Abstract: An edible, hand held food product that may be used as a container for ice cream and other frozen confections is formed from a shell of baked cookie dough. Unlike traditional wafer ice cream cones, the thickness of the wall of the ice cream cone of the present invention is at least approximately 1/8" thick. The cookie dough that is used to produce the ice cream cone of the present invention is normal cookie batter comprised of a liquid, eggs, shortening, flour, sugar, and dry flavoring ingredients, with a reduced amount of leavening agent (i.e. baking powder, baking soda or cream or tartar). The leavening agent is approximately 10-60% by volume of the amount of leavening agent used in normal cookie dough recipes.

Abstract: A pizza mold for forming pizza dough includes a frame having a peripheral configuration which matches the desired peripheral configuration of the dough, e.g., round, rectangular or square. One surface of the frame includes a plurality of concentric cavities formed at predetermined radial distances from the geometric axis of the frame, with one concentric cavity being formed adjacent the peripheral edge of the frame. The frame is designed to be brought into contact with the dough and the dough is formed (e.g., rolled) across the surface of the frame with the dough being formed in the concentric cavities. When the pizza mold is removed, the concentric cavities produce raised ridges of dough on the surface of the dough. The cavities can be formed in rings across the surface of the frame to create annular raised ridges for a round pizza, or the cavities can be formed in rectangles or squares across the surface of the frame to create rectangular or square raised ridges for a rectangular or square pizza.

Abstract: A device for forming and par baking a pizza crust from a quantity of pizza dough disposed in a pizza pan. The device comprises a frame having a base portion and an upper housing portion. Releasably attached to the upper housing portion is an upper mold, while releasably attached to the base portion is a lower support platen. Pivotally connected to the upper housing portion is a handle member which is adapted to reciprocally move the upper mold between a loading position wherein the pizza dough may be introduced into the pizza pan and a flattening position wherein the pizza dough is compressed between the bottom surface of the upper mold and the pizza pan. Slidably attached to the support platen are at least two retaining members which extend upwardly from the top surface thereof. Also slidably attached to the support platen is an adjustment mechanism for selectively moving the retaining members linearly relative the top surface as needed to allow the pizza pan to be positioned therebetween.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for maintaining a food product at or above a desired serving temperature wherein a volume of dehumidifier material, such as calcium sulfate, is heated to a temperature greater than the predetermined serving temperature of the food product and positioned in heat exchange relation with the food product, such that heat is transferred from the heated dehumidifier material to the food product and moisture is transferred from the food product to the dehumidifier material.

Abstract: A meat press is provided which includes an actuating dolly and a press tree having first and second frames. The actuating dolly includes a subframe that is vertically extendable and carries cylinders that engage portions of the overlying tree when brought into registry therewith. The cylinders engage a linkage which is connected to a second frame and can cause movement thereof in a manner which exerts a compression force on a meat product loaded on the tree. The linkage is constructed and the cylinders are mounted in a manner that allows the cylinders to exert a horizontally directed pulling force on the linkage which then causes vertical movement of the second frame.

Abstract: A pan used to contain baked goods during a commercial baking process having a circumferential edge flange which is along a same horizontal plane as molds which make up the bottom of the pan, thereby providing added support to the pan when in use during the baking process and while it is stacked on top of other pans for storage purposes. The pan also having a circumferential corrugation feature which increases the ability of the edge flange to withstand shearing and bending stress.

Abstract: A pancake maker in which several batter-filled containers are simultaneously placed within a heating device to make pancakes. All the resulting pancakes are uniformly shaped and cooked and can be quickly produced. This invention is applicable to the individual as well as the restaurant industry and greatly enhances the look, consistency, and quality of pancakes made.

Abstract: Disclosed is a device adapted for providing rapid preparation of pizza rounds wherein the rounds are characterized as possessing a uniformity and symmetry not obtainable, at least with any consistency, when prepared entirely by hand.

Abstract: A pizza crust cooking utensil for use with a pizza crust batter to partially precook a pizza crust. The use of the utensil provides a more uniformly producible, less porous and more stable pizza crust which has better handling characteristics for home or commercial cooking, especially for cooking in a conveyor-type toaster or oven. The utensil includes two cooking plates which align to form a hollow cooking chamber in which the crust is formed as the batter is cooked. The invention is adaptable for use in a cooking appliance or a variety of ovens and has a transition region from the crust center to the rim to assure a well-defined rim and to stiffen the crust toward the rim for better handling. Channels extending between the center region to the rim area of the utensil enhance batter flow. Preferably, the generally planar center of the lower cooking plate is thicker to assure more complete, uniform and thorough cooking of the top surface of the crust.

Abstract: A carrier for a partially baked dough product having a bottom crust and a moist topping including a vented container for the partially baked dough product and a heater being adapted to initially heat the bottom of the partially baked dough product to a temperature greater than 250.degree. F. to finish baking the crust of the dough product, and to maintain the temperature of the crust greater than the temparature of the moist topping. The vented container is formed to exhaust moist air from the interior of the container while maintaining the temperature of air adjacent the moist topping on the dough product above the dewpoint of air in the container to prevent condensation of moisture and to draw air from outside the container to expel moisture from adjacent the bottom crust.

Abstract: A dough forming die assembly for the manufacture of machine-made pizza crusts in cooperation with a pizza pan having a generally circular central portion surrounded by upwardly sloping walls joining a horizontal rim. The dough forming die is mounted to a vertically movable base and provided with a generally planar face portion having a surrounding recessed rim. The outer wall of said rim is provided with a downwardly extending thin lip adapted to engage the upper portion of said sloping walls of said pan. A cylindrical, ring-shaped sealing member is mounted to the base for limited slidable movement relative to said die between a raised position and a lowered position engaging said pan and slideably engages the outer wall of said rim.

Abstract: A hydraulic press for simultaneously forming a plurality of pastry crusts under pressure in individual pans. The pans are loaded into a carrier tray, each pan is filled with a pre-portioned quantity of dough and the tray is placed between the upper and lower dies of the hydraulic press. Alignment elements formed on the hydraulic press and the carrier tray align the pans with the dies as the press closes. The resulting pastry crusts are formed with a uniform thickness throughout the crust. If desired and when the dies are so fabricated, crusts with different thicknesses at the bottom, side wall and flange of the crust can be formed. Pressure forming crusts eliminates the need for handling scrap dough which is usually trimmed and recovered in rolled or sheeted crust production.

Abstract: A pizza supporting and baking grid structure or pizza grill is disclosed as including a self-supporting metal screen having opposed faces and an outer periphery. The metal screen preferably has an open-mesh expanded metal construction. A circumferentially continuous one-piece rim extends about the outer periphery of the screen including opposed faces of the screen which are proximate to the outer periphery thereof. The rim has a generally flat annular rim section and an integral generally upstanding rim section which is re-shaped following assembly and juxtaposition of the screen relative to the generally flat annular rim section. The re-shaping of the integral generally upstanding rim section causes it to be moved into generally opposed and parallel relationship relative to the generally flat annular rim section so as to capture the screen therebetween.

Abstract: A baking pan having a multiplicity of baking units constructed by forming the baking units as individual pieces, disposing the pre-formed baking units within openings formed in a sheet material and securing the baking units to the sheet material. The means for securing the baking units to the sheet material comprises interlocking portions of the baking units with the sheet material to form an assembly of baking units.

Abstract: An illustrative embodiment of the invention comprises an annular device for preparing pie crusts in which the inner margin of the device defines the central, circular opening. The margin, perpendicular to the base of the device, also forms a cutting edge that slopes away from the opening and toward the base until it intersects a flat working surface for the device. An arcuate surface, curving from the working surface to the base enables the device to be positioned on a breadboard with the cutting edge oriented in the proper direction. By rolling dough deposited in the opening, the opening fills up to the margin and surplus dough flows over the cutting edge and onto the working surface, the cutting edge severing the surplus dough from the shaped mass in the opening. The device, with surplus dough, is lifted smartly away from the breadboard, leaving a circular pie crust of uniform thickness defined by the marginal distance between the base and the crest of the cutting edge.

Abstract: A pastry mould, permitting even cooking and easy removal of the cooked contents of the mould, has a flat base with two upstanding tongues spaced apart and positioned opposite each other adjacent the periphery of the base, each such tongue carrying a pivot for two half portions of an enclosing rim, each half portion having its ends connected to a respective one of the tongues by the pivot thereon, such that the rim portions are each movable about the pivots into a position lying against the flat base, and into a position raised away from the base.

Abstract: Pre-stretched pizza dough is placed on an imperforate thermally conductive disk having an up-turned circumferential lip. The disk is placed in a flat-bottomed pan (either before or after the dough is placed on the disk), the bottom of the pan having two finger holes which are sealed by the disk. A cover shaped to permit stacking of pans is placed on the top of the pan to provide a substantially sealed enclosure, and the pizza dough is left in the enclosure for a period of time, both for storage purposes and to permit the dough to rise and enhance its delicacy and flavor. Then the cover is removed and the disk is pushed out of the pan through the finger holes. The dough is then covered with desired pizza food ingredients and the disk is placed in a cooking oven.

Abstract: A dual-purpose baking pan assembly suitable for use in a conventional oven wherein the assembly as well as the food therein are exposed to a high-temperature atmosphere, and in a microwave oven wherein the atmosphere is close to ambient temperature and the assembly and the food are subjected to microwave energy. All components of the assembly are formed of a dielectric material unaffected by microwave energy and capable of withstanding high temperatures. The assembly is constituted by a circular base which fits into an annular groove formed in a cylindrical shell defined by a pair of complementary half-sections whose rear ends are hinged together by a removable pivot pin and whose front ends are joinable by a detachable clamp. Thus, after a food product is baked in the assembly, the shell thereof may be detached from the base to expose the food product without disrupting its structure.

Abstract: A taco boat fryer in which foldable product carrier sections are linked together and pushed sequentially through a vat containing hot cooking oil. Each product carrier has a pair of hinged plates that are pushed together as the carrier section enters the vat at one end and are pulled apart as the carrier section leaves the vat at the other end. Mating male and female porous mold sections mounted on the respective plates receive a tortilla before the plates are pushed together, the mold sections shaping the tortilla during the movement of the carrier section through the cooking oil.

Abstract: Improved apparatus and methods for assembling and cooking pizza are disclosed which markedly reduce the final cooking time required. Preferably, a pizza shell is precooked in an enclosed container which confines and controls the shape of the shell as well as the moisture loss by the shell during precooking. In addition, a high solids, preheated sauce and a high fat, thin sliced cheese are used to accelerate the final cooking process. Cooking is preferably performed in a perforated cooking pan having a plurality of raised support surfaces. A forced air oven is preferably used for cooking, and the raised support areas and the perforations of the pan cooperate to maximize contact between the heated air and the underside of the pizza. In combination, these techniques significantly reduce required cooking time for pizza.

Abstract: A process for producing a frozen, pre-prepared food product is disclosed. In order to practice the process, a container is provided which has a centrally-depressed receptacle with an outwardly and downwardly extending rim. A food filling is first deposited in the container receptacle. The container receptacle and rim are then covered with a sheet of unbaked dough so that the dough conforms to the container rim. The now-filled and covered container which comprises the food product is then frozen so that when a sufficient amount of heat is applied to the product, the filling heats to a fluid state. Thus, when the food product is inverted and the container is removed, the filling flows outwardly to fill the upstanding crust formed by the baked dough.

Abstract: A food cooking sheet made of flexible metal foil is disclosed, the sheet has an imperforate annular margin forming the outer periphery of the sheet and there is a plurality of webs extending across a perforated center section, the webs structurally connect opposite sides of the margin and radiant heat may be upwardly directed between the webs for browning an item of food supported on the sheet; also disclosed is a method of cooking an item of food, the method involves the use of a perforated sheet of metal foil and a rigid open-bottomed pan for supporting the foil and an item of food atop the foil, and the application of radiant heat through the perforated foil sheet directly against the bottom of a food item, and the removal of the foil sheet and food item together from the pan after cooking.