Patent Application
20130142935
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an essentially carbohydrate-free, protein-based pizza crust.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although pizza is Italian in origin, it is now an extremely popular food both in the United States and worldwide. Pizza is generally known as an unhealthy food, as it is often high in calories, fat, carbohydrates, and salt. As the medical profession warns of the dangers of unhealthy eating, people in the United States and worldwide are now seeking alternative forms of popular foods such as pizza. In particular, individuals suffering from Type II diabetes and others seek to limit their carbohydrate intake. As pizza crust is typically made from carbohydrate-rich flour-based dough products, the availability of a substantially carbohydrate-free pizza crust would enable such individuals to continue eating and enjoying pizza while remaining within their chosen or medically-necessary dietary restrictions.
Previous attempts at preparing substantially carbohydrate-free pizza crusts have focused primarily on the use of flour-based products.1 Although some efforts have been made to prepare 1See, e.g., http://www.lindasdietdelites.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=245&gclid=CJKzut-7zawCFWsCQAodnnGiEg; http://lowcarbdiets.about.com./od/pizza/a/lowcarbpizza—2.htm meat-based pizza crusts,2 the pizza industry has thus far been unable to devise a general method of using meat to form a useable pizza crust. Previous attempts to prepare a low carbohydrate pizza crust using sausage3 have apparently not yielded commercially successful products, and sausage-based pizza crusts are apparently not currently readily commercially available. Moreover, previous attempts at preparing substantially carbohydrate-free pizza crusts have generated crusts that do not taste like traditional pizza crusts, which limits the usefulness of these products.4
Essentially carbohydrate-free, protein-based pizza crusts and methods for preparing the same are disclosed herein. The pizza crusts comprise a meat or nut flour, a flavor-masking spice, salt, and a vegetable, fruit, or plant-based oil or an oil-based spray. The pizza crusts resemble traditional pizza crusts in both appearance and taste.
The present disclosure describes essentially carbohydrate-free, protein-based pizza crusts and methods for preparing the same. The pizza crust base comprises meat or a nut flour, a flavor-masking spice, salt, and a vegetable, fruit, or plant-based oil or an oil-based spray.
In some embodiments, the pizza crust base comprises ingredients in the following ratios: about 40 pounds of meat or a nut flour, about ¼-¾ tablespoon of a flavor-masking spice, about 2See, e.g., http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/maindishes/r/meatzapizza.htm; http://rebelspatula.com/index.php/paleo/34-low-carb-sausage-crust-pizza; http://lowcarb.betterrecipes.com/sausage-pizza.html; http://castlegrok.com/chicken-crust-pizza-meatza3See, e.g., http://chicago.seriouseats.com/2008/06/lou-malnatis-chicago-deep-dish-pizza-sausage-crust-gluten-free.html4See, e.g., http://www.livinlowcarbdiscussion.com/showthread.php?tid=6372; http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html 4-7 tablespoons of salt, and about 2-5 fluid ounces of a vegetable, fruit, or plant-based oil or an oil-based spray.
The meat may preferably be poultry, more preferably chicken, most preferably boneless chicken breast. The flavor-masking spice may preferably be nutmeg, cardamom, or mastic, most preferably nutmeg. The salt may be sea salt, table salt, rock salt, or another salt comprising greater than 95% sodium chloride, more preferably sea salt or table salt, most preferably sea salt. The oil or oil-based spray may preferably be olive oil or an olive oil spray, most preferably an olive oil spray.
In preferred embodiments, the pizza crust base comprises ingredients in the following ratios: about 40 pounds of poultry, about ⅖-½ tablespoon of nutmeg, about 5-6 tablespoons of salt, and about 3-4 fluid ounces of olive oil or olive oil spray.
In more preferred embodiments, the pizza crust base comprises ingredients in the following ratios: about 40 pounds of boneless chicken breast, about ⅖-½ tablespoon of nutmeg, about 5-6 tablespoons of salt, and about 3-4 fluid ounces of olive oil or olive oil spray.
In highly preferred embodiments, the pizza crust base comprises ingredients in the following ratios: about 40 pounds of boneless chicken breast, about 6/13 tablespoon of nutmeg, about 5 7/13 tablespoons of salt, and about 3½ fluid ounces of olive oil spray. These embodiments may further include no additional carbohydrate-containing ingredients.
Boneless chicken breast,5 sea salt, and olive oil6 contain no carbohydrates, and the amount of carbohydrates introduced by using nutmeg7 is negligible. Thus a pizza crust base comprising these ingredients and including no additional carbohydrate-containing ingredients is essentially carbohydrate-free. 5http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/9986http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/611http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/245
In preferred embodiments, the pizza crust is prepared from the ingredients that comprise the pizza crust base according to the following method.
In more preferred embodiments, if meat is used, substantially all fats and connective tissues are removed from the meat and the meat is then cut into small pieces to yield cubed meat. The pieces of meat may preferably be approximately cubic and approximately 1-2 inches per side.
In more preferred embodiments, the salt and the flavor-masking spice are thoroughly premixed to yield a salt/spice mixture. In highly preferred embodiments, about 60 tablespoons of salt and about 5 tablespoons of the flavor-masking spice are premixed, and about 6 tablespoons of this salt/spice mixture are added to 40 pounds of cubed meat. Other highly preferred embodiments may use the same ratios but different absolute amounts of salt, the flavor-masking spice, and meat. The salt and flavor-masking spice may preferably be premixed by hand. In less preferred alternative embodiments, the appropriate amount of salt and the flavor-masking spice are added directly to the cubed meat without premixing. In other alternative embodiments, the salt/spice mixture or the non-premixed salt and spice are added to a nut flour.
The cubed meat or nut flour is thoroughly mixed with the salt/spice mixture or the non-premixed salt and spice to yield a seasoned meat mixture. The cubed meat or nut flour and the salt/spice mixture or the non-premixed salt and spice may preferably be mixed by hand.
The seasoned meat mixture is then ground one or more times according to the following procedure. The seasoned meat mixture may preferably be ground more than once. The seasoned meat mixture is placed into a grinding device such as a grinder, food processor, blender, or similar small appliance, thoroughly ground, and removed from the grinding device to yield a first ground meat mixture. The first ground meat mixture is then preferably placed into the grinding device again, thoroughly ground again, and then removed from the grinding device to yield a second ground meat mixture. The grinding procedure may be repeated as many times as is necessary to achieve the desired consistency for the ground meat mixture. The ground meat mixture generated by the final iteration of the grinding procedure is subsequently used to prepare the pizza crust.
The ground meat mixture, preferably the second ground meat mixture, is then formed into dough balls. Each dough ball may preferably weigh between about 6-16 ounces. To prepare an 8-inch pizza crust, a dough ball may preferably weigh between about 7-9 ounces, more preferably about 8 ounces. To prepare a 14-inch pizza crust, a dough ball may preferably weigh between about 13-15 ounces, more preferably about 14 ounces. Each dough ball is coated with the appropriate amount of oil or oil-based spray to yield an oil-coated dough ball. Preferably, each dough ball is sprayed with about 1-4 sprays of olive oil spray, more preferably 1-2 sprays. The oil or oil-based spray reduces adhesion of the dough ball to other materials. The oil-coated dough ball serves as the base for the pizza crust.
The oil-coated dough ball is then placed into approximately the center of a dough press. In more preferred embodiments, before placing the oil-coated dough ball in the dough press, the oil-coated dough ball is placed on a sheet of aluminum foil and parchment paper or another material that assists in generating a non-stick environment is placed on top of the oil-coated dough ball. A metal pan may preferably be placed above the bottom section of the dough press, underneath the top section of the dough press, parchment paper, oil-coated dough ball, and aluminum foil sheet. The metal pan may comprise stainless steel, cast iron, aluminum, copper, or another metal or alloy. The metal pan may preferably be a stainless steel pan. The metal pan may preferably be circular.
The oil-coated dough ball is then pressed into a raw pizza crust using the dough press. The raw pizza crust may preferably be circular. The parchment paper may preferably be removed before baking the raw pizza crust.
The raw pizza crust is then baked, preferably in a pre-heated oven, at a temperature between about 300-600 degrees Fahrenheit for about 3-15 minutes. In more preferred embodiments, the raw pizza crust is baked in a pre-heated oven between about 550-600 degrees Fahrenheit for between 7-8 minutes. In highly preferred embodiments, the raw pizza crust is baked at about 575 degrees Fahrenheit for about 7½ minutes.
The pizza crust is then removed from the oven and allowed to stand at ambient temperature for a period of time. The period of time may preferably be between about 5 minutes-2 hours, more preferably about 15 minutes.
The crust is then ready to be used for its designated purpose. The crust may be wrapped and frozen, and may be used for up to about 3 months.
Pizza crusts prepared according to the disclosed methods are substantially similar to crusts of traditional thin crust pizza in both appearance and taste. For example, when boneless chicken breast is used to prepare the crust, the crust unexpectedly does not taste like chicken but instead tastes substantially similar to a traditional flour-based pizza crust.
The examples above are intended to illustrate the invention and not to limit or otherwise restrict the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/566393, filed on Dec. 2, 2011.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61566393 | Dec 2011 | US |
