Patent Application
20210235741
The present invention pertains to a dough product with a filling and, more particularly, to producing internally filled dough products, such as pizza rolls, having enhanced structural integrity upon cooking.
A variety of filled dough products including an outer dough crust and an inner filling of another material are known in the art. Pizza rolls represent a popular option. When producing pizza rolls on a commercial scale, a co-extrusion process is typically employed wherein an elongated outer shell or crust of dough is extruded to surround a filling, which can include various components such as sauces, cheeses, meats and the like, and then ends of the outer shell are pinched and severed to establish individual pizza rolls. Most often, the pizza rolls are initially pre-cooked and frozen, then sold to consumers for later reheating of the pizza rolls for consumption.
Regardless of whether the pizza rolls are pre-cooked or immediately frozen upon production, the fact of the matter is the pizza rolls need to be cooked. Although heating can be performed using microwave heating technology, it is generally recommended to heat the pizza rolls in a conventional oven where the products are heated through radiant and, perhaps, convection heat sources from outside the product to inside the product in order to obtain a toasted and crispy outer crust. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a significant percentage of such filled roll dough products of this type to burst or blow-out during cooking, particularly during consumer baking. In connection with pizza rolls in particular, it is known to include one or more additives in the filling material which aid in reducing blow-outs from occurring. For instance, it is common to employ methyl cellulose in this food art, with the methyl cellulose constituting a viscosity altering additive having a property that causes the viscosity of the filling material to increase when the temperature of the filling material is raised.
In accordance with the present invention, it is desired to substantially reduce the amount of viscosity altering additive included in the filling material, either without affecting or, more preferably, further reducing the frequency of undesirable blow-outs during cooking.
A filled roll dough product in accordance with the present invention is produced having a filling material with reduced viscosity when heated and a structurally reinforced outer shell or crust as compared to a conventional filled roll dough product. More specifically, the outer shell of the product is formed with spaced internal ridges which increase the structural integrity of the outer shell while not at all changing the external appearance or minimum crust dimension. Most preferably, the dough for the outer shell and the inner filling material are co-extruded, with multiple, longitudinally extending ridges being formed internally, such as by machining a series of spaced divets or grooves into the die nozzle for the flow of added dough as part of the outer shell. While it has been found that the removal of the viscosity altering additive from the filling material increases a blow-out rate for the product, the inclusion of the ridges substantially decreases the blow-out rate for the product, with the magnitude of the rate decrease essentially countering the magnitude of the increase such that no significant change in product blow-rates is produced.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to common parts in the several views.
As discussed above, the present invention is directed to the making of filled roll products, each having an outer dough shell and an inner filling material. Although these products can be made in various ways, reference will initially be made to
Downstream of extruder 62 is provided a combination crimping and cutting assembly which is generally indicated at 90 extending across conveyor 87. In the exemplary embodiment disclosed, combination crimping and cutting assembly 90 includes a roller 114 having an outer surface 118 from which project a plurality of laterally extending and circumferentially spaced crimping and cutting members, one of which is indicated at 130. As ropes 80-82 are directed beneath crimping and cutting assembly 90, individual filled roll dough products 160 are continuously produced through a pinching and severing operation, with each roll product 160 including an outer dough shell or casing which encapsulates the inner filling material.
At this point, it should be noted that the above-described production stages could be performed manually but, more preferably, are part of a mass production process. Certainly, if mass produced, even more than three product lines could be established using conveyor 87. Actually, this general type of arrangement is known in the art for use in producing pizza rolls including an outer shell or crust of dough extruded to surround an inner filling, which can include various components such as sauces, cheeses, meats and the like. As indicated above, most often, the pizza rolls are initially pre-cooked and frozen, then sold to consumers for later reheating of the pizza rolls for consumption. Therefore, for this portion of the description is basically presented for the sake of completion. Instead, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the filling material is modified while, in accordance with another aspect of the invention, the configuration of the outer dough shell is changed to avoid any increase in blow-outs of the roll products 160 upon cooking, particularly based on the modified filling.
Before further discussing aspects of the invention reflected in
Based on the above, it should be clear that a majority (greater than 50%) of the methyl cellulose has been removed, more preferably, greater than 65% and, most preferably closer to 75%. In the embodiment shown, 73% of the methyl cellulose used in a conventional pizza roll filling has actually been removed, without the addition of any substitute viscosity altering additive, i.e., additive to increase the viscosity. Although other additives could be employed such that methyl cellulose is presented here as exemplary, methyl cellulose is commonly used in the art as it has properties that cause the filling viscosity to increase when the filling temperature in raised. The increased viscosity correlates to lower blow-out rates. Still, it is considered that, by removing this methyl cellulose, a more authentic sauce is employed, resulting in improved taste and mouth-feel of the overall food product. However, while it is desired to remove at least a majority of the methyl cellulose, this desired action could not reasonably be implemented due to the significant increase in the rate of blow-outs during cooking of the pizza rolls with this single change. By way of example, an average blow-out rate for a non-modified, conventionally known pizza roll (control group) baked for 15 minutes in various types of ovens at 425° F. were found to be around 40% (average in tests conducted were 39.3%). However, tests conducted on pizza rolls with the single change of a filling material employing only 27% of the methyl cellulose used in the control group, resulted in an average blow-out rate of 53.3%. Noting this blow-out rate increase, the reduction in methyl cellulose could not be justified.
With the above in mind, reference will now be made again to
With this construction for die port 71, an inside of outer dough shell 170 of roll dough product 160 is formed with a plurality of spaced internal ridges 225 as best shown in
With the above in mind, it should be readily apparent that the present invention provides for dough roll products advantageously including a filling material having a distinct viscosity upon heating without any significant blow-out increase rate. This change (lowering) in viscosity also advantageously results in a significant reduction in required pump pressure, with test results showing a mean control or conventional filling pump pressure of 64.67 psi versus a mean modified filling pump pressure of 59.55 psi (noting higher viscosities require higher pump pressures). At this same time, another benefit is the reduced cost associated with producing the pizza rolls due to the use of lower amounts of methyl cellulose. Of course, although the invention has been mainly disclosed with reference to making pizza rolls employing methyl cellulose, the invention is also applicable in making other filled roll dough products wherein altering the viscosity of the filling material could be beneficial but would result in reduced integrity of an outer shell of the product upon cooking.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/968,280, which was filed on Jan. 31, 2020 and titled “Filled Roll Dough Product and Method of Producing”. The entire content of this application is incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62968280 | Jan 2020 | US |
