We used to eat these a ton in college... a friend of my roommates was one of the original inventors of these things. We used to have to try all the new batches as they were test marketing them. Some were great... some sucked. But hey, when you are young and in college any pizza would work. I thought maybe I could find out a little more about these for the OP so I emailed my friend. This is what he emailed me back. I think it will help.
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Something for your buddy. Keep in touch.
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Pizza Pop-Ups
1983/1999
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CRUST
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The dough for the crust of pizza pop-ups consists of a gluten source, salt, and water for the development of the dough. The gluten source is hard white wheat flour with moderate protein content of 10-15% and preferably 11-13%. Low-protein flour yields a dough with considerably less strength. Gluten levels less than 10.5% could cause rupture of the product's crust during handling by the consumer. The level of gluten is essential to the integrity of the product and also affects the amount of leavening to be used. For this product some leavening is desired, while extreme leavening should be avoided. Excess volume of the product's crust could cause the maximum size limits to be exceeded. Increased gluten levels also prevent uptake of water by the crust. Therefore, the optimal balance between dough strength and increased leavening should be the operative considerations when selecting a flour.
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The dough is preferably formed with hydrogenated vegetable shortening for layering and flakiness. Although shortening usually imparts increased volume in baked products, a fat source is important to the crust of the pizza for maintaining the desired crispy layers. The use of shortening also enables the dough to be manipulated into more exact shapes and helps to prevent moisture uptake in the finished crust.
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Maltodextrin is included in the crust formulation to increase the browning (carmelization) of the crust during baking and to add the slightly sweet taste of malt. The maltodextrin used is 10 DE (dextrose equivalents). Use of higher DE maltodextrins could lead to excessive sweet taste.
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The baking powder added to the crust is a single acting baking powder containing the leavening acid, monocalcium phosphate monohydrate. The leavening agent has been added at up to 1% and preferably at 0.3%, a level which will elute the proper amount of carbon dioxide to yield a crust with only slight volume. The leavening of the product of the present invention, which has a limit to its volume, requires a balance between preventing excess volume and producing a product that is flat like a cracker dough. The fast-acting monocalcium phosphate monohydrate will release most of the carbon dioxide prior to the setting of the dough in the oven, but will still provide adequate leavening of the crust during baking.
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Calcium propionate has been added to the crust formulation to prevent the growth of mold. It will prevent mold growth on the product for up to 11 days at room temperature. The amount of calcium propionate (0.06%) in the crust is sufficient for the desired shelf life.
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Water is present for mixing the dough as 20% to 40% by weight of the dough, and preferably about 35% of the dough or 22% of the final product. Likewise, flour may be present as 56% to 78% by weight of the dough, and preferably 64% by weight of the dough, or 41% of the product by weight. The preferred range and mix of dough ingredients are as follows:
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Ingredients (% of Product Wt.)
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Flour 36-46% 41.00%
Water 17-27.5% 22.66%
Hydrogenated Vegetable
Shortening .95-1.7% 1.13%
Salt .00-.80% 0.41%
Sugar .10-.90% 0.41%
Maltodextrin .25-.90% 0.53%
Baking Powder .05-.50% 0.20%
Calcium Propionate 0.0-.06% 0.04%
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A fine spray of coconut oil is is applied to the inside surface of the formed crust prior to product assembly. This prevents water migration from sauce to the crust during processing and during heating. A barrier will be formed on the inside of the crust by the coconut oil. This barrier maintains adequate integrity during processing and storage since the interior of the product will not be disturbed (stirred) after the crust has been crimped. Moisture from the sauce is prevented from migrating into the crust by the lipid layer of monoglyceride (the coconut oil). The oil is not applied to the area of the dough to be crimped, since it will inhibit binding of the dough during the baking thereof and cause rupture of the crimp during subsequent handling.
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SAUCE
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Tomato concentrate serves as the main ingredient of the sauce, within a range of 57% to 89% by weight of the sauce as tomato paste, and preferably 68% tomato paste and 17% water by weight for the sauce, or 9.5% tomato paste and 2.4% water, by weight, with respect to the product as a whole. These levels, together with the other solids such as the corn syrup solids, ensure a proper solids ratio and maintain a low pH for the pizza sauce. Soybean oil is included in the sauce to provide not only some flavor, but also a mouth feel that is pleasant in an acid product. This oil is present in the sauce at 3% to 5% by weight of the sauce, and is preferably deodorized and winterized. Because of the intended storage for the final product, no antioxidant is needed to ensure the planned shelf life. Salt, sugar, and corn syrup solids are added to impart flavor to the sauce and to boost the soluble solids level. These ingredients decrease the water activity to below 0.84, which helps maintain a product that is microbially stable. In addition, the high solids level of the sauce reduces moisture migration into the crust upon thawing.
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Tomato Paste 7.0-12.0% 9.47%
Water 1.5-4.5% 2.37%
Soybean Oil .00-2.0% 0.52%
Salt .00-1.5% 0.35%
Sugar .10-.80% 0.30%
Corn Syrup Solids .05-.70% 0.24%
Dried Onions .05-35% 0.18%
Extra Virgin Olive Oil .00-2.0% 0.15%
Romano Cheese .00-1.6% 0.11%
Modified Food Starch .05-4.0% 0.10%
Spices .05-.35% 0.05%
Natural Garlic Flavor .05-.35% 0.01%
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STUFFING
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Example of stuffing combination below:
Part-Skim Mozzarella 2-15% 9.57%
Pepperoni 0-15% 10.00%
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In the preferred embodiment, at least one other stuffing ingredient is provided, which may be other cheeses, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onions, or mixed vegetables. The desired ratio of cheese to other ingredient stuffing is approximately 1:1, with a total combined weight of the stuffing ingredients totaling 15-25% of the total product weight, and preferably 20%. the relative ratios of stuffing ingredients, is to some extent, driven by regulatory issues which require a minimum of 10% by weight for labeling requirements. Within this context, the desired ratio of edible filling to sauce ranges from about 1:1 to 3:1, and the ratio of edible filling to dough ranges from 1:2 to 1:4.
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PREPARATION
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The dry ingredients, including flour, sugar, salt, calcium propionate, baking powder and shortening, for the dough are metered into an extruder for continuous mixing by blades. Then the water is added and the mixture is continuously kneaded in the extruder. A 3.7 in. (9.4 cm) die is used to form the dough into a cylindrical shape. It is important not to over-extrude the dough because of leavening issues. If less gluten is formed, then less leavening occurs; therefore, the dough should not remain in the extruder any longer than necessary for adequate mixing. The final product must remain thin enough to fit in a toaster.
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The dough is then cut in dough biscuits. Each dough "biscuit" should be 12-16 g and preferably 15 g.
The dough "biscuits" are then fed through the twin rollers that have adjustable nip spacing. The dough biscuits are flattened into round disks of uniform thickness, preferably approximately 3 to 6 mm.
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The dough biscuits are evened out with a round exacting cutter. The desired final diameter of the product is 8 to 10 cm.
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The dough disks are sprayed with acetylated monoglyceride (coconut oil) by a sprayer that assures the oil remains within the disk center, and does not coat the area of the dough to be crimped. In practice a 1 cm annular crimping zone on an 8 to 10 cm diameter dough member around the outer perimeter of the dough members was found to be sufficient to provide intermixing of the dough members during the crimping step. The dough needs a moisture barrier to prevent seepage of water present in the topping ingredients. The acetylated monoglyceride (coconut oil) was chosen because it is lipophilic, it is stable and it resists rancidity.
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Add sauce, cheese, toppings.
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Apply dough blanks on top of prepared dough disks, now called pop-ups.
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The pizza pop-ups are edge pressed and crimped using a crimping press to eliminate leakage in the final product. The crimping press crimps the product about the outer perimeter of the superimposed planar dough members to define a planar filling cavity therebetween. Also, small air holes (10 needle horseshoe) are pricked onto the top of the pizzas during the press to allow vapor to escape.
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The pizzas are then baked on a continuous production line conveyor in an oven at 260° C. for 4 minutes is desired to bake the dough to the desired crust. Preferably, a hot air convection or impingement oven is used to ensure the desired degree of product browning. Browning is desired for those consumers who prefer to microwave the product. The browning (carmelization), however, should be close to complete, and the additional cooking step provided by a pop-up toaster or toaster oven enhances the product appeal and mouth feel.
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After baking, the hot pizzas are slowly cooled to ensure less moisture accumulation on the crust, and to prevent water separation or formation in the filling. The cooled pizzas are then flash frozen in a flash freezer to reduce the diameter of ice crystal formation.
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Hope this helps you out.
Keith Edwards
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College was good for something anyways. Hehe, hope this is the right one. Only other secret recipe I've ever been able to get from a friend is for Texas Hot Sauce from a place on Lake Ontario called Rudy's! It's famous through Upstate New York. Enjoy, let me know if you get anywhere with this. I'd be interested in making them too. I'm not good with the bakers percentages though.
Joe Candyman
