The Four’N Twenty Stuffed Crust Pizza is the latest fast food mash-up to slither out of Pizza Hut’s nefarious lab. As its name implies, each slice of pizza has a Four’N Twenty party pie nestled in its crust. This week, we invited our co-workers to sample this unholy union of foodstuffs. Here are their verdicts.
One of these days, Pizza Hut is going to run out of stuff to jam in its crusts. Over the past few months, the company has created crusts made from Doritos, Vegemite , cheeseburgers and even live hamsters (citation needed). Its latest concoction ups the ante considerably, with each crust proffering a self-contained Four’N Twenty meat pie.
Here’s the official video from Pizza Hut:
The Four’N Twenty Meat Pie crust can be added to any pizza for a surcharge of $3. This adds a massive 2000 kilojoules to each pizza, or 300kJ per slice. If you’re desperate to try this but are watching your weight, we recommend plumping for the Veggie Trio, Garlic Prawn or Garlic Chook versions, which are a little bit lighter.
Instead of pre-sauced pies, the pizzas come delivered with a handful of tomato sauce sachets buried in the box. While this requires extra effort from the customer, it also means you can get the pie-to-sauce ratio just right. (For me, this is zero. Un-Australian, I know.)
To test the Four’N Twenty Meat Pie Pizza, we ordered the Supreme and Meatlovers versions. Here’s what our team thought of them:
Angus Kidman, Lifehacker editor: “First thought: ordering a meat lover’s pizza with a meat pie attached would be a great way to annoy any passing vegans. Second thought: this is a perfectly pleasant eating experience, but I don’t quite get the point — the food isn’t really integrated, so you end up eating a pizza and then eating a pie.
“The meat pie is OK (could use a little more meat), the Pizza Hut pizza is a Pizza Hut pizza. I’m not grossed out, I’m not thrilled. I need more from my novelty junk food. Excuse me, I’m off to experiment with some chicken nuggets…”
Chris Jager, Lifehacker journalist: “The thing that most surprised me about this was the quality of the meat pie. I was expecting a meagre dollop of brown gunk encased in soggy pastry. Instead, it was a perfectly serviceable party pie with actual meat inside. The Four’N Twenty partnership clearly paid off.
“With that said, I’m not convinced that “pizza ‘n’ pie” is a combo that anyone needs. It would perhaps make more sense if the pie contained tomato and bacon or was flavoured with garlic. As it stands, you’re basically just eating a party pie for no reason. It’s definitely better than the cheeseburger version though. I’m a sucker for weird novelties, so I’ll probably order this again.”
Rob Hussey, technology manager: “Pretty much tasted as you’d expect, a regular pizza on the pointy end, a regular party pie on the rounded end – although the pie probably had more pastry than filling. Would I buy it? No — the pie eats into the size of the actual pizza, so you end up losing out on toppings a bit.”
Benjamin Hutton, sales co-ordinator: “It was a little underwhelming when the real thing arrived after seeing the epic picture. Also, they committed a cardinal meat pie sin – the ratio of meat-to-pie was unsatisfyingly disproportionate.”
Luke Hopewell, Gizmodo editor: “I didn’t need to taste meat pie pizza to know it was going to be a bad idea. I’m in Taipei this week and I still don’t think I’m far enough away from this horrendous excuse for ‘food’. I weep for the tastebuds of those who tried it. Mark this day in your calendar: today is the day that innovation in circular food went too far. It’s Pizza Hut’s 9/11. It’s the Skynet of food. We’ve gone too far, and I want out.”
Jeremy Ray, freelancer: “At first I thought it would be an abomination… But I was happy when it all stuck together and wasn’t messy. Getting to the end of a meat lovers’ pizza and having a meat pie waiting for me was actually kind of nice. I wasn’t one of the brave souls who dared to go meat pie first. The pie itself could have been hotter though, and I’m from the school of New York Pizza Eating where folding is commonplace — such a technique was impossible with the meat pie in the way.”
Anthony Keogh, account manager: “As is normally the case, these things always look/sound worse than what they turn out to be. It’s still pizza for the most part -– the actual meat pie is pretty tiny, I’ve definitely seen bigger party pies in my time. And the two elements aren’t mixing together either.
“So it’s basically just like having a piece of pizza with a bonus party pie at the end. Not terrible, but do I need it? I’m not so sure. If you like pizza and you like meat pies, then give it a try. But I think I prefer both more when they’re separate.”
Eric Swenson, account manager: “It was actually surprisingly OK. Kinda cool how you can actually take the pie out of the pizza crust and eat it simply as a pie separately from the pizza. Or you can go wild and eat it all together, however you roll. In conclusion, taking two great things and putting them together, who won’t like that? Well done, Pizza Hut.”
Matt McDonald: “The meat was not plentiful enough within the pie, but it tasted good at the end of the pizza. Need to hold the olives but otherwise I’ll give it a 7/10.”
Rae Johnston, commercial editor: “I was really looking forward to trying this, and I’m not disappointed. The quality of the pie in the crust is predictably Home Brand kid’s backyard birthday party standard, but the whole thing works really well. It’s not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s definitely tasty.”
Comments
19 responses to “Taste Test: Pizza Hut’s Four’N Twenty Meat Pie Pizza”
@LukeHopewell
I haven’t tried it either, but I thought the flavours were sensational and the mixture was just right. I (never) ate it as a party pie entree follow by a dazzling meat pizza. 5 Stars from me.
MAybe its all the red wine I drank last night but this story is making me a little queasy…….
Haven’t had lunch let but I’m already throwing it up…(hurk!).
If I want pizza, I’ll buy pizza, if I want a pie, I’ll buy a pie. I don’t really see the point of compromising on the quality of both of those delicious food items just to have them together at the same time :\.
Chris- surely you did not do the taste test pre 11.30am. Is the lifehacker team always this hungover? If so, I want a job there.
Side note- me thinks I’ll be skipping the pie and pizza.Also the crust on yours looks a tad burnt.
Haha, they were actually delivered earlier in the week at lunchtime.
Hey Pizza Hut. Can you mix beer into a pizza crust? I always enjoy a lager with pizza, makes sense to me to combine them.
Yes, I’m taking the piss. Please don’t do this.
Actually, beer would be an awesome addition to a pizza crust. Beer is commonly used in flour-based products (batters, bread etc) as a leavening agent, in pizza dough it’d be no different. I might give it a go on the weekend, my partner would love it!
I was thinking of bottles of beer 🙂
Dominos used to make a meat pie pizza which had a meat pie topping , it was superb. Beyond superb. This is no where near that.
Good Lord. That looks like a delicious facehugger autopsy.
Delicious Facehugger Autopsy is now your band name. “Live on stage at the Lifehacker Arena, Pizza Hut is proud to present DELICIOUS FACEHUGGER AUTOPSY!” (Crowd goes wild, pie-pizzas are frisbeed across the stage, etc.)
This would definitely not taste any good cold the next morning.
Why not just put pizza toppings on top of a pie….?
PROMOTE THAT MAN/WOMAN
Dominoes did that in 2007.
Pizza plus vegemite, doritos etc. Choc plus vegemite. I’m waiting for the Big Mac + Vegemite!
A place in Newcastle called Pizza and Pinball do a Vegemite pizza. It is great.
I would post a link but I don’t know whether that is frowned upon in here but they are easy to find anyway.
Had one for dinner last night. Honestly i didn’t see the big fuss if you don’t want the pie just remove it from the crust (which is really easy to do or was for mine). I just went with a pepporoni pizza as i expected someone to try it with me but no one did.
I still have a few slices left at home which i will chow down on tonight. I prefer the pies without tommy sauce too but that is just me.
Keep up the taste tests, I’m a massive fan!