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Pork Pie Raiser?

AJB Temple

AJB Temple

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I would like a 1/2lb, 1lb and 2lb pork pie raiser in beech or some food safe hardwood.

Does anyone happen to know the correct dimensions for these (or even have any that you don't want)? I've struggled with a google search. I think they are often called a pork pie dolly.

I have a lathe of course, but am not the greatest turner as I don't do much. Looks pretty simple though.
 
These folks might tell you

porkpie.co.uk

Our story: Pork Pie 101

Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, the home of world-famous Melton Mowbray Pork Pies. Looking for an authentic award-winning taste, you’re in the right place!
porkpie.co.uk porkpie.co.uk
 
I made one a few years ago. I posted it on here.
 
Lurker said:
These folks might tell you

porkpie.co.uk

Our story: Pork Pie 101

Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, the home of world-famous Melton Mowbray Pork Pies. Looking for an authentic award-winning taste, you’re in the right place!
porkpie.co.uk porkpie.co.uk
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Nope. Saw that, they only give one size and they are sold out. Everywhere doing ones not made of softwood is sold out. But thanks anyway.
 
Thanks for the photo. I need to do fairly accurate measurements to get the correct pie weight. Maybe I'll just turn a few to experiment. We will be selling the pies (not many - maybe 30 a week for a short period) so to comply with regs I need a degree of accuracy.
 
Yes, HOJ. It's just a former really. Traditionally wood but plastic would be fine. If I had a 3d printer...
 
This seems to give the measurement for a 1lb pie Adrian …

www.etsy.com

Wooden Pork Pie Dolly - Etsy UK

This Cooking Utensils & Gadgets item by BrocklebysPies has 35 favourites from Etsy shoppers. Dispatched from United Kingdom. Listed on 12 Aug, 2025
www.etsy.com www.etsy.com

Not sure what level of accuracy you need but I’d have thought the recipe used would have an impact on the final weight?
 
Thanks Robert. Accuracy is not super critical as long as the weight is at or slightly over the declared weight. I don't have to do many (40 or so I suspect) but it is for a TV thing so needs to be reasonably authentic. Having checked again they have asked for wooden dolly moulds. Commercial ones use metal moulds.

I've never made or used hot water crust pastry before. Had a practice last night. A bit crumbly at first. Made with lard. I just used an upturned glass as a pastry former (easier I found than drawing it up) and pigs head and shoulder to make the filling, with the stock made from pigs head and trotters so it will turn to jelly. It's in the fridge now so not tasted yet as it has to set overnight.

2 saddleback organic farmed free range pigs heads (halved for convenience) and 8 trotters were £10!
 
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Being born and bred in Melton Mowbray, I have the relevant experience to test these for you. Expenses only, seeing as I know you so to speak.
 
Gosh pork pie is one of the things I miss about the uk……has to be eaten with Coleman’s mustard!
 
Lurker said:
Being born and bred in Melton Mowbray, I have the relevant experience to test these for you. Expenses only, seeing as I know you so to speak.
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Good call.

In fact however many we make will all be given away to a charity that feeds homeless people. The TV thing is being filmed in two weeks so I have time to get hold of or make some risers, and practice making the pies. First one turned out surprisingly well, though the stock (which turns into jelly) oozed more than expected.
 
AJB Temple said:
the stock (which turns into jelly) oozed more than expected.
Click to expand...
I often find the stock won't flow around the inside of my pies so some parts lack jelly. I don't know why.

I don't have a dolly. I just use a tin or something.
 
You need to sort that oozing Adrian.;)

Seriously, the best pork pies locally come from a shop in York Shambles. They sometimes have pies where the pastry has cracked or broken and oozing has occurred which are sold at half price - they are markedly inferior.

It would be good to see some pictures when you've perfected them.
 
Wherever they can sell it I suppose. It's programme segments made by an independent production company on commission. This is my fourth one. For Channel 4 mostly I believe but they never tell me when it's going out. But they do the filming a year ahead of when it gets broadcast. To do this one on pork pies and pasties and sausage rolls they will spend three or maybe four 14 hour days recording it as they do segments over and over again. They've booked a full week.
 
Just4fun said:
I often find the stock won't flow around the inside of my pies so some parts lack jelly. I don't know why.

I don't have a dolly. I just use a tin or something.
Click to expand...
Why don't you put some stock in before you put the lid on? That's how I am doing it, then topping up when the lid is on and crimped. I think I overfilled it a bit as I used a squeezy bottle kept hot in a sous vide bath and it was a bit hard to see how much I was putting in. Next time (which is today) I will use a small stainless funnel, which is what the film people will want. Yesterday was just a pastry test really.
 
This thread is reminding me of my best friend Brian, sadly no longer here. We were discussing the merits of the humble PP and bemoaning the standard of the mass-produced Pork Farms PPs. So we decided to have a go ourselves, as a sort of friendly competition.
IIRC (and this was 20-odd years ago, so it's a bit hazy) we both did a pretty decent job. The Awarding Committee (wives & friends) were diplomatic enough to judge it a tie :). I miss Brian.

Regarding the jelly - I thought everyone made them without the jelly and then, when they had cooled and the meat shrunk back from the pastry, the jelly was poured in to fill the space between the pastry and meat. Am I mistaken?
S
 
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Steve Maskery said:
Regarding the jelly - I though everyone made them without the jelly and then, when they had cooled and the meat shrunk back from the pastry, the jelly was poured in to fill the space between the pastry and meat. Am I mistaken?
S
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Yes that’s what I thought too
 
AndyP said:
And of course one is no longer allowed to bring a few back, nor sausages, nor scotch eggs.
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I don't have any suggestions for pies or eggs, but I have been using All Ireland Foods for several years to buy bacon and sausages. All orders are in chilled packaging and I have never received a bad package.

The published standard delivery time for Germany is four to seven days, but every order arrived in one or two days. The standard delivery for France is seven to eleven days, but it might be better to select express delivery.
 
Steve Maskery said:
Regarding the jelly - I though everyone made them without the jelly and then, when they had cooled and the meat shrunk back from the pastry, the jelly was poured in to fill the space between the pastry and meat. Am I mistaken?
Click to expand...
That is what my recipe says. I have not tried any other way.
 
AndyP said:
And of course one is no longer allowed to bring a few back, nor sausages, nor scotch eggs.
Click to expand...
Ah, one of the many Brexit benefits, we have taken back control of our Pork Pies. Sigh.

Walkers were always good (you'll be pleased to hear, Jim), but I don't know if they come from Melton Mowbray.
 
Steve Maskery said:
This thread is reminding me of my best friend Brian, sadly no longer here. We were discussing the merits of the humble PP and bemoaning the standard of the mass-produced Pork Farms PPs. So we decided to have a go ourselves, as a sort of friendly competition.
IIRC (and this was 20-odd years ago, so it's a bit hazy) we both did a pretty decent job. The Awarding Committee (wives & friends) were diplomatic enough to judge it a tie No, yu. I miss Brian.

Regarding the jelly - I though everyone made them without the jelly and then, when they had cooled and the meat shrunk back from the pastry, the jelly was poured in to fill the space between the pastry and meat. Am I mistaken?
S
Click to expand...
No. you're not. I put a little bit of stock in (just a couple of spoons) to fill the air gaps before cooking. It's supposed to reduce shrinkage. I'm trying a few methods including a short blind bake and internal egg wash.
 
Steve Maskery said:
Ah, one of the many Brexit benefits, we have taken back control of our Pork Pies. Sigh.

Walkers were always good (you'll be pleased to hear, Jim), but I don't know if they come from Melton Mowbray.
Click to expand...
Swallowed up by Samworth brothers, as is Dickenson and Morris ( not highly regarded by my family when I were a lad) . Ginsters too I believe.
I’m bias because he was my friend, but the best were Derek Jones the butcher.
Walkers were a Leicester firm, not to be confused with the crisps outfit.
 
For a very good commercial pork pie, Waity Rosy No.1 herby pork and apple pie, hand finished is very good. Not half full of jelly and the pastry is excellent. Easily the best of the supermarket offerings I have come across.
 
We do get pork pies here on the deli counters, "porc en croute". They are large and you buy by the sliced weight. But like everything else here, it looks fantastic but has no flavour. They have no idea how to season anything here.
S
 
I asked Copilot. Bear in mind it makes mistakes...

To make traditional British pork pie dollies for different pie sizes, here are the typical base diameters you'd want:


Pie SizeDolly Diameter (approx.)
½ lb60 mm
1 lb72 mm
2 lb90 mm

These measurements are based on handcrafted dollies used in Melton Mowbray, the spiritual home of the pork pie. The dolly helps shape the pastry case by hand-raising it around the wooden form, so the diameter is key to getting the right proportions.

Yours sincerely
AI (not the Dr...)
 
Steve Maskery said:
To get back on topic, can you not use a glass bottle or jar, or is the whole point of this the "traditional rustic" appearance of the tooling?
S
Click to expand...
TV. No one cares about taste (except me). Viewers have no idea. It's visuals and that rules frankly. Producers specify what they want in a production meeting. They pay - they get what they ask for.

That said the food is never wasted and I would not do it it didn't go the the charity we support. They and we will get good socials from that.
 
Thanks for the dimensions btw Steve. I will follow that. Failed to find it myself. Super helpful.
 
Steve Maskery said:
I asked Copilot. Bear in mind it makes mistakes...

To make traditional British pork pie dollies for different pie sizes, here are the typical base diameters you'd want:


Pie SizeDolly Diameter (approx.)
½ lb60 mm
1 lb72 mm
2 lb90 mm

These measurements are based on handcrafted dollies used in Melton Mowbray, the spiritual home of the pork pie. The dolly helps shape the pastry case by hand-raising it around the wooden form, so the diameter is key to getting the right proportions.

Yours sincerely
AI (not the Dr...)
Click to expand...
Interesting that in the Etsy link I posted yesterday a maker of Melton Mowbray Pies is selling them with a 90mm diameter described as “The perfect size and shape to make a traditional 1lb (454g) Melton Mowbray Pork Pie …” AI 🤷😉
 
Conveniently enough, my pair that I've not used in many years came out of a moving box a day or two ago. They're 72mm diameter, approximately 90mm high to the top of the straight section, and I think - though it was a while ago - the 2lb of meat that I made would do two of them if made up quite tall, or three if I did them to what I thought was a more aesthetic ratio. Don't hold me to that part, but 72x90mm is definitely a size that someone was selling around 15-20 years ago.
 
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