Savoury favourites

Steak and kidney pie

* recommended

Brake Bros Steak and Kidney Pie with Short Pastry Lid

"This product looks good and could pass as home-made," said one taster. In fact, the Brake Bros pie was the clear winner, and the most popular product for four out of the six tasters. The pastry was praised for both its taste and its crisp texture, and also for its kidney-to-beef ratio (the minimum declared content was 34%, with 7.3g of fat per 100g). The flavour of the meat was generally appreciated, but tasters had mixed opinions about whether the substantial amount of gravy which accompanied it was a good or bad thing.

* Pullman Foods Luxury Steak and Kidney Pie

This product scored solidly in all criteria, and the appearance of the browned puff pastry with crimped edges won the tasters' approval right from the start. In fact, it got the highest marks for visual appearance. The tenderness and size of the meat pieces were praised. The pie lost marks in just two areas: the relatively thin gravy and the amount of onion used. Five of the six tasters considered the onion content too high for their liking.

*** Happy Chef Steak and Kidney Pie

This product did well in all criteria except visual appearance. "The short pastry has not risen, making it look more like a Bakewell tart," said one. However, the pie came top for the eating quality of the pastry, the flavour of the filling and the quality of the meat. Most of the judges felt it would have benefited from more gravy, but the tenderness of the meat was appreciated. The high overall meat content (its declared minimum of 41% was the highest of all the samples) was also welcomed, but there was some criticism that there was too much kidney.