GB2176987A - Ready-baked pie bases - Google Patents

Abstract

Preparation of ready-baked pie bases from bread dough on an industrial scale, in particular for pizza and the like, consists essentially in removing at least a part of the crust which forms on the underside of the base during the initial bake, and then setting the de-crusted base on a marketable support provided with openings at bottom. The edible base produced by way of such a process remains both crisp and soft even when re-heated or baked to completion; it can either be packaged plain, or utilized for pizza by adding a garnishing of cooked or raw ingredients of whatever kind, and may be preserved by any of the usual methods.

Description

SPECIFICATION A process for industrial-scale preparation of readybaked pie bases from dough, in particular for pizza and the like The invention disclosed relates to a process for the preparation of ready-baked pie bases on industrial scale, in particular, bases baked from bread dough for use in pizza and similar dishes.

For some time now, ready-baked pie bases have been prepared on industrial scale from bread dough; such items are packaged immediately following baking, and then preserved, for example, by freezing or sterile wrapping, or by the addition of preserving agents, before being offered to the general public either plain, or garnished with other raw or cooked foodstuffs of whatever type - e.g.

tomato, cheese, mushrooms & ... in the form of pizza and the like. Before such products can be consumed they must be warmed, in the case of fully baked items, or cooked, in the case of partly baked items. Such reheating or additional baking generally results in a deterioration in quality of the product, especially in the case of a pie base prepared from dough, which will almost invariably lose its springiness, and at all events will never be as crisp as when initially baked.

Another drawback of some importance is that, in subjecting the product to re-heating or further cooking for a given length of time greater than the optimum, albeit only a few minutes, the base, or at least the underside of the base, will turn to biscuit; what is more, if cooking is prolonged sufficiently beyond the optimum time, the base will burn altogether. The object of the invention described herein is that of overcoming the drawbacks mentioned above, setting forth a process that will permit of preparing ready-baked pie bases from bread dough which remain both springy and crisp following re-heating or additional baking, and do not turn to biscuit, scorch, or burn.A significant advantage of the process to which the invention relates is that it is suitable for ready-baked pie bases prepared from dough of whatever composition, packaged together with any kind of garnishing, raw or cooked, and suitable for preserving by any given method.

The stated object, together with a number of attendant advantages, can be realized by adoption of the process for industrial scale preparation of ready-baked pie bases from bread dough, according to the invention; such a process is characterized in that it comprises the step of removing at least part of the crust formed on the underside of the base during the initial bake.

The various steps of a process according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example.

The process is intended for use particularly in the industrial scale preparation of pizza and related foods substantially definable as par-baked, inasmuch as the bread base is baked initially for a relatively short period of time to allow for completion of the process immediately prior to consumption. This much stated, the process to which the invention relates may be utilized to equally good effect in the preparation of fully baked bases which are simply re-heated prior to consumption.

An essential feature of the process is that, following the initial bake, the crust formed on the underside of the pie base is removed, at least in part. More exactly, the process envisages removal of the crust from the entire surface area of the -underside to a depth of between 0.5 and 3 mm, dependent upon the type of dough and the baking time. One thus produces a ready-baked pie base the underside of which has been de-crusted either totally or in part.

The de-crusted base is set on a support with which it remains associated through marketing and ultimate handling by the consumer; such a marketable support consists simply of a pie dish in which the product will be warmed or cooked by the purchaser prior to its consumption, and is provided with a bottom that exhibits a number of openings.

The bottom of the dish will be embodied such that the overall area of the openings is as great as possible, whilst taking into consideration the need to afford a good measure of support to the pie base, and garnishing if any.

Removal of the crust may be effected, for example, utilizing a sharp edge over which the baked pie base is made to pass, though any other suitable de-crusting method could be employed.

The de-crusted pie bases are positioned in their marketable supports either by conventional packaging machinery, or by hand. Likewise, the method adopted for creation of the openings in the bottom of the support is a matter of simple choice.

The end-product thus obtained can be garnished or left plain, according to the type of package that is to be offered to the public, and then subjected to a preserving process which may be of any conventionai type. Freezing and sterile wrapping are the methods generally preferred, though other preserving methods obviously might be utilized.

When an end-product according to the invention is placed in the oven either to be re-heated, or in orderto bring baking to completion, the percentage of water contained in the dough, and in the garnishing if any, converts by degrees into vapour and has no difficulty in escaping through the underside of the ready-baked base and by way of the openings in the support; the result is that the product, especially the dough base, preserves those agreeable characteristics typical of a once-baked item. The passage of vapour through the underside of the pie base and the support has the additional effect of avoiding that the base itself turns to biscuit or scorches as a result of oven temperature being too high.

Conventional par-baked products marketed thus far, on the other hand, have been beset by the drawbacks mentioned beforehand; in such products, vapour contained in the dough would remain trapped by reason of the crust formed during the initial bake, and be prevented thus from escaping. In such a situation, it comes about during additional baking that the internal part of the base densifies, losing springiness as a result, whereas the crusted underside will turn first to biscuit, and ultimately scorch or become completely burnt.

The process thus described need not necessarily comprise the step of positioning the de-crusted base in a marketable support; the end-product may equally well consist in the ready-baked base alone, without support.

It will be clear enough that effective implementation of the different steps of the process described above may be varied according to preference or to requirements; similarly, the readybaked pie case may be garnished in whatever fashion, and preserved by any given method.

Claims (6)

1. A process for industrial-scale preparation of ready-baked pie bases from dough, in particular for pizza and the like, characterized in that it comprises the step of removing at least a part of the crust formed on the underside of the pie base during the initial bake.

2. Process as in claim 1, wherein the de-crusting step involves total removal of the crust formed on the underside of the pie base.

3. Process as in claim 1, wherein the de-crusting step involves removal of a layer of crust between 0.5mm and 3mm thick.

4. Process as in claim 1, wherein the pie base exhibiting a wholly or partly de-crusted underside is set on a marketable support the bottom of which exhibits a plurality of openings.

5. A ready-baked pie base prepared from dough in particular for pizza and the like, characterized in that the crust formed on its underside during the initial bake is removed at least in part.

6. A marketable support for a ready-baked pie base prepared from dough, characterized in that its bottom exhibits a plurality of openings.