Dough with impression area to promote folding
OwnerKathy A. Nelson, Jennifer T. Nguyeninventors
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dough base includes an outer portion, an inner portion, and an impression line between the outer portion and the inner portion, the impression line being adapted to aid bending of the dough base along the impression line. The inner portion of the dough base generally corresponds to the bottom of a receptacle into which the dough base will be placed. The outer portion of the dough base generally corresponds to a rim upstanding from the bottom of the receptacle into which the dough base will be placed. Certain embodiments of the invention provide a high-walled pizza crust made from a par-baked dough base. Additional products and methods provide similar advantages.
Claims55
A dough base, comprising:
- an outer portion;
- an inner portion;
- and
- an impression line between the outer portion of the dough base and the inner portion of the dough base, the impression line being adapted to aid bending of the dough base along the impression line;
- wherein the inner portion of the dough base generally corresponds to the bottom of a receptacle into which the dough base will be placed;
- further wherein the outer portion of the dough base generally corresponds to a rim upstanding from the bottom of the receptacle into which the dough base will be placed.
A par-baked dough base defining an outer edge and a line of increased dough density spaced inwardly from the outer edge, the line of increased dough density being adapted to promote folding of the dough base.
A dough base defining an outer edge and having a first dough density, the dough base including a line of second dough density spaced inwardly from the outer edge, the line of second dough density being adapted to promote folding of the dough base, the first dough density being different than the second dough density.
A method of preparing a dough base, the method comprising creating an impression line in the dough base between an outer portion of the dough base and an inner portion of the dough base, the inner portion of the dough base generally corresponding to the bottom of a receptacle into which the dough base will be placed, the outer portion of the dough base generally corresponding to a rim upstanding from the bottom of the receptacle into which the dough base will be placed, the impression line being adapted to aid bending of the dough base along the impression line.
A method of preparing a par-baked dough base, the method comprising:
- creating a line of increased dough density in the dough base, the line being spaced inwardly from an outer edge of the dough base, the line of increased dough density being adapted to promote folding of the dough base;
- and
- par-baking the dough base.
A pizza produced by a method comprising:
- creating a line of increased dough density in a dough base, the line being spaced inwardly from an outer edge of the dough base, the line of increased dough density being adapted to promote folding of the dough base, wherein the line of increased dough density corresponds to the area of intersection between the bottom of a pizza pan and the rim of the pizza pan;
- par-baking the dough base;
- manually placing the dough base into the pizza pan and folding the dough base at or near the line of increased dough density to place the line of increased dough density at the area of intersection between the bottom of the pizza pan and the rim of the pizza pan and to form a high-walled pizza crust;
- and
- adding cheese and at least one pizza topping to the dough base to form a pizza.
Par-baked dough, comprising:
- a generally flat surface;
- and
- a fold line beneath the generally flat surface, the par-baked dough being adapted to fold along the fold line.
Par-baked pizza dough having a fold line formed by indenting an area of the pizza dough to a fraction of the thickness of the pizza dough without cutting the pizza dough, the par-baked pizza dough being adapted to fold along the fold line.
A pizza dough distribution method, comprising:
- forming a plurality of generally flat pizza dough bases;
- indenting each generally flat pizza dough base around an inner periphery thereof;
- and
- shipping the generally flat pizza dough bases to at least one restaurant.
A pizza dough distribution system, comprising:
- a pizza dough processing facility having at least one pizza dough pressing device;
- a plurality of pizza dough bases produced by the pizza dough processing facility, the pizza dough bases each having a fold line created by the at least one pizza dough pressing device to promote folding of the pizza dough bases along the fold line;
- a plurality of restaurants that serve pizza, remote from the pizza dough processing facility;
- and
- a shipping arrangement for shipping the pizza dough bases from the pizza dough processing facility to the plurality of restaurants.
A dough base, comprising:
- an inner portion;
- an outer portion;
- and
- means within the dough base for encouraging a bend in the dough base at a junction between the inner portion of the dough base and the outer portion of the dough base without cutting or tearing of the dough base, the means for encouraging comprising an impression area internal to the dough base.
A par-baked pizza dough base, comprising:
- a generally flat, generally circular slab of par-baked pizza dough, the slab having an external circumference and a thickness;
- and
- a generally circular impression area extending around the slab, the impression area being spaced inwardly from the external circumference of the slab by a generally constant distance, the generally constant distance being generally equal to the length of a rim of a pizza pan into which the dough base is to be placed, the impression area having a dough density that differs from dough density in the remainder of the dough base;
- wherein the impression area is less than about one inch wide;
- further wherein the pizza dough base is adapted to fold along the impression area such that the impression area is adapted for placement adjacent an intersection between the rim of the pizza pan and a bottom of the pizza pan, the impression area being adapted to promote folding of the pizza dough base to create a high-walled pizza crust.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.