This Revolutionary Pizza Box Could End Soggy Crust Forever (or Not!)
Photo credit: StockFood
Delivery pizza is great in theory but less so in reality. Crusts get soggy after only a few minutes in a poorly ventilated box. But whole pies can go cold in boxes that release too much heat. Then there’s the oil issue; a warm pizza’s oil can pool at the bottom of a box, making the crust soggy. Or your delivery dude could get lost. (There’s not much to be done about that one.) But pizza heat problems might soon be fixed thanks to VentIt, a new pizza box designed by Indian entrepreneur Vinay Mehta.
Unlike most pizza boxes in the United States, Mehta’s contraption is made with corrugated cardboard—a fluted sheet of cardboard anchored by one or two additional cardboard pieces. It’s a stronger material than conventional cardboard, but most importantly, the fluted element behaves like a system of tiny vents, allowing excess steam to escape without losing too much heat inside the box.
Attempts to reach Mehta were unsuccessful, but we spoke to pizza expert Scott Weiner of Scott’s Pizza Tours, who gives the boxes a ringing endorsement. Weiner told us that he has corresponded with Mehta on several occasions and become the box’s “very unofficial spokesperson.”
"This vented thing is not perfect, but it might be the closest thing to perfect," Weiner told us. He said that other inventors claim to have perfected the pizza box, but they often address the sogginess issue by using inserts that raise the pizza inside the box. ”That stops the pizza from sopping up oil, but there’s still steam trapped in the box,” Weiner said.
The cost of corrugated cardboard, which is higher than conventional cardboard, may be a deterrent to big companies. According to Weiner, Mehta holds a patent for the box in the U.S., but no major pizza producer in the country uses it yet.
"The highest concentration of these boxes in America is in my apartment," Weiner said with a laugh. "The pizza companies, their main concern is not spending more money on the box. It’s kind of like why we haven’t switched to electric cars yet. It’s a money thing."
Frustrated? Yeah. Us, too. If the technology for better pizza delivery exists, shouldn’t the big companies take note? We want crust that’s crusty, and we want it now!
[via Complex]
