Something new always seems to pop up when I search for pasties in my travels. Whether it’s new or old, it doesn’t really matter as long as there are pasties.
Dutch Oven Bakery claims to be “The Sweetest Place in Town,” but they don’t mention Alanson has a population of about 1,000 people. The only reason I stopped here was because it’s about 30 minutes south of the bridge on US-31. Also, I’m The Pasty Guy, and I’ll eat any pasty at least once.
This is a bakery that serves breakfast and lunch all day along with tons of sweets and everything else you’d usually find in a bakery. It seems like a bakery and deli combined into one, which is what you get in a town of this size.
I note this with every bakery, but usually, they don’t have regular pasties. They simply use whatever flour mixture they have to put together a crust and then throw a few things into it. This crust is a puff pastry, which isn’t what I want from a pasty.
Hey, I like puff pastries. They’re good on their own. But they’re hard to get past in a pasty. This crust took away from the actual insides of the pasty because it was so thick. It took me a few bites around the edges to finally get to the meat and potatoes. Maybe it’s because this is a Dutch shop or because it’s a bakery. It doesn’t matter. I’m here to rate pasties. I’m not sold on a puff pastry crust for a pasty and that’s not going to change.
As a disclaimer, I had this pasty at around 3 p.m., so I think there’s a decent chance this was sitting under a heater for a few hours and I didn’t get the best one. The insides were kind of mushy because of that, and you can see it in the pictures.
Overall, the taste was decent. There was a good amount of meat and I liked the flavor, but that was only noticeable in bites in which I didn’t get a large portion of the crust. On its best day, these pasties are probably a couple points higher, but I only rate what I eat.
If you’re driving through around lunch time and are craving a pasty, I don’t think this is a terrible option, but it’s not something I’d seek out. Of course, I also always seek out sweets and Dutch Oven has plenty to choose from.
Taste: 3 (out of 5)
Crust: 2 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 3 (out of 5)
The Shop: 3 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 0 (out of 2)
Total Pasty Rating: 11 (of 20 points)
(Reviewed Summer 2021)