Uncle Peter’s Pasties is intent on getting across that they use hormone and antibiotic-free meat. As they should be, since who knows where other shops are getting their goods from. Of course, they don’t mention that they also use lard in the crust, making them automatically unhealthy. But hey, the crust is great, so how can you hate? For those healthy people, they substitute coconut oil for lard upon request.
I didn’t meet Peter, but I assume he’s quite the character just by looking at the website and from the people he hires. I visited the Uncle Peter’s location right off M-24 in Oxford, Michigan with the only advertisement for the shop saying, ‘Pasties’. That’s it.
Uncle Pete (likely) thinks, “Who cares about my dang name, it’s all about the pasties!” And he would be right.
It’s evident he cares about the pasties because Peter has an extreme range of options, almost as if he’s gone slightly out of control in his need for more pasty flavors. I’m not complaining. As a bonus, he also provides gluten-free and vegetarian options.
As said before, the crust brings home the bacon, quite literally. But Peter sure knows what he’s doing with it and there isn’t really any secret to it. He bought a pasty store in Auburn Hills in the late 80s and used that recipe for his pasties in his most recent venture out of Clarkston starting in 2009. This leads me to believe that as long as there is lard in the crust, it’s going to be flake-full and filling. With shortening, the same can’t be said.
The beef is grass-fed, although in a pasty, it’s not always easy to tell. Yet, there still was something missing in the flavor, and I would be remiss to not mention the lack of rutabaga. There is rutabaga, but it was sparse in my experience.
The potatoes were spot on though, and different from most other places you see. They left the skins on, which I approve of. It seems like they run the potatoes and carrots through a large cheese grater to get the look. I like it.
I truly wasn’t expecting much from Uncle Peter’s, considering there is no sign in Oxford, but he has three different shops for a reason.
On my Oxford visit, I also got to select a free cookie sample, which was a delightful surprise. And from the looks of it, you also get a free pasty on your birthday if you become a member of their pasty club. Let’s do it!
Update: I also bought a frozen chicken pasty and it just wasn’t the same. Whether that was because it was chicken or because it was frozen remains to be seen. Either way, it was much drier, didn’t have the same flavor and the crust wasn’t as good. So keep this in mind.
Taste: 3 (out of 5)
Crust: 4 (out of 5)
Pasty Presentation: 3.5 (out of 5)
The Shop: 3 (out of 3)
Would I come back for Pasties?: 2 (out of 2) Free cookie samples (!) and wide range of choices
Total Pasty Ranking: 15.5 (of 20 points)
(Reviewed Spring 2016)
Fist: We love your posts. We read all of them and actually try all the pasty’s on your list that we can.
Some of your info about us is wrong.
Our beef pastie does contain rutabaga. Always has, always will.
We do use lard in our crusts but, we also offer coconut oil crusts as an option on our most popular flavors.
We have 4 vegetarian pasties and two of them would be vegan except for a slight egg wash on the crust.
We would like to invite you back to our original Clarkston, MI store to meet us (even Uncle Peter) and give you a replacement on that dry chicken pastie, if cooked right(lol), it should come out exactly the same as the ones we sell in our locations.
Thanks for the comment Matt and for being a fan of pasties. Looking back at it, not sure why I made the rutabaga comment as I can see rutabaga in the picture. Will fix that. Excellent, I’ll have to make my way to Clarkston shortly!
I love the Clarkston store and go there a lot, even met Uncle Peter a couple of times several years ago. Before I moved to go back to school, I went there so often that the guy always running the store (Tim iirc) knew my usual and could hook me up without either of us saying a word (which he used to prank a coworker by claiming to have psychic powers at least once).
I’d put these pasties up against anyone else’s. In fact, I just tried Muldoon’s this past Saturday as I’ve been trying new (highly rated) places in the UP after finding your list a few weeks ago and Muldoon’s was the first one that I felt offered Uncle Peter’s any real competition. They are very comparable, but they were only served warm. Uncle Peter’s are always served hot, just like a pasty should be for maximum flavorfulness, so it’s the better pasty experience in my book.
I’m fortunate to have such a great pasty shop so near to me. Any pasty enthusiasts in the area shouldn’t overlook it.
Thanks for reading. I definitely don’t overlook Uncle Peter’s. Recently got a few frozen ones from the store. Hopefully you find something as good as UP’s in the UP. I think you’ll run into some tough competition in your quest.