smoked pork pies, has anyone made them?

[mike w]

I love pork pies, although I do like them warmed rather than cold. I love pasties, which in addition to being from Cornwall is also a Montana favorite. Lots of Cornish miners brought the recipe with them and it caught on. I've never made a pork pie, it looks a bit daunting.
Has anyone here made them? Have you tried using smoked pork? Care to share a recipe?
Blame Terry Pratchett, but when I think of pork pies that is quintessentially British to me. :)

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello Mike.  One Yank to another:  I have watched them being made on the cooking shows.  The pork is usually uncooked when put into the pastry but I see no reason why smoked pork could not be used then just bake at a slightly higher temp to just cook the pastry on the outside without over cooking the pork inside.  The whole thing about pork pies is the gelatin which is poured into them.  If using pre smoked pork I'd make the gelatin as per any recipe.  Just as a thought, I would be tempted to use uncooked pork in the pie and just follow any conventional recipe for pork pie.  Then take some bones and trotters ( pigs feet for us Yanks ) and quickly hot smoke them.  Then boil them down as usual to get the gelatin.  That should give the pie a good smoky flavor.  I'm not sure your smoker could be used but this would be one of those times when white smoke could be used.  Hot, hot fire with PLENTY of smoke for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Then boil them down for the gelatin.  I use the hot, fast, white smoke method for grilling steaks and such.  My rule of thumb is if I can cook it in under 1 hour any color smoke is fine.  Billowing white smoke for that short period gets the smoked taste into grilled food without that nasty taste you would get if white smoke is used for low and slow.

The way I see it you have a gap between your pellet smoker and your gas Weber.  I see no other way around it; you need another smoker!  Maybe an 18" Weber Compact so you can do hot and fast and throw wood chips on the charcoal fire.  AND! you did mention your pellet smoker was a little too hot for some foods so maybe a 22" Weber Kettle so that you can smoke those foods lower and slower.  So maybe 2 more smokers.  YEP!  No doubt about it!  2 more smokers!  Now all you need to do is convince the Lady of the House!  Simple!  

I am sure you will play around with this one a post a recipe for the rest of us to follow.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[thenegativeone]

I've made many pork pies, it's something of a Christmas tradition in my family, and I'm pretty sure you could make a smoked one in one way or another.
Personally I think cold smoking the meat would be better than hot smoking as it means you only have to cook the meat once instead of cooking once and then reheating during the cooking process which could be a bit iffy.
Also, as Danny says, maybe flavouring the jelly with smoke may work. If you have a smoking gun you could bubble smoke through the liquid jelly to infuse it before pouring into the pie.

Honestly, the most fiddly bit is raising the crust around a dolly, but homemade pork pies are the best! Especially with a few spicy pickled onions and a nice pint of bitter ;)

 

[mike w]

Thanks guys, it's very intriguing to watch them being made. I saw them done on the hairy bikers and it looked pretty cool. I'll have to consider it. Santa is bringing one of those amazin pellet smokers or so I've heard so that would solve the cold smoke problem and I can bake bread and pies on my pellet grill, so I don't see why I wouldn't be able to bake the pies in there to add a hint of smoke to the pastry. Hmm, what about roasting those trotters on the smoker like Danny said. I can get it to 450F degrees in the summer so that might do the trick.
Thanks for the ideas guys!

 

[wade]

I can bake bread and pies on my pellet grill, so I don't see why I wouldn't be able to bake the pies in there to add a hint of smoke to the pastry. .

Bread, scones, pasties etc bake well in the Weber 22" and as a pork pie is effectively a vertical pork pastie with a bit of jelly inside it should cook well.

Personally I think cold smoking the meat would be better than hot smoking as it means you only have to cook the meat once instead of cooking once and then reheating during the cooking process which could be a bit iffy.

I agree that cold smoking the meat first would be a good idea too. Get a bacon loin from the supermarket (Tesco always has it on offer), dry brine it and then cold smoke it. Use some to make the pies and then slice the rest and use as home made dry cure bacon. You would need to plan in advance though as the bacon will take a week or so to make. The smell of cooking home cured smoked bacon is divine...

 

[mike w]

I have some loin bacon that I smoked yesterday, but my wife claims that. I got 2 pork bellies curing for streaky bacon, but that might be too fatty. I may have to wait til January to try the pork pie. :/ my fridge is too small lol and I have a pork shoulder that is gonna be curing for Christmas ham this week.

 

[wade]

If they are too fatty to eat as bacon then use some of the fattier pieces as lardons to add flavour to other recipies. They freeze well and if frozen in small batches you can pull them out as required.

 

[mike w]

Oh it's perfect for streaky bacon. I thought it might be too fatty for using in the pork pie since it's belly

If they are too fatty to eat as bacon then use some of the fattier pieces as lardons to add flavour to other recipies. They freeze well and if frozen in small batches you can pull them out as required.

 

[wade]

A couple of batches ago I didn't look carefully at one of the pieces of belly pork I bought until I got it home - and at one end it was almost all fat ! It would have been more accurate to have called it "back fat" rather than "belly pork". I still cured and smoked it though and it worked well for flavouring.

 

[mike w]

Did the fat pick up the smoke flavor Wade? I have been wondering about that. I've been equilibrium brining streaky bacon for the last year. I've done three flavors from recipes from another website: maple, Asian, and a recipe I made up using Jack Daniels honey bourbon. One time I even used pork butt rub and they all picked up the flavorings very well.
This batch of pork loin bacon that I made, wouldn't touch the maple syrup I added to it at all. I'm theorizing that the fat is a better flavor carrier than meat. Only salt, sugar, and boiled or steeped spices seem to carry into the meat just based on my experience.
My next batch of loin bacon I'm going to try injecting maple syrup into the meat and see if that'll get it there.

 

[foamheart]

These are not smoked but its a nice thread....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/151321/mmmmmm-pork-pies

I remembered this and maybe another tutorial. The search engine is your friend.

 

[mike w]

Thanks Foamheart! That is a great thread.

These are not smoked but its a nice thread....

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/151321/mmmmmm-pork-pies

I remembered this and maybe another tutorial. The search engine is your friend.

 

[wade]

Did the fat pick up the smoke flavor Wade? I have been wondering about that.

Yes the fat picked up the smoke flavour very well. It was rindless though so the smoke did not have to try to penetrate the skin.

 

[mike w]

Thanks Wade! Sorry for the late reply, I was distracted with making sausage last night. A gluten free version of English bangers for my wife.

Danny I imagine a piece like wade got with alot of fat content would be a good choice to make into salt pork. I need to head over to waitrose and raid their spices for juniper berries lol

Yes the fat picked up the smoke flavour very well. It was rindless though so the smoke did not have to try to penetrate the skin.