😁

Muddling Through Without Instructions

I’m sure there is an official way to use a pie maker, but I didn’t have access to that information, so I went with the very scientific method of looking at the holes, looking at the pastry and hoping for the best.

I used frozen pastry because life is too short to be making pastry from scratch on a day when I’m already trying to work out how to use a gadget with no instructions. Frozen pastry is quick, easy to use and exactly the kind of shortcut I am very happy to take. I just let it defrost (4 hours at room temperature if you’re interested), rolled it out a little bit and then started hunting around the kitchen for something the right size to cut around.

This is where the Ikea kids plates came in. They weren’t perfect, but they were close enough, and honestly that is good enough for me. One plate made the bigger circles for the base and another worked for the lids, and I felt far more pleased with myself than the situation probably deserved.

There was definitely a point where I wondered whether the pastry would puff up too much, whether the filling would leak everywhere, or whether I’d end up chiselling burnt bits out of the pie maker afterwards. But I’d already committed by that stage, so I carried on and hoped for the best.

My First Pie Maker Attempt

For my first attempt, I made corned beef and potato pies because they felt like a safe place to start. Corned beef and potato is proper comfort food, and it is also one of those fillings that does not need much fussing with, which made it perfect for a first try.

I cooked the potato first, mixed it with the corned beef and kept the filling nice and simple. I didn’t add onion because my partner hates onion, and this is actually one of the reasons I’m so excited about having a pie maker now. So many pies that you buy from the supermarket or bakery have onion in them, which makes them a no-go for him, but if I make them myself then I can completely control what goes in.

That might sound like a small thing, but it makes such a difference. It means I can make pies he’ll actually eat and enjoy, especially for work lunches, without having to hunt around for the one random pie in the shop that does not have onion hiding in the ingredients list.

The corned beef and potato pies worked out really well too. The pastry cooked nicely, the filling stayed inside where it was meant to be, and they looked much more impressive than they had any right to considering I had made them using children’s plates as templates.

I’m not sure that it looks as good on this photo as it did in real life but I promise, it not only looked lovely, it also tasted AMAZING! 

Why I Think I’m Going To Love It

The thing I’m most excited about is how useful this could be for leftovers. I’m always trying to make sure we use up what we have, but sometimes leftovers need a bit of a glow-up before anyone gets excited about eating them again.

A spoonful of leftover chilli, some cooked chicken, a bit of mash, leftover mince, cheese, beans, curry or even random bits of veg could all become a little pie with hardly any effort. I love the idea of being able to turn small amounts of food into something that feels like a proper lunch rather than just “there’s a bit of something in the fridge if anyone wants it”.

It also feels perfect for work lunches. I can make a few pies at once, keep them in the fridge or freezer, and then my partner has something easy to take with him that I know he’ll actually eat. And because I’m making them myself, I can leave out the onions, use up whatever needs using and keep the fillings really simple.

I know there are lots of kitchen gadgets that sound useful but end up being more faff than they’re worth, so I’m not declaring the pie maker a life-changing essential just yet. But after one successful attempt, I can definitely see the appeal.

Will It Earn Its Place In The Kitchen?

After the success of the corned beef and potato pies, I am definitely going to keep experimenting. I want to try some leftover chicken pies, maybe a cheese and bean version, and possibly a breakfast-style one if I’m feeling brave.

I’m especially looking forward to making onion-free pies for my partner to take to work because that feels like the kind of small, practical thing that could make a real difference. Sandwiches and salads can get a bit samey and hop-bought pies are handy, but they are not much good if they all have something in that he won’t eat.

So for now, the pie maker is staying. It has already done better than I expected, and anything that can turn leftovers into something that looks like I made an actual effort is welcome in this house.

And if it ever does stop earning its cupboard space, I suppose I can always swap it for whatever random gadget my friend decides she’s finished with next. 😁

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