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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Amy Fenton

Taste test of The Radfords' pies from baking business of Britain's biggest family

The Radfords - dubbed Britain's biggest family might be more famous for their enormous brood than anything else - but they're also a family of master pie-makers.

Noel Radford, who has been a baker for over 25 years, launched the Radford Pie Company in 1999, which he says allows him to 'manage to provide for (and feed) our huge and expanding family as well as for the local people of Heysham and Morecambe.

Wife Sue, as well as daughter Chloe and son Daniel, are also heavily involved in the business, reports Lancashire Live.

As well as selling the traditional meat and potato and cheese and onion varieties the Radfords also make British steak and stilton, chicken and gammon and big pie packs which are perfect for big families like theirs. The pies are available to buy online or in a variety of stockists..

The Radfords' pies must be popular because a warning on the website stated that 'due to high demand' delivery can take up to 10 days. Mine took about two weeks to arrive.

Lancashire Live reporter Amy Fenton tried out the pies for herself - and here's her verdict

Peppered steak

The Radfords peppered steak pie (Lancs Live WS)

Taste: I'm a big pepper fan and for me this didn't quite cut the mustard. I had to add lots of pepper and salt.

Crust: Perfect.

Filling: There was plenty of big chunks of steak in the pie which weren't at all dry and were full of flavour.

Overall rating: 7/10

Chicken and mushroom

Amy ordered a box of six pies (Lancs Live WS)

Taste: I'm afraid the overall flavour of this pie was a bit too bland for me (so much so that I forgot to take a picture). While there was nothing wrong as such with the chicken the pie just didn't have enough 'bite for me'.

Crust: Not quite as crusty as the others for some reason - perhaps because the contents contained more liquid.

Filling: More seasoning required - and perhaps more pieces of mushroom.

Overall rating: 6/10

Cheese and onion

The cheese and onion pie was full of flavour (Lancs Live WS)

Taste: Although I had to sprinkle plenty of salt on this pie it was easily my second favourite. The cheese was nice and strong and it wasn't just packed with potatoes and onions as you sometimes find with this variety.

Crust: No complaints here.

Filling: Plenty of cheese and a good strong type too.

Overall rating: 9/10

Steak and stilton

The steak and blue cheese could have been a touch more cheesey (Lancs Live WS)

Taste: As a big blue cheese fan I had big hopes for this pie and it was the one I was most looking forward to trying. And although, when I first cut into the pastry, I could clearly see blobs of melted cheese there simply wasn't enough of it for my tastes. I agonised over placing this pie in the rankings because, on the face of it, overall it was one of the tastiest but as a steak and stilton pie it was lacking in stilton.

Crust: Spot on.

Filling: More cheese please!

Overall rating: 8/10

Chicken and gammon

Chicken and gammon hit the spot (Lancs Live WS)

to be blown away by a chicken and ham pie but I was. The gammon had a strong salty taste to it which is what made it the clear winner for me and I have to say it's been some time since I've spotted by seven-year-old sneaking bits of food (the gammon) from my plate when my back was turned. Unlike the other pies I didn't feel the need to add copious amounts of salt and pepper to this one and there was no doubt in my mind that this was our clear favourite.

Crust: Perfectly flaky.

Filling: A greater ratio of gammon to chicken would have gone down a treat but only because the ham was so unbelievably tasty.

Overall rating: 10/10

Meat and potato

The classic meat and potato pie (Lancs Live WS)

Taste: The meat was full of flavour and far better than some other pies I've had in the past.

Crust: Slightly soggier than some of the others.

Filling: It was good to see plenty of meat - I often think that meat and potato pies should be called potato and meat pies given the ratio of meat to potato but this one contained a decent amount of both. However, it has to be said, meat and potato pies are some of my least favourite hence the score.

Overall rating: 6/10

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