Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Packaged or wrapped product – Having specific electrical or wave energy feature
Utility Patent
1997-04-29
2001-01-02
Weinstein, Steven (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Packaged or wrapped product
Having specific electrical or wave energy feature
C426S090000, C426S094000, C426S124000
Utility Patent
active
06168812
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to prepared frozen food products and methods for making such products. In particular, the invention relates to a microwavable pizza product and a method for making same.
Frozen food products, such as frozen pizzas, have made it convenient and time-efficient for the consumer to cook large-portioned, restaurant-style food products. Large, uncooked frozen pizzas have traditionally required heating or baking in a household convection oven for up to 40 minutes before the pizzas are ready for consumption. While this amount of cooking time is relatively short compared to preparing a pizza from scratch, consumers have generally desired frozen products that require even less time to prepare.
Microwave ovens and conventional ovens have provided a convenient means for heating a variety of frozen food products in a shorter amount of time. Within this category of frozen food products, frozen store-bought pizzas continue to be a popular microwave-heatable item for consumers. While these products may offer the consumer a wide variety of toppings in smaller, microwave-sized service portions, a traditional, larger-sized round pizza shape does not lend itself to heating in a common microwave oven. Indeed, even if a larger-sized frozen pizza is able to be placed in a microwave oven, it is often very difficult to achieve thorough cooking and heating of the pizza. Because microwave ovens tend to cook flat items such as pizzas from the outside perimeter in towards the center, the center of a large round pizza is often still frozen and uncooked by the time the perimeter of the pizza is fully cooked. Further microwave heating of the pizza to cook the center will result in overcooking the perimeter.
Thus, when the consumer desires a larger-sized portion of pizza for service to a large number of people, slower-cooking, large-sized pizzas are presently the best available option. The consumer can alternatively prepare several smaller-sized microwave portions to save time, but the small portions are not as aesthetically pleasing as a larger, circular traditional pizza.
In general, with respect to frozen pizzas, items of the thin-crusted variety tend to more generally favored if the crust has a crispy quality when cooked. These characteristics are easily accomplished in a conventional oven due to such an oven's direct surface heating and drying effects. In microwave ovens, however, excess moisture within the frozen crust often causes it to become soft and soggy. Excess liquid within the filling also causes this problem. After prolonged exposure to microwave energy, the crust becomes tough and unpalatable, with the crumb of the crust becoming rubbery and gummy. The significant heating that is often required of a larger microwavable pizza often compounds this result.
Various attempts have been made to overcome the problems associated with exposure of pizza crusts to microwave energy. These improvements, however, have been only minimally successful. For example, dough formulas have been manipulated to make them homogeneously higher in shortening content and eggs. The inclusion of these additional ingredients slows the crust's absorption of microwave energy. These types of crusts do not have a pleasant taste or texture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved frozen pizza product and package configuration to allow for efficient microwave heating.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pizza product which is configured to serve a larger number of people than an individual-sized pizza.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pizza product and package combination that allows for a crisp crust upon heating in a microwave oven.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a pizza product and package combination that allows for efficient storage and service of the product.
In one aspect of the present invention, a pizza product and package combination is provided. The combination includes a pizza crust having a semi-circular shape whereby the crust has one edge which is arcuate in configuration and another edge which is substantially straight in configuration and a pizza topping material disposed on the top of the crust. A microwave susceptor member is positioned under the bottom of the crust, and a support member is positioned under the susceptor member. Both the support member and the susceptor have a semicircular shape substantially corresponding to the shape of the crust. The pizza product, susceptor and support member are together encased in a plastic film and placed within a packaging carton. The particular packaging configuration, along with the semi-circular shape of the dough of the pizza, allows for superior and efficient microwavability, while producing pleasing results for the final product.
In another aspect of the present invention, a pizza product and packaging combination is provided wherein the pizza product includes a pizza crust having a substantially semi-circular shape including a straight edge and a curved edge with the body of the pizza crust forming a central portion. The crust incorporates alternating layers of fat and dough, with the central portion of the crust having a plurality of perforations extending therethrough. The pizza topping material is disposed on top of the central portion of the crust, and the top of the central portion defines a peripheral area which is free of pizza toppings. A susceptor member is positioned under the bottom of the crust. The pizza product including the layered dough, susceptor packaging, and the semi-circular overall shape of the combination provides for exceptional qualities of the product upon heating in a microwave oven.
Furthermore, the pleasing size and shape of the pizza products that are incorporated into the invention allow larger numbers of consumers to enjoy several types of pizza toppings. The disadvantage of small, individual size pizzas is averted by using the visibly larger semicircular shape, which allows users to visually or manually combine the semicircular shapes into larger, whole round pizzas for consumption by larger groups.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon review of the following detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, taken in conjunction with the appended figures.
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Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Weinstein Steven
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