Aye… Better make my own…
Give it a go Stu, definitely better than shop bought, a different beast all together and I have cheated.
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seam
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Seems right to me. 
I like Jus rol pastry. I used the puff when I made the corned beef pasties recently and it was lovely. The shortcrust is good too and I always use that when I make empanadas.
I don’t use the sheet version though, I find the block is better.
I think overfill is all that is at fault I’d rip right into them busted up, great colour and sticky filling is all
Edit: work the thread not thread in my work
Latest batch - home made mincemeat (Delia Smith recipe) with pastry to my mum’s old family one. Lightly dusted (not so lightly in a few cases) with caster sugar - we like the crunch 
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I love the nipple action…one for next year
Especially front left 4 up 2
You need to use some of this 
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Awesome.
I thought about making Delia’s mince but the recipe I found makes six pounds! I love them but bloody hell, there are limits.
I tried the best looking pie out of the second batch and I don’t think the taste is as good with less filling. The balance between pastry and mince was off. I think I will try forking the edges together to obtain a better seal for the next lot.
I like the idea of you bustling about in the kitchen at 4am refining the mince pie recipe.
Agree on the filling though - too much is always better, as some bursting out glazes nicely and you get the best mince to pie ratio. Experimentation is the key!
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I woke up in the middle of the night and my mind did wander to pies but I didn’t actually get up! I don’t always get the better of my obsessive nature though. 
I may have another go this evening but definitely tomorrow. Something else occurred to me…
When we were eking out the pastry for each batch, the lids mostly came from bits that we had to roll out again and by the end the last couple had been rolled out several times. I think they were probably stretched too much and when in the heat of the oven, shrank somewhat. Both batches had some good pies and some with varying degrees of loose lids and I’m wondering if basically I should use more pastry for the next lot.
I do like the gnarly, chewy thing with the exploded pies but I really want to produce good looking ones, like some others have in this thread.
You shouldn’t overwork pastry. Yes, it will shrink.
Also applies to penises. … just ask @bmtell
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Yes, then you’ll need a benchtop electron microscope to find it 
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When I submitted your Batch 1 lid-shrinkage issue to the expert here (yes, her) she immediately asked “Did they let the pastry rest ?”. I said it was Jus-Rol. She said that it should be fine then. But I guess if it’s been a bit Jus Over-rolled that might not apply. It seems there’s more to this pastry thing than I realised.
EDIT: By the way I discovered, quite by accident, a new chat-up approach relating to mince-pies last week. At my ex-work’s Xmas lunch I was sitting opposite the director’s wife (lovely Spanish lady) who was complaining that she can’t make successful pastry. It was suggested that her hands might be too warm. I asked to hold one of them and sure enough it was as warm as toast (wrong thread ?).
VB
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We were taught to run cold water onto your wrists before making pastry