British Pies: A Complete Guide to Shortcrust, Hot Water Crust and Suet Pastry

The word 'pie' appears in English records from the 13th century, but the medieval 'pie' would be unrecognisable to a modern baker. Early pies were made with a thick, dense pastry casing called a 'coffin' (from the Old French 'cofin', meaning basket or chest) that served primarily as a cooking and storage vessel rather than something to be eaten. The pastry was mixed from flour and boiling water or animal fat into a stiff, durable dough that could be shaped without support, filled with meat and spices, and sealed — functioning essentially as a reusable clay pot. The pastry was often discarded after the filling was consumed. These standing pies were practical: they could be transported, stored for days without refrigeration (the sealed pastry prevented oxidation and contamination), and sent as gifts or supplied to travellers. Records from royal households show pies of extraordinary size — containing whole pheasants, pigeons, and even live birds in theatrical 'surprise pies' for banquets. By the Tudor and Stuart periods, pastry had begun to evolve toward something more palatable. Shortcrust-style pastries made with butter appeared in aristocratic cookbooks alongside the practical standing crust, and the distinction between a pie meant to be eaten fully (pastry and all) versus one whose crust was merely a container began to solidify.

Shortcrust pastry is defined by its characteristic crumbly, tender texture — the 'short' in its name refers to the shortening effect of fat on gluten strands. Understanding shortcrust requires understanding gluten development. When flour is mixed with water, two proteins present in wheat — glutenin and gliadin — hydrate and begin to form gluten, a viscoelastic network of interlinked protein chains. Gluten development produces elasticity and chewiness — desirable in bread, actively undesirable in pastry. Fat prevents gluten formation in two ways. First, fat coats the flour particles and physically prevents water from contacting the proteins, inhibiting hydration and therefore gluten formation. Second, fat molecules insert between developing gluten strands and interrupt the network, producing a weaker, more friable structure. The ratio of fat to flour in shortcrust pastry is typically 1:2 (fat:flour by weight), with cold fat — cold butter or lard — being rubbed or cut into the flour before any liquid is added. The fat must be cold so it remains in distinct pieces rather than melting into the flour and creating a cohesive paste. Some bakers use a combination of butter (for flavour) and lard (for crumbliness and water-resistance). The small amount of cold water added to bring the dough together should be added sparingly — every additional drop activates more gluten formation. Overworked shortcrust becomes tough and elastic. A properly made shortcrust rests in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before rolling — this allows the gluten that was unavoidably developed during mixing to relax and the fat to re-solidify, both contributing to a more tender baked result. Shortcrust suits double-crust fruit pies, quiche, and casserole-style pies where the filling is cooked separately (chicken and mushroom pie, mince pie in the British sense).

Hot water crust pastry is the opposite of shortcrust in almost every respect. Where shortcrust minimises gluten for tenderness, hot water crust deliberately promotes extensive gluten development to create a strong, mouldable, structurally self-supporting casing. The method is as follows: lard (or a combination of lard and butter) is melted into boiling water and the hot liquid is immediately mixed into the flour. The heat fully gelatinises some of the starch granules and, critically, the hot fat coats the flour particles uniformly while the dough is worked. The result is a warm, pliable, plasticine-like dough that can be moulded around a raised pie mould or shaped entirely by hand without collapsing. As the dough cools, the fat re-solidifies and the starch gelatinisation provides structural rigidity. The dough must be worked while warm — once cold, it becomes brittle and cracks. The classic use of hot water crust is the traditional pork pie: the dough is moulded into a freestanding cylinder, filled densely with seasoned pork (often a mixture of coarse-minced pork shoulder, back fat, white pepper, mace and sage), sealed with a pastry lid, and baked. After baking, a pork or chicken jelly — made by reducing a bone-rich stock heavily — is poured through a small hole in the lid and allowed to set in the gaps around the filling as the pie cools. This jelly was the original natural preservative and is now the marker of an authentic, properly made pork pie. The Melton Mowbray pork pie, made in Leicestershire, holds Protected Geographical Indication status in the UK and is distinctive in using uncured (grey rather than pink) pork and a hand-raised, bowed shape rather than the straight-sided moulded form.

Suet pastry occupies a distinct niche in British cooking — it is primarily used for boiled or steamed puddings rather than baked pies, but it appears in baked form in certain regional preparations and as the defining pastry of the traditional steak and kidney pudding (which is related to, but distinct from, a pie). Suet is the hard fat that surrounds the kidneys and loins of beef and sheep, with a higher melting point than other fats. Grated or packaged suet is mixed with self-raising flour and cold water to produce a dough that is softer and less structured than shortcrust but more elastic than hot water crust. During boiling or steaming, the suet melts and creates steam pockets within the dough, producing a fluffy, dumpling-like texture that has absorbed some of the savoury flavour from the filling. A traditional steak and kidney pudding is lined with suet pastry pressed into a pudding basin, filled with raw or lightly braised beef shin and kidneys in a flour-thickened gravy, sealed with a suet pastry lid, covered with foil, and steamed for 3–4 hours. The long steaming cooks the raw filling through the pastry, and the resulting pudding — with its tender, almost gelatinous pastry and deeply savoury, unctuous filling — is one of the most characteristically British preparations in the entire cuisine. Suet also appears in the pastry lid of a Bedfordshire Clanger, a traditional full-meal pastry with a savoury filling at one end and a sweet filling at the other, traditionally made for agricultural workers.

Three fillings dominate the canon of British savoury pies. Steak and kidney pie uses braised beef (typically chuck, shin or skirt) and ox kidney, cooked slowly with onion, stock, Worcestershire sauce, and sometimes stout until the collagen in the beef has converted to gelatin and the filling is deeply savoury. The filling is cooled before going into the pastry — hot filling softens pastry from below and prevents it setting properly. Chicken and mushroom pie uses cooked chicken in a béchamel or velouté sauce enriched with double cream, with mushrooms (ideally a mixture of button and dried porcini for depth). The sauce must be reduced enough that it holds its shape when cold — a runny filling will make the pastry soggy. Traditional pork raised pie has been described above. Proper crimping technique is the mark of a competent pastry maker and serves a structural function beyond aesthetics. For a double-crust pie, the top and bottom pastry edges must be genuinely sealed to prevent the filling from boiling out during cooking and to maintain the structural integrity of the case. The traditional British rope crimp is achieved by pinching a fold of pastry between thumb and forefinger, then pushing the next section of pastry into the fold to create an overlapping rope pattern — each fold locks the previous one mechanically. A fork crimp (pressing with the tines of a fork) is faster but creates a shallower seal. For hot water crust, the lid is pressed firmly onto the walls of the case while the pastry is still warm and soft, forming a genuine fusion as the starches intermingle at the joint.