MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills, Inc. on June 2 filed a patent for ready-to-bake, gluten-free pizza dough formulations.
A gluten-free flour mixture constitutes 45% to 55% by weight of the dough. Other elements are dried egg whites (1.75% to 4.5%), oil (1.5% to 2%), shortening (3% to 7%), water (26% to 33%), ethanol (1% to 2%) and sucrose (less than 5%).
The gluten-free flour mixture includes less than 12% by weight rice flour, and it also may include tapioca starch, sorghum flour, millet flour and combinations thereof, according to U.S. application No. 20160150798 filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The combination of several ingredients in the gluten-free flour mixture provides a ready-to-bake pizza crust having the taste, texture and rheology similar to that of gluten-containing doughs, and it provides a baked pizza crust having the organoleptic properties of a gluten-based pizza crust.
In some embodiments, the gluten-free pizza dough is capable of being stored for a long period of time in the refrigerator without the need for hermetic or pressurized sealing. In some embodiments, the gluten-free pizza dough can be packaged in a form that is ready to bake.
Ready-to-bake products must be capable of being stored under refrigerated conditions for an extended period of time, such as at least 75 days up to 120 days, according to the patent.
