Module 3 – Pies:

a.  Properties of a Corner Bakery pie: 

i.  Golden Puff pastry 

ii.  Delicious and filling 

iii.  Rich savoury gravy 

iv.  Local ingredients 

v.  100% real meat (no soya or TVP.  Textured Vegetable Protein) 

vi.  Buttery short crust pastry 

b.  Equipment: 

i.  OVEN.  Ensure that your oven has been correctly calibrated and that, if the oven says that the temperature is 190 degrees then this is the true temperature of the oven.  Use your instore thermometer to help test (once per month) that your oven temperature gauge is correct. 

ii.  FREEZER.  This needs to have shelves for storage as well as the ability to remain cold enough per the temperatures prescribed below. 

iii.  TRAYS:  Baking trays need to be clean at all times otherwise the grease/ black colour will transfer onto the bottom of the pies making it into an undesirable eat. 

iv.  BRUSH:  A silicone egg-wash brush needs to be used to apply the egg-wash onto the pies.  Ensure that this does not have any wood as part of its make up. 

v.  BOWL:  A small bowl or measuring jug is to be used to mix the egg-wash. 

vi.  WHISK:  A clean whisk must be used to thoroughly mix the egg-wash before applying to the pies 

vii.  OVEN GLOVES:  Ensure that you have a set of clean oven gloves available to remove the baked pies from the hot oven at the end of the bake. 

viii.  PIE RACK:  There needs to be a trolley or a rack that is clean and always available to hold hot trays containing pies prior to them going into the pie warmer. 

ix.  PIE WARMER:  This is a piece of equipment that needs to be set at the right temperature (60 degrees Celsius).  Ensure that the entire glass is clean at all times, no crumbs left lying in the display and that the labels are always identifying the correct pie. 

 c.  Pastry: 

i.  Puff pastry is a complex product that is ‘layered’ and gives volume to the top of the pie.  It gives a ‘softer’ eat (different from short crust).  This pastry should be golden brown using our egg-wash recipe.  Very important as it baked at the correct temperature to allow the fats/ margarine / moisture to activate and create steam between the layers.  Microwaves will ‘melt’ the layers and collapse the puff structure and destroy the pastry.  This is a critical element of the pie and its eat-quality and the puff is one of the most visible parts of the pie to the customer. 

ii.  Short crust pastry is only used on foil pies as a base.  It is a stronger and more able to hold a runny filling with gravy.  It has more of a biscuit quality and has a different mouth-feel to puff pastry.  It adds to the diverse flavours of the pie by providing the customer with 2 pastry experiences. 

iii.  Pie filling.  All the Corner Bakery pies have their fillings pre-cooked.  This means that when baking the pie, all the filling just needs to be heated and cooking is not required.  This means that the baking of the pie is just for warming the filling but the pasty needs to be fully baked.  There is one exception to this and that is the sausage roll which requires the raw sausage filling to be cooked during the baking process. 

d.  Pie Storage & Handling: 

i.  EXPIRY DATES.  Using a thick black koki, write the expiry dates LARGE on the side of the box that will be facing the staff once stored in the freezer. 

ii.  QUICKLY.  Pies need to be stored within 30 minutes of being removed from the truck.  Ideally move the pies in less than 5 minutes to prevent pies sticking together. 

iii.  FIFO.  There is an expiry date on each box.  Ensure that the boxes that expire the SOONEST are at the front of the shelf and the boxes that expire the LAST are at the back of the shelf. 

iv.  CRUSH FACTOR.  Boxes are not to be stacked more than 4 boxes high. 

v.  TEMPERATURE.  Freezer temperature needs to be at -12 degrees or below. 

vi.  BE GENTLE.  Boxes need to be treated carefully when placing the boxes on shelves or removing pies for baking.  Frozen pies are brittle and need to be treated like glass. 

 e.  Pie baking: 

i.  190 DEGREES.  Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius and ensure that the oven has reached temperature BEFORE placing the pies in the oven. 

ii.  BE GENTLE.  When removing pies for baking, take the boxes off the shelves and put the boxes down gently.  Frozen pies are brittle and need to be treated like glass.  Once pies are removed, do not get distracted and ensure that the pie boxes are placed back in the freezer immediately. 

iii.  POSITIONING.  Place the foil pies directly onto a clean tray and non-foil pies onto a clean silicon paper sheet. 

iv.  EGGWASH:  Lightly egg wash the surface of the pies.  A single egg and ¼ teaspoon salt will wash about 10 pies.  Do add water as this will give you a better shine. 

v.  DO NOT DEFROST.  Pies need to be baked from frozen.  Take them out the freezer and place them directly into the oven. 

vi.  25 MINUTES.  Bake the pies for 25 minutes and then check if the pies are golden brown in colour.  Bake for up to a maximum of 30 minutes if not yet golden brown. 

vii.  KEEP IT HOT.  If golden brown, remove the pies from the oven and place them directly into the pie warmer.  The warmer is to be above 60 degrees Celsius at all times.