This is a canned, ready-to-bake pie from Fray Bentos - they're better known for their meat pies, but have comparatively recently branched out into vegetarian and vegan products.
On the Cherry Pie thing... It's possible that the family friend visited the 1982 World's fair, or perhaps some smaller exposition, and brought the product back from there... *Edit:* The trail is getting warmer; a kind viewer found this: www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-tin-cherry-pie-pan-dinner-1821005880 - it's listed as a frozen pie, but the writing on the can clearly says it's shelf-stable and does not require refrigeration. This isn't the pie can I remember - the design was more modern than this, but perhaps this was its predecessor... Also, searching: www.google.com/search?q=%22dinner+time+brand%22 Reveals some other products in the same range, and clearly these are the same type of canned product as Fray Bentos
I’ve lived in the US my whole life and honestly can’t say I know any canned pies. I know of ready made pies (lunch box pies or little Debbie) but I was very young when you remember this product and it’s possible they don’t make this anymore
Closest I could find was Pie in a Jar.Canned fruit filling is very common though,especially Sour Cherry which only grows certain places I guess and is the best for pie.
My one experience with a Fray Bentos pie was when my wife went in hospital to have our first kid. I was a bit of a novice at cooking to say the least. I put the pie in the oven, having not read all the instructions I didn't remove the lid. I took the pie out of the oven and took it over to our wall mounted can opener. It was red hot and I was thinking what a stupid design. I fitted it into the can opener and pulled the lever down that pierced the can. The next I knew the can was on the floor slowly spinning round and redecorating my kitchen with a stream of boiling gravy spraying out of it. I exited rapidly and decided to eat out. When the other half returned home with new baby she was delighted that I had redecorated the kitchen.
😆😅🤣 I wouldn't say just that because it fits in to 2 of his regular theme videos aka weird stuff in a can and a normal person trying vegan meat replacement things
@@Pingwn I mean, veganism isn't just a diet choice, it's a social movement. So calling vegans "not normal" for stopping eating stuff purely for moral reasons may be harsh, but not innacurate.
"He began swallowing spoonfuls of the stew, which, in among its general sloppiness, had cubes of spongy pinkish stuff which was probably a preparation of meat." First thing that came to mind, George Orwell's 1984.
Cutting a deep cross in the pastry before baking helps get the pastry underneath a bit more cooked. Back in the 80’s you could get curry and rice in a can. The rice was cooked and compacted into the bottom half of the tin and the curry was on top. You pierced the lid and stood the can upright in a saucepan of boiling water. It was actually very good! Disappeared with the introduction of the microwave most likely.
I originally came in for the scambaiting but I gotta say, I love the whole weird stuff in a can series! And I even found a place that sells the Mighty Malr drink and it got me kinda hooked.
I always liked the soggy pastry bit on Fray Bentos pies, but I'm strange that way. I think if FB wanted to serve the vegan market they'd be better off with things like the vegetable chilli pie you mentioned, or leek and potato, or just spiced lentil based fillings. There are some good meat-substitute type fillings I am told, but probably not in the Fray Bentos budget I would hazard. Still, nice to see Wierd Stuff In A Can back, its been a while (unless I missed it!) P.S. I loved the "Vegan steak and kidney (bean) pun" :)
@@AtomicShrimp Soggy (cooked) doughs are amazing, right!? I actually even prefer it when cakes don't rise properly and stay dense and moist for most of themselves.
Oh well. Guess I'll be avoiding this. Sometimes I really wish manufacturers attempting to cash in on the whole vegan thing would try to make an effort. It's not difficult to make really tasty food that doesn't contain meat (South-east Asian cuisine proves this), so I'm always a bit disappointed when manufacturers pretty much phone it in. No wonder non-vegetarians make jokes about veggy food being bland and unappealing when products like this are on the market. Heyho.
It's probably not that they aren't putting in the effort but I have to assume it's the lack of experience with vegetarian food that causes them issues. It sounds like this Fray Bentos company has a long history of developing meat dishes and a much shorter one of working on ones without meat. And really, it's not as simple as "just change the steak for soya protein." Because that meat is an integral flavor component in a variety of ways. And it should be noted that recipe development is not the easiest thing in the world, particularly for a mass market product like these ones. Sourcing new ingredients may not be the easiest thing in the world if they are a large company working with distributors and may potentially not be able to source ones that would elevate this particular dish to something palatable. I can imagine all sorts of failure points with regard to a product like this but at the very least, it's nice that they tried to service a market that they were unable to before and get feedback like this which might actually be quite helpful in future product development.
@@aaronmarko I think Mike alluded to it in the video, but Fray Bentos are designed to be as cheap as possible to appeal to the cheap midweek dinner for the masses crowds. 1 of these, some mash and peas probably costs £2 per portion max. Their meat pies are also bland, lack filling and have weird pastry. I would say part of the reason these suck is just because they are so cheap, though no doubt the vegan pie is marked up in price.
I used to always think the "Kidney" in steak and kidney pie was actually referring to the bean, not the organ. Now here's one with the bean, but no steak, versus steak, but no bean haa.
Recently learned about a tank in WW1 that got stuck behind enemy lines and the crew had to fight their way back to allied lines - the crew must have had a dark sense of humour as they named their tank "Fray Bentos"
That's brilliant! Nice to know we were a whole World War ahead of the dastardly Germans in recognising the inherently amusing problem with a badly designed tank.
The Fray Bentos pastry fills me with nostalgia. When I saw the jelly "gravy", I thought that would be full of flavour, but apparently not. A meat based gravy would have been - I'm one of those people who likes the jelly you find in pork pies.
Mom would do a veggie meal every so often when money was tight. She wasn't big on using mushrooms, but beans and legumes were a mainstay. She didn't try to make a fake meat, rather just make a nice veggie dish. Here a great, thick bean stew seasoned to a person's liking with the pastry on top would have been great. You could go Italian theme or the curry! BTW as an old lady from the USA I have never seen the cherry pie in a can as you describe. I wonder if it was a pie filling ready to go, just add Crust and bake in the provided tin?
Closest thing we have to this in the U.S. that I'm familiar with are "pot pies", usually chicken but sometimes beef or whatnot. They come not in a can though, but in more of a disposable wrinkle-sided pie tin, or like a pie waxed/laminated high-temperature cardstock in the shape of a pie tin. I grew up with them and loved them.
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome You have never made one from scratch then. Pot pies are wonderful if cooked right. Also usually cheaper then the frozen ones ounce for ounce, also there is the fact the swanson or banquit ones are made mostly of recycled tissue paper soaked in almost rancid chicken broth and sadness.
@@Ass_Burgers_Syndrome humm guy says "they are some of the most flavorless watery things ever" then refrences them being $1 with no other context whatsoever and is butthurt someone assumed he has never MADE one. Humm nice entitlement there.
A fray bentos pie was a real treat when I was a kid, I never liked the soggy pastry though. Seems you get way less filling in them these days, though that isn't surprising.
See, I liked that bit about fray bentos pies [the soggy pastry], it gave it an in-between texture between the filling and the crusty top meaning that I could get a bit of both with every bite.
My Grandad (passed away last Monday) was a £10 Pom, originally from Hyde Cheshire. In his final weeks, he was craving a steak and kidney pie. He grew up on things like tripe in the post war era, so Steak & Kidney was a treat. Unfortunately he couldn't really eat more than Deb (powdered mash) and semolina towards the end, so he never got to enjoy a last steak and kidney, but I know the old man, he would have 100% turned his nose up at a vegetarian "steak" and kidney bean pie, but I bet he would have devoured it if you didn't tell him 🥳
thank you for commenting this as a American I had no idea what a $10(pound) Pom was(someone who was paid to migrate to Australia or New Zealand) and this made me look it up and I got a free history lesson for the day and I am sorry for your loss of your Grandad and you guys have a amazing year
I have one of those can openers and I noticed some of the very same drawbacks: thin metal pieces shaved off the lid or can (that’s why I wipe the rim after opening to catch any pieces). Also, it most often doesn’t work on the bottom of the can, which would come in handy for recycling. In some very rare cases, the cans can’t be opened at all (cans with weird rims).
This style of can opener is excellent. I've had two. Had being the operative word. The first was destroyed by a tin of peas that had two lids, (for clarity, on one end) instead of the usual one. The second was destroyed by a family member that repeatedly misused it. Fascinating, the way they work, and yes, you only go around once. I recall that you listen for a click, and then you use a part of the opener to lever (easily) the lid off. I've forgotten the make I bought, and they weren't really that expensive. Don't get too excited though... there are some tins that they just won't work on, and I suspect that said tins lead to their (the tin openers) demise. As for the pie. FB pies are best eaten without prejudice, or eye contact.
I like it too, but really don't like the models like Atomic Shrimp has with the rotating part on top. The one I have has the knob on the side like a more conventional one and I've never had a problem with it.
They're called Magician. I had one from early 2000s which lasted 18 years or so before seizing up. The replacement is not working as well after only a year.
I have one as well, with the twist on the side. I got it at the local supermarket for a couple of dollars more than the "manual" tin opener. Serves me quite well for the occasional tin of beans.
Finally!! I absolutely adore your ‘Weird Stuff in a Can’ series!! In fact, I prefer it to your scam-baiting series (which is of course, exceptionally brilliant in its own right). These pies are not too bad if you’re looking for a quick meal but if you’re looking for something delectable, I’d recommend something else.
Not in a can so you can't do it on this series but you should try the Pukka Vegan Minced Steak & Onion Pie. The best vegan pie I've tried, although that's not saying much since most of them are very bland, but it's surprisingly decent.
I’d have to disagree with you about that. I found it really lackluster. To date, the best vegan pie I’ve had is still the Linda McCartney country veg pies with the fake mince filling. They’re not as good as they used to be though, I’m not sure what changed
Well as a USA citizen I must say living through the 80s I don't remember such a pie as you described but we have pie filling in a can that you have to have your own pie crust and pan. The can is like a can of soup or something 3.5 inches by 4.75 inches. Fully cooked and you can eat it from the can but it's a bit starchy (made with cornstarch I suppose) and full of dye with little fruit in my recent experience you need 2 cans to make a decent pie and they cost about 3.00 a can so I just use fresh fruit as I can get a 3 pound bag of apples for about 4.00
I suppose its not out of the question that a company making such a filling (Like Duncan Hines mentioned above, who's colours are similar to what Shrimp described) might have made a pre-made pie in a can, even if it was a short lived experiment.
The canned cherries come with so much starchy filling and I agree it looks to be cornstarch as its very clear. I don’t like pie but my mom used it growing up.
I remember those cans of cherry pie from when I was a kid but my parents never bought one. I'm not sure what they were like on the inside either. I haven't seen a pie in a tin like that in years and years here in America. They don't have ones like you cooked in the video here either. Most ready made foods that cook in the oven here seem to be in cardboard type containers these days I assume because it's cheaper to manufacture and ship.
I love that despite the fact you're not vegan, you'll try vegan things without being pre-emptively biased against them - see: Piers Morgan, sausage roll! (Any pie in a tin is a sin though, sorry) 😆
I just found your channel the other day and I find your content very informative and engaging! I respect your personality greatly, you seem like an incredibly kind person who is open to others opinions/views. I also appreciate your nonchalant incorporation of vegan meals/products in your content. :) Thank you for your time and creativity!!!
This video reminds me of the British guy who opened up a stand inside a grocery store here in Taipei and sells genuine Steak and Kidney pies. Not Kidney Bean however, but...I should go pay him a visit. It's superb.
@@MarcoGPUtuber no way, i live there 2 mins from that carefour... ive been there countless times for the cheap haircuts, ive never seen a steak and kidneybean pie place, whats its name?
Re: canned cherry pie. At first I thought it could be a tie-in merchandise/novelty product for Twin Peaks but then I realized that was the 90s. Hmm. It might actually be worth searching for 1980s cherry pie filling manufacturers (Comstock is one, now under Duncan Hines) and asking through their websites.
There is a brand called Duncan Hines that makes a canned cherry pie filling. It's sold basically everywhere in the US. The can is white with a blue banner, and it shows a picture of a pie on the can. People use them quite often as an easy pie filling. Usually used with pre made pie dough.
Had same thought and looked it up online, the only thing is that the modern day packaging of the can is not the right shape, however the packaging could have changed in the last 40 years
@@mollybradshaw9336 wait till you have to refresh your stock and on day five of consuming nearly up pies you'll be reconsidering whether or not you'll even wanna survive it
When you served up the second portion and exclaimed that the plate/pie was hot I forgot that it was a hot product considering the jelly like appearance
Dug a steak and kidney FB pie out of the cupboard last week, inspired by your vids. Brilliantly crispy and delightfully soggy pastry, sadly lacking in filling, but with peas and mustard mash it was...pretty great actually. Especially for 99p!
99p you say, well that's bloody annoying. They cost the equivalent of a fiver here in Australia which I had assumed was due to being imported from the UK, except they aren't, they're made locally by Campbell's.
I don't think I've seen any FB pies apart from Chicken and Steak varieties, so it's interesting they have got into veggie/vegan. I think they have gone down the route of Poundland prices, and other cheap stores, so the filling has reduced to keep to the price point. I imagine students are a big market, so it makes sense to offer non-meat pies.
The brand of cherry pie in a can could possibly be Drakes. Do you recall a logo with a duck, perhaps? Drakes pies have been around forever over here in the US and are usually sold in a waxed paper wrapper or a box, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had a canned version at some point. Hostess also has a similar product. There is also table top brand snack pies, which sells their single serving mini pie in a box and pie tin, so I wouldn't be surprised if they also had a canned version at some point. I tried looking it up too based on pie brands I know from my childhood, but came up with nothing.
I'm 63 years old and from the western U.S. I never saw a pie in a tin like you mentioned. We bought ready to use cherry pie filling in tins, but you had to provide your own pie plate and crust.
As you've been told numerously, there are definitely savory pies, at least in America. Typically called 'pot pies', and most commonly found with chicken, but there are other flavors for sure. Turkey pot pies are very common as well, although I don't know anyone who really eats them. I've also seen steak and veggie varieties.
They're usually pretty cheap. Back in my misspent youth they made an adequate meal along with some noodles or rice. Edit: Turkey was actually my favorite.
Nobody is doubting the existence of savoury pies in North America, the difference is in common understanding. Put it this way, if you walked into a bakery/pie shop and asked for a pie without further qualification what would you be offered? In the UK, Australia or New Zealand you would, almost without exception, get a 4" diameter pie with pastry top & bottom and beef with gravy filling.
@@firstsurname9893 they'd ask you what you want but sweet pies like apple pie and pecan pie are more popular in the US. Chicken, turkey, apple, cherry, pecan, peach, and banana are all common pie fillings in the US.
"One of them was Amway, which I dont want to talk about at all" 😂😂😂 now I am curious to hear your thoughts and experiences with those good old 'businesses' known as MLMs. 😂😂😂
I would listen for hours to squid reiterating the same points I already know about MLMs quite happily. Even if just to know that the anti-mlm message is potentially reaching a new/different audience. Would mesh very well with the other public-protection type videos, the scam baiting etc. Oh yeah CWHM > Illuminaughti any day of the week.
Yesterday I was going through the old video's on your channel and came across two video's called: "Cheap, nutritious recipes (ideal for students)" around 5 years ago. I really liked those and already made the Bacon and Tomato Hotspot today, it was really good! I'm hoping you will do another one of those sometime!
I've never heard of the cherry pie thing but I live in the west and there is a lot of regional variation in food products in the US (for example, hotdog buns are cut differently depending on whether you live east or west of the Mississippi River) and it could very well be a thing elsewhere in the country.
Yeah, it's easy for Europeans to forget that the US is the size of Europe, and each state is functionally it's own country. I don't expect a German to act like a Frenchman or Dutchman or Englishman, so I don't know why whenever I travel people are surprised I don't act like someone from California, New York or Texas.
@@KatieM786 They are referred to as "center cut" and "top cut" hot dog buns. Basically, center cut are cut horizontally and top cut are cut vertically. Also upon further (google) research, it appears that on the east coast you can buy both top cut and center cut hotdog buns. But on the west coast, you can only buy center cut ones. Perhaps a better example would be butter sticks which really does comes in two different form factors in the US. The channel Half as Interesting did a video about that.
I did enjoy that to watch - and glad you found it “almost enjoyable to eat”! Very funny. : ) The weird thing is, that I just watched the latest Slaughterhouse short, about getting from A to B, and then straight onto this one. I kept getting this strange eerie feeling that this pie filling could be carrying on straight from the same video, except it’s not in black and white. The gloopy sauce looked most unappetising but well done, Fray Bentos, for giving it a try, I say! I like vegetarian food and really appreciate all your experiments in that area. It does actually give me a very good idea of whether I’d like it or not. This one I would have cooked for fifteen more minutes because I like well cooked pastry, but then the gloopy sauce would have dried out to the point of being perfectly unacceptable! Thanks Mike - that was great, and I’ll probably give this one a miss!!! Happy New Year to you and Jenny and Eva, and to all Shrimp fans, worldwide.
Love your videos fella. If the ring pull on a can is broken, use the can opener on the bottom or opposite side 🤔 xxx grate work look forward to your next video xxx
2:50 of course you're not having a pleasant experience, they recommend you use BOTH can openers. You're obviously supposed to get another person to help you by using the second can opener opposite from you opening the can! That would have also made the pastry completely done at 25 minutes and not have the doughy layer!
I bought a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pudding recently. It was inedible, I chucked it away. The quality has dropped so far that the sales must be suffering surely?
Obviously the metal shards is the manufacturer's fault and not yours for going around too far, but I also frequently forget how far I've gone around cans, so I've started using mental markers. This tin is good because it had a picture on it, so I could say start with the can opener on a particular part of the picture and go around until it's back in the same spot. On plain tins there's usually some sort of writing like a code or date and I use that. If not, then I use the picture on the main body of the can.
I worked with a fitter’ for years and he was a ‘master’ at cooking Fray Bentos Pies. He didn’t use a timer he just use to ‘eye ball’ it and he could get that crust better than anyone I know. He’d be rolling in his grave at fake meat. The challenge for the Atomic Shrimp is to create the ‘balti pie’ he mentioned.
When I used to eat them many years ago I also discovered that you needed to cook the pastry more thoroughly too, it usually meant the top layer would get a little bit singed around the edges but it was worth it ! They do benefit from leaving them in the oven longer.
I appreciate your channel so much, love that you have a series dedicated to canned goods, not sure why but I have a little fixation on canned foodstuffs :')
Because processed food is processed food regardless of whether it has meat in it or not. Anyone who is allergic to such ingredients just wouldn't buy those products.
I bought a Fray Bentos pie for the first time ever during our first lockdown in 2020. The wife said it was disgusting. I thoroughly enjoyed every forkful. Thank you Fray Bentos!!!!
Thanks for this thoughtful man-meets-pie encounter. FB pies and savoury puddings are characterized by excessive pastry and minimal filling. There one saving grace is an extended shelf life, for which we might be grateful one day...! I'm trying to persuade my vegan spouse to try this.
I wondered when you'd get around to this one. I'd been thinking of suggesting it for a while now. Actually, for most people who like Fray Bentos pies, (myself included), the soggy under-layer of the pastry is the best bit. 😋
I have stopped buying Fray Bentos pies due to the number of can openers I have broken trying to open the damn things. Thank you for testing that pie so we didn't have to ;)
I have one of those types of can openers. Used it for years, and I love it. Sometimes I have to run it through twice around the rim, but it is cutting more metal than a regular opener.
the cool thing about the oxo style of can openers is that you can use them on the bottom of a lot of cans, because they typically use the same sealing technique on the bottom as the top. this tends to bypass that issue you mentioned!
I just like the fact they list best can openers, meaning in the R&D department they spent a good amount of time just scientifically opening their cans. Thats a job i think im properly qualified for.
As an American - savory pies are awesome. Shepherds, cottage, turkey.... basically stew with some kind of pastry (or mashed potatoes) on top... I love them.
I thoroughly enjoy all of your RU-vids. I remember trying this brand living in Ontario. Probably at the Brit store. Haven’t seen them for years. I make a really good steak and kidney pie so no need to search them out.
I like Fray Bentos pies but I do wish they'd maybe charge a bit more and increase the quality a little. I like their pastry, even the limp stuff underneath, but they need to do a bit better with the filling. Put a bit more meat in there, more veg, a richer gravy, I'd happily pay a bit extra for their Balti Pie that upped the quality a little. The "gravy" in this pie looked unacceptably jelly-like to me.
