‘A $10 pie maker changed my life, now people are in a frenzy for it’

Thirty years ago I bought a pie making machine , it was made by Breville and was one where I could cook two pies at a time. From memory, it cost me $10 (those were the days). As I had three young boys at the time, I used that pie maker daily. I made pies, pies and more pies. All wholesome and healthy. I used the finest ingredients and made my own pastry. After the lads left home, the poor pie maker was put in a back corner of the pantry, where it has been sitting idle for the past 20 odd years.

Fast forward to 2019 and there is an absolute pie maker frenzy. People are crying because they cannot buy one. Stores are out of stock. Oh dear, what a disaster.

Calm down everyone! Pie makers are not new. They have been around for decades.

As with most appliances, savvy folk are using them for more than one thing. It seems to me everything has to be able to function in a multitude of ways.

Take this latest pie making craze. There are websites and chat forums advising us on just what one can do with these marvellous machines. There are photos of everything imaginable, things that were made using the humble pie maker.

Goodness me, cupcakes in a pie maker? Who on earth would want to cook cupcakes in batches of two. Really?

Get real folks! Cupcakes are meant to be cooked by the dozen. Can you imagine a family of six all waiting patiently for the next two to be cooked?

Bacon and eggs in the pie maker. Again not practical unless for just one or at a stretch two people.

Recently I saw a recipe for vanilla slice, yep, cooked in the pie maker. I read through the process involved and came to the conclusion that I could cook two slabs of vanilla slice in the oven taking the same time as I could make two small vanilla slice pies in a pie maker. There are many weird and wonderful recipes floating about.

How about scones, once again, who would only cook two at a time. The process is more time consuming than making them in the oven. There is no turning them over halfway through cooking in the oven. In the pie maker it is recommended to turn them over halfway through cooking. Two scones at a time, no way.

There are others, obviously not domestic goddesses, who lament over the left over bits of pastry, the bits left after those beautiful perfect circles have been cut out of a sheet of bought puff pastry. What a dilemma one poor lass was in. Well sweetie, just roll those little pieces together and flatten them out. Voila, you can make another circle. Who would have thought!

Enough about pie makers though. I think my old one will stay in the pantry. Or maybe, I could give it to some poor soul who desperately needs it.

Is there an appliance you used non-stop in your kitchen? What do you think about kitchen appliances today?

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