hahabogus > wrote in message >...
> Also the type, color, and thickness of the pan you cooked them on could
> have an effect. Those double walled (insulated) cookie sheet are notorious
> for not browning the bottom of things. Also the darker the color of the
> cookie sheet the faster it cooks.

I was using a very cheap, thin baking sheet. No insulation, or double
lining (but equally nothing much to store/concentrate the heat like a
pizza stone would). It's painted red on the bottom, and I believe was
originally non-stick (which has probably worn off) but has built up a
'patina' of baked on grease (black) for natuaral non-stickiness so I
can't tell. I can't believe I just described that to a newsgroup of
cooking fans/experts, the shame!

> You also mention putting them in a hot
> oven...perhaps too hot. I bake pasties at about 375F I think thats close to
> 150C-200C range, pre-heated of course.

Ah, that's 190C. And cooler than my oven was, I bet. That's closer
to the sort of temperature I'd bake a Victoria sponge. I was under
the (seemingly wrong) impression that pastry needed a hot oven rather
than a moderate one.

> Your best bet would be to read over
> 3 or 4 pastie recipes to check for best cooking temp and ideas for the
> vegetarian pastry, here are 2 please excuse the meat.

Thanks, those are the sort of thing I'm going for. The second one
used a very cool oven. I shall adjust my thinking on this, then.

> Some curry powder might work well as a seasoning as well.

I think I might just sprinkle a little chilli powder in, for the heat.
The pepper wasn't enough to warm my tongue (I'll add more next time,
obviously).

Thanks for your help!
Gemma.