Pizza dough press apparatus and method
AssigneeMHI Restaurant Group LLC
InventorJeff Miceli
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure is directed to press systems and methods for forming pliable material, such as dough, into a specifically-designed shape for allowing hand-stretching of the pliable material after pressed by the press system. In some examples, the press system may be manually operated, automatically or hydraulically assisted, and/or mechanically assisted. The press assembly of the press systems disclosed herein may include a press mold having a contoured or multifaceted shape designed to form a finished dough, such as a pizza crust, having a thicker central portion, a relatively thinned intermediate portion, and a thicker edge portion at a perimeter of the pizza crust.
Claims20
A press system configured for pressing a dough, comprising:
- a press assembly comprising a press mold comprising a central portion having a first dimension, an edge portion having a second dimension, and an intermediate portion having a third dimension and comprising a first angled surface and a second angled surface, wherein the first angled surface is inclined at a first angle with respect to a horizontal plane and the second angled surface is inclined at a second angle with respect to the horizontal plane;
- an expansion cavity defined by the central portion configured to receive at least a portion of the dough when the press system impinges the dough;
- wherein the intermediate portion is provided radially between the central portion and the edge portion, and the third dimension is greater than the first and second dimensions;
- and
- wherein the first angled surface and second angled surface are selected such that the intermediate portion is substantially flat or concave.
A method of molding a dough using a press assembly, comprising:
- placing the dough in a pan;
- placing the press assembly into the pan, wherein the dough is disposed between a bottom interior surface of the pan and the press assembly, the press assembly comprising a press mold including a first angled surface inclined at a first angle, a second angled surface inclined at a second angle, wherein the first and second angled surfaces are provided at an intermediate portion between a central portion and an edge portion of the press mold;
- applying a force to the press assembly in the direction of the bottom interior surface, wherein the application of force causes the first angled surface to force a portion of the dough toward an expansion cavity provided at the central portion of the press mold;
- retracting the press assembly from the pan, wherein the dough has a first thickness at a central portion that is greater than a second thickness of an adjacent portion circumscribing the central portion after retracting the press assembly;
- wherein the first angled surface and second angled surface are selected such that the intermediate portion is substantially flat or concave.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.