Patent Publication Number: US-2005139507-A1

Title: Dough-based support, in particular for a pizza

Description:
The present invention relates to a dough-based support, in particular for a pizza.  
      An object of the invention is to provide a pizza support which can be easily held by the consumer without soiling the hands.  
      Another object of the invention is to provide a pizza support which enables the pizza to be also consumed while walking.  
      These and further objects which will be apparent from the ensuing description are attained according to the invention by a pizza support as described in claim  1 . 
    
    
      A preferred embodiment of the present invention together with some variants thereof are described hereinafter by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a pizza support according to the invention,  
       FIG. 2  shows a first variant thereof,  
       FIG. 3  shows a second variant thereof,  
       FIG. 4  shows a third variant thereof,  
       FIG. 5  shows a fourth variant thereof prior to assembly,  
       FIG. 6  shows it assembled,  
       FIG. 7  shows a fifth variant thereof. 
    
    
      As can be seen from the figures, the dough-based support of the invention comprises a substantially rigid flattened focaccia  2  with an annular rim  4  and provided on its lower side with a handgrip  6 .  
      In particular, the support consists of a pizza dough (with or without salt), a puff pastry dough, a shortcrust pastry dough, or dough for desserts in general.  
      The dough can be formed from a mix of water and flour and other optional components such as vegetable or animal fats, condiments, eggs, various binders, etc.  
      In the embodiment shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 , the handgrip is in one piece with the flattened focaccia. Specifically, in  FIG. 1  the handgrip consists of a solid body  6  whereas in  FIG. 2  the handgrip consists of a hollow body into which a filling, such as an olive  8 , a piece of tomato, a piece of cheese etc. can be inserted.  
      In  FIG. 3  the handgrip comprises a through hole  10  which enables the ring support to be gripped.  
      The pizza support shown in  FIG. 4  is obtained by making two diametrical parallel folds in the flattened focaccia, then bringing the flaps  11  together.  
      The pizza support shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  consists of an annular flattened focaccia, into the central hole of which there is inserted or secured by an edible glue, a handgrip consisting of a cylindrical body  13  provided with an annular rim  14  and also made of an edible material for example the actual pizza bread or any other substance.  
      In  FIG. 7  the support is obtained by forming in the lower surface of the flattened focaccia two parallel depressions  16  defining an intermediate rib  18  constituting the gripping element.  
      In order to stiffen the dough which forms the support, this can be treated with particular lacquers or locally sprayed with suitable additives.  
      The same treatments can be used to give different flavours to different regions of the support.  
      The method for obtaining the dough support uses a mould consisting of a roller or a plate with several impressions which result in the obtaining of substantially circular shapes, if necessary comprising circular holes for insertion of the handgrip. If a filled or unfilled handgrip is to be applied to the support, the method comprises the use of a male and female mould, a cover then being applied to the handgrip obtained to close its cavity.  
      The support obtained by the aforedescribed method can be immediately used to prepare the pizza and then filled and fed to the baking oven.  
      Alternatively the support can be precooked to stabilize its shape and stored for later use. In this respect the mould can be provided with a heater device to bring the dough to polycondensation initiation temperature so as to cause total or partial precooking of the support and consequently its stiffening.  
      In the case of partial precooking regarding only the annular portion, the central part remains soft and can then be shaped subsequently, by means of the preheated mould, to obtain the handgrip.  
      From the aforegoing it is apparent that the pizza support of the invention presents numerous advantages, and in particular: 
          it can be consumed without soiling the hands,     it does not require a paper container for its consumption, hence eliminating the problem of its disposal,     it eliminates scalding problems if the handgrip is applied to the flattened focaccia after baking.