|Forum|Articles|The "Pizzone Revolution". By Anubis   The Pizzone Revolution So it appears that finally, finally, one of the companies in Big Pizza is taking a stab at the Calzone Concept. In case you don't know, a calzone is a cylindrical roll of bread and cheese filled with pizza-like toppings. Think of it as a supersized pizza roll. And judging from the fact that almost everyone I know eats pizza rolls, there is a huge market out there for the first company in Big Pizza to develop a calzone that mimics the calzones one can buy at an Italian restaurant, but comes with the name recognition and in house delivery service that Big Pizza does so well. In my opinion, Pizza Hut makes the best pizza of any of the pizza delivery outfits, so I was glad when I heard that Pizza Hut was to be the first company in Big Pizza to tackle developing a calzone. The Pizzone, though not a true calzone, takes a stab at the Calzone Concept, namely, the sauce has been removed and the toppings are on the inside, sealed in a bread container. The Pizzones form factor was no doubt chosen for several reasons. It is pretty much a given that , to keep Pizza Hut from taking a huge profit hit if the Pizzone does not take off, that it be constructed of ingredients that are already being shipped to Pizza Hut outlets for other products. Moreso it must be able to be manufactured by the equipment already at the local franchises, and it must be able to be manufactured by the 19 year old dropouts in the back of the franchises with minimum training. So Pizza Hut chose a pedestrian route, the Pizzone is simply a medium pizza with no sauce that has been folded in half and pressed shut. Another important difference is that the Pizzone has no air holes, all of the normal calzones that I have eaten did. This makes a considerable difference in the consistency of the cheese and toppings, as moisture is unable to escape during the cooking process. So I finally ordered and tried out a Pizzone last weekend. When I went in to pick up my order, I did a cursory visual scan of the inside of the building. I would estimate that at least two thirds of the products within view were Pizzones. While I was waiting for my pickup, two more orders were placed, both for Pizzones. So it appears my original belief was correct, the public was more than ready for Big Pizza to get the Calzone Concept. After getting the Pizzone home, I conducted an investigation of the products layout. The Pizzone, as I said before, is about the size of a medium pizza folded in half, this half section was further cut into quarters, resulting in two pieces. The outer surface was pocked with air bubbles from the air trapped within, and was covered with a dust of some form of shredded cheese and small green flakes. The version of Pizzone I tested was the "meat version", it contained a mix of sausage, pepperoni, ham, and some unidentified meat, possibly pork. The cheese was spread on the surface of the crust, forming an airtight seal. And the taste? Well... It was ok. But there are several flaws with the form factor that prevent it from fully living up to its potential. Flaw number one is in the shape of the unit. A normal calzone is cylindrical, the exterior surface of the unit is the bread, and the center is awash with toppings. Due to the Pizzones flat design, much of the units structure goes into the crimped over edge that seals the unit, and as a result more than half of the internal volume of the unit is taken up by bread and cheese, and topping density is considerably less than in a real calzone. The second problem is the lack of air holes. The interior surface of the Pizzone is coated with cheese, and during the baking process the cheese emits a fair amount of foul cheese oil. Normally this oil would have escaped by means of one of the air holes, but there are no air holes, and the cheese layer forms a watertight seal, preventing the oil from soaking into the crust. This means that the cheese oil is trapped within the Pizzone, and has only one thing to soak into, the toppings. The toppings become supersaturated with thick cheese resin, this gives them a less than appetizing flavor. It looks like Big Pizza still has some work to do.     Syntax Error/:|Forum|Articles|