We seem to be getting through the big supermarket mince pies rather quickly this year. Our next stop on the mince pie express is Tesco. My most accessible Tesco is one of their express stores, but it is not these stores (shockingly) that have started stocking mince pies. At the time of writing this, I could only find their mince pies in the larger branches. Not sure why this the case, but lets hope my drive to their larger branch was actually worth it.
Presentation - 3
It's not great, is it Tesco. When I first picked up the box and saw those mince pies and their "fitted" lids, I immediately had flash-backs from last year's Lidl, Iceland and Asda mince pies, which quite honestly send shivers down my spine to this day (they were that bad). They looked the same and I was quite expecting them to taste like a factory produced, artificial mince pie.
The box is not really very "Christmasy". On the shelves, I very nearly missed it, assuming it was just a normal pie box. The pie's themselves look messy. You can see the machine that filled these was not finished before the conveyor belt whisked it off to the next stage of the production line due to the leakage on every mince pie. The edges of the pie's look over cooked, bordering burnt. This is not a good first impression Tesco.
What also immediately strikes you when opening this box, are that the pies themselves look very small.
Nutritional Content & Price - 4
Despite their size these mince pies still match up to it's larger competition in the nutrition category. They have 215 calories, 7.7g of fat and 17g of sugar. Also, in case you were thinking of feeding these to the 7 dwarfs, don't, the box clearly says these serve 6.
At £1 a box these appear reasonable, considering their size, but if they taste anything like last years Lidl, Iceland or Asda mince pie, then I would say they are highly over-priced and would only consider eating them if they paid me.
Pastry - 20
First impressions can be corrected and these definitely changed my opinion. The pastry was rather good. There is a nice even bake all around and there is a little crumble to it. There has been a little absorption of the mincemeat at the bottom, but not enough to affect the pie's structure after a bite. I can taste a little butter and it is not too sweet too. I think it is a little thick making the pastry to mincemeat ratio a bit lop sided, but you know how I like a little more mincemeat to pastry. Other than this, it's not actually bad.
Mincemeat - 14
This is okay. Due to the thickness of the pastry, the amount of mincemeat inside is reduced, however, it does mean that the mince pie is actually filled to the lid. As you can see in the picture, it was pretty hard to identify individual fruit as it was mostly purée. This a shame, as it tasted alright. While the sweetness came from the sugar, rather then from the vine fruit, there was not too much of it, making this mince pie rather palatable.
Overall Satisfaction - 5
You should note that at no point do Tesco claim this to be a deep filled mince pie, and it's not. There is less mincemeat and the pie is smaller, but I think that despite not writing this, the deep filled mince pie is becoming the norm and Tesco should be following suit. However, despite it's appearance, this mince pie is not bad. I wouldn't shy away if I were to be presented with it, but I probably wouldn't buy it again as there are far better mince pies available.
Here are the scores from my fellow Mincers.
Tester 1
Presentation (3) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (18) Mincemeat (27) Satisfaction Level (4)
Presentation (6) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (21) Mincemeat (22) Satisfaction Level (6)
Presentation (5) Nutritional content & Price (7) Pastry (20) Mincemeat (21) Satisfaction Level (4.5)
OVERALL
55.63 / 100
Look at where these fit in on our leader board.
(Don't forget to follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook)
Presentation - 3
It's not great, is it Tesco. When I first picked up the box and saw those mince pies and their "fitted" lids, I immediately had flash-backs from last year's Lidl, Iceland and Asda mince pies, which quite honestly send shivers down my spine to this day (they were that bad). They looked the same and I was quite expecting them to taste like a factory produced, artificial mince pie.
The box is not really very "Christmasy". On the shelves, I very nearly missed it, assuming it was just a normal pie box. The pie's themselves look messy. You can see the machine that filled these was not finished before the conveyor belt whisked it off to the next stage of the production line due to the leakage on every mince pie. The edges of the pie's look over cooked, bordering burnt. This is not a good first impression Tesco.
What also immediately strikes you when opening this box, are that the pies themselves look very small.
Nutritional Content & Price - 4
Despite their size these mince pies still match up to it's larger competition in the nutrition category. They have 215 calories, 7.7g of fat and 17g of sugar. Also, in case you were thinking of feeding these to the 7 dwarfs, don't, the box clearly says these serve 6.
At £1 a box these appear reasonable, considering their size, but if they taste anything like last years Lidl, Iceland or Asda mince pie, then I would say they are highly over-priced and would only consider eating them if they paid me.
Pastry - 20
First impressions can be corrected and these definitely changed my opinion. The pastry was rather good. There is a nice even bake all around and there is a little crumble to it. There has been a little absorption of the mincemeat at the bottom, but not enough to affect the pie's structure after a bite. I can taste a little butter and it is not too sweet too. I think it is a little thick making the pastry to mincemeat ratio a bit lop sided, but you know how I like a little more mincemeat to pastry. Other than this, it's not actually bad.
Mincemeat - 14
This is okay. Due to the thickness of the pastry, the amount of mincemeat inside is reduced, however, it does mean that the mince pie is actually filled to the lid. As you can see in the picture, it was pretty hard to identify individual fruit as it was mostly purée. This a shame, as it tasted alright. While the sweetness came from the sugar, rather then from the vine fruit, there was not too much of it, making this mince pie rather palatable.
Overall Satisfaction - 5
You should note that at no point do Tesco claim this to be a deep filled mince pie, and it's not. There is less mincemeat and the pie is smaller, but I think that despite not writing this, the deep filled mince pie is becoming the norm and Tesco should be following suit. However, despite it's appearance, this mince pie is not bad. I wouldn't shy away if I were to be presented with it, but I probably wouldn't buy it again as there are far better mince pies available.
Here are the scores from my fellow Mincers.
Tester 1
Presentation (3) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (18) Mincemeat (27) Satisfaction Level (4)
"Despite the nice mincemeat & The £1 price tag these would not be my first choice"Tester 2
Presentation (6) Nutritional content & Price (6) Pastry (21) Mincemeat (22) Satisfaction Level (6)
"Average, Good pie"Tester 3
Presentation (5) Nutritional content & Price (7) Pastry (20) Mincemeat (21) Satisfaction Level (4.5)
"Not the best pie, but OK to try"
OVERALL
55.63 / 100
Look at where these fit in on our leader board.
(Don't forget to follow us on twitter @TheMincePieBlog and on Facebook)
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