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The pie maker will not properly brown the top crust because the center top will not come in contact with the top of the maker. Breville recommends using pie crust on the bottom and puff pastry on the top because it will puff up more and make contact with the top plate. It does but the puff pastry does not fully bake so you have a browned top with soggy layers underneath. The crimped edges are very thin so they will over-brown before the rest of the pastry is done. So don't buy this to make pies it will just frustrate and annoy you.
On the other hand if you want to make little pizzas or stuffed sandwiches using bread dough, or little quiches crustless or with crusts using something like refrigerated crescent roll dough you will have a great time turning out tasty snacks. Also does a decent job with pot pies mainly because you can add enough filling so the dough does contact the top of the pie maker. All fillings have to be pre-cooked before using in the pie maker. If you were to make a sweet pie filling with enough body to allow mounding you would be able to get a browned top crust.
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I'VE NEVER HAD A BAD PIE YET; ALWAYS COOKS PERFECTLY JUST USING PILLSBURY ALL-READY PIE CRUSTS FOR ME:
I'll start by saying Breville gives you a cookbook for ideas with this (a tiny one) and the pies in the recipes are made with regulary pie crust on the top and bottom for the most part. They suggest, for ease, you can use something like the Pillsbury all-ready pie crusts. The directions say if you don't fill the pie bottom up full enough that you won't get a browned top as it won't contact the top of the "pie oven plate" but I have had no issue with that. If you start your pie making and simply fill the base fill a bit over the top so you know it's full, you'll always have perfect crusts...I've never had one yet that was uncooked or not perfect in about 5 minutes...you get an idea very quickly of how much filling to put inside. I don't even measure; it is quite simple to figure out. If you only put a tiny bit of filling, naturally the top pie crust would sink down into the bottom crust rather than hitting the top baker plate...it's just easy.
MAKES GOURMET MEALS AND SIDE DISHES, NOT JUST DESSERTS:
Now then, don't limit yourself to dessert pies in spite of how good they are...this makes leftovers into a gourmet dish and makes gourmet side dishes that wow guests. Even some main dishes! No need to guess what size to cut the pies, it comes with a cutter for both top and bottom as well as an inset to press the bottom pie crust to the bottom of each pie pan.
I don't eat meat and my honey does so we have lots of meat leftovers. This has made him feel like he gets gourmet dishes rather than leftovers. For example, you can use hamburger and combine with mashed potatoes, some veggies, a bit of pasta sauce and you have mini shepard pies. A fabulous dinner party side dish is a wild mushroom filling...I saute some with thyme and rosemary, olive oil, butter, gruyere cheese, heavy cream pepper...you get the idea. And if you have a bread maker, use the dough setting to make bread encased treats like pizza or sandwich fillings. Bread dough is also great for breakfast pies with eggs and fillings like cheese and sausage or veggie sausage. Eggs and potatoes work well too and Mexican eggs with salsa, cheese, and green peppers is lovely. Those all work with pie crusts, dough, or puff pastry.
More pie crust stuffed ideas include: Leftover meatballs are made into Italian pies with mozzarella and sauce. Taco meat leads into Mexican pies a few days later. Stuff with the seasoned meat and cheddar then, when done, serve with chopped lettuce, tomato, and sour cream.
(Vegetarians get some wicked main dishes too...use soy meat with the above, instead, or make some veggie filled pies.) You can do salmon and dill pies with peas for seafood eaters, you can do beautiful miniature quiches for breakfast or lunch, you can cook adorable muffins in it, (yep it does muffins! See recipe in the cookbook sent with it.) gruyere and onion pies, steak and potoatoes leftovers turn into a barbecue pie with some barbecue sauce topping those steak and potatoes, ham and potatoes turn into scalloped ham and potato pies by adding cheddar cheese...turkey or veggie pot pies are also a snap and good enough for a luncheon or dinner with guests. I enjoy an individual pie with soup...even a simple soup like tomato. Chili that is leftover is great topped with cheese and tomato and enclosed in pie crusts too!
MAKES ONE CRUST PIES AS WELL:
but don't feel like you need to top it with a topping...You can do superb little pumpkin pies, for example. Really any kind of pie!
I have found peach pie to be a big hit.
I strongly also suggest the cookbook called "Mini pies" which will give you loads of ideas. But you'll likely come up with lots on your own the more you use it. Try the s'mores pies!
I use the Pillsbury ready made pie crusts, I have used puff pastry too, and I also make my own pie crust in no time in a food processor (lots of recipes available on the net.)
One sheet of Pillsbury pie crust makes 2 pies, a box makes all 4 but you'll have leftover crust to make more after you cut them if you just roll them out or you can use it to make decorative pieces on the top crusts like a heart or leaves or a pumpkin.
SAVE TIME BEFORE SCHOOL OR WORK;
This is my favorite part..it makes some of the best breakfasts you'll ever eat and you can premake all your pies on the weekend. Almost any premade breakfast meal in the store is loaded with artificial stuff and tastes like it. One of the most delicious breakfasts I've ever had is a pie layered with leftover mashed potatoes, cheese, and eggs. It's incredible. I don't eat meat buy my honey does...so I do bacon, eggs, and cheese or sausage, eggs, and cheese for him. To die for. I make a few different kinds (even a Texas one with refried beans, potatoes, eggs, and salsa for example) on the weekend and just put them in the fridge during the week to grab and go after microwaving. You can even cut them in half and eat them easily with your hands while driving if you are really pressed for time! You can crsip premade pies in the oven for about 10 minutes or less too, or you can freeze them and reheat if you want to make a big batch to have for later. They freeze well.
When I do the eggs in my breakfast ones I just do one egg per pie depending upon how much other stuff I'm adding to the pie. You might need 2 eggs if you are doing just egg and cheese. I don't add milk or water to scramble as I like them scrampled and still dense in the shell but you can do that too.
This was given to me as an engagement gift and I've used it a few times a week...it still hasn't grown old on me. Because I used it for so many different dishes and tastes. It does well as a gift...when I first saw it I thought no way would I eat so much dessert that I'd utilize this but as soon as the recipe suggestions inside the directions were perused, I had loads of ideas.
TIPS IF YOU DON'T READ THE DIRECTIONS:
You should season it prior to the first use by rubbing veggie oil on it and wiping off. After that there is no need to grease. It cleans easily with just wiping it down.
The first time you use it you need to preheat it twice. The first burns off anything on it then you preheat it again (meaning the green light comes on), have your pie filling ready, put the bottom crusts in after preheating and press down with the provided press. Fill each shell quickly and put the tops on if using tops...close and you can check after about 5 minutes to see if it's done depending upon what kind you are making.
Coming up with ideas is nearly as fun as making them...I see this as a fun activity with kids as they are easy so kids could help and come up with new recipes and you have dessert in about 10 minutes...or dinner!
GREAT GIFT BECAUSE WHO HATES PIES?
I'll likely send one to my brother's family for Christmas...this pleases both the kids and the adults, afterall, and gives them a fun activity together in making pies for everyone. I know my nieces will enjoy it. And, because my brother and his wife love too cook too, it's a fun gadget for them as well.
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I love this little pie maker but to get the full use out of this I think you need to open your mind to what a pie is. The other reviewer is correct, it can be hard to get a nice brown on a top crust, If you are making a double crusted fruit pie you need to over fill to create a mound. I find it's easier to just not worry about the top crust and put a glaze over it once it's cooled. My husband actually likes it better that way. My favorite thing to make is shepherd's pie. I use a bottom crust, meat filling, mashed potatoes and I even put some cheese on top. The second favorite is deep dish pizza, which people love. You do have to play with it a bit to get the hang of it but isn't that true for all new things? Probably the worst thing about this, I can be in the kitchen all morning making all kinds of pies and a hurricane of men come through and wipe me out in seconds. :(
When it's just the two of us I make 4 pies for dinner, I eat one and my husband may eat 2, which leaves one for me as a snack the next day. My husband has also taken these to work the next day and while the pie isn't hot, if wrapped up it will stay warm in the middle and the crust won't be soggy. How great is that you can make your own hot pockets wit the fillings you want.
I tried using the puff pastry once, I'm not a big fan of it but it did make the pies look pretty. I didn't have a problem with the tops not cooking all the way through, it was just more pastry than i wanted. I make more savory pies than anything, the pies also freeze well for a quick mid-week meal. I just don't feel like cooking after a long day of work. If I don't have pre-made pies whipping up a few is pretty easy and quick. I just look to see what leftovers I have, and you can use just about anything, and I always have some pre-made pie dough. Just roll out the dough, cut with provided pie cutters, drop in dough, drop in filling, drop top crust if desired, close lid, wait 8 minutes and dinner is ready.
Honest reviews on Breville BPI640XL Personal Pie Maker
I bought and paid for a NEW unit. I received a FACTORY REFURBISHED unit. In addition, the FACTORY REFURBISHED UNIT was USED! It still had baked on food and crumbs in it!
The Breville machine is great, but you should buy it from a reputable company. I don't think this company is reputable.
Amazon provided me with a way to return the dirty, used, Refurbished unit to eCom. But, I wound up buying the machine elsewhere because I didn't see any NEW machines other than on eCOM...and I didn't trust them to provide a NEW unit.
Since it was a FACTORY REFURBISHED unit, I was over-charged for a NEW unit.
When I opened the outer box, I saw where it said FACTORY REFURBISHED on the inner box. I was upset. But I opened that box thinking maybe I could get a refund if the machine looked new. But I knew right away that there was a REAL problem when the plastic around the machine was sealed with WHITE MEDICAL TAPE!!! It made me a little sick to think that someone used medical tape to repackage the machine. What kind of disease did the shipper have to have white medical tape on that machine? When I opened the plastic bag to see the machine, I found that the pie areas were dirty, had food particles in them, and the entire top of the pie areas had piecrust stuck to them, and crumbs all through it. What could be worse? Refurbished! Used! Dirty!
I was horrified to see there was old dirty food in the unit. And the smell was terrible.
This company should be fined for selling something as disgusting as that, and stating that it was a NEW machine.
There is just NO excuse for them sending out a product in the condition of the unit I received.
This has been my absolute worst shopping experience.
The only thing I could imagine worse, would be if bugs had been in the unit too.
But it's not impossible that there are some in it,(way inside the machine) and I just don't see them.
Because the Breville itself was not at fault, I went to another online store, and purchased the Breville there. Don't judge the machine by the eCom company that provided the dirty one.
Buy it...but buy it at some place other than eCom.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Breville BPI640XL Personal Pie Maker
I was given the pie maker as a gift and have been amazed how easy and great tasting these pies come out. I've used the pie crust on the bottom and puff pastry on the top, as instructed and they come out beautifully. First tried a banana and carmel pie for dessert, which was great, then a sauteed onion and cheese pie to go with eggs for breakfast. Love this machine.
