Lid And A Package For Intermediate Preparations For Use In Making A Pastry

Abstract

The invention relates to a lid ( 1 ) for covering a pastry-making pan in a leaktight manner, in particular, a pie pan ( 2 ), the lid being characterized in that it includes at its periphery, means ( 8 ) enabling said pan to be covered in leaktight manner when applied thereagainst, and on its inside surface for facing said pan, a plurality of projections ( 3 ). The invention also provides a complete package for a frozen or deep-frozen preparation constituted by a pastry-making pan ( 2 ) closed by means of a lid ( 1 ) and/or by means of a membrane including the imprint of the lid. The invention also provides the use of the lid and/or of the package for freezing an intermediate preparation for use in preparing a pastry.

1 . A lid for covering a pastry-making pan in leaktight manner, in particular for covering a pie pan, the lid being characterized in that it includes, at its periphery, means enabling said pan to be covered in leaktight manner on being pressed thereagainst, and that it includes a plurality of projections on its inside surface for coming into register with said pan.  
   
   
       2 . A lid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said means enabling said pan to be covered are means that provide non-final closure, making the lid removable.  
   
   
       3 . A lid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said means enabling the pan to be covered in leaktight manner are such as to provide said leaktightness by pressing said lid by force onto said pan.  
   
   
       4 . A lid according to  claim 1 , characterized in that said means enabling leaktight covering are means that are elastically deformable.  
   
   
       5 . A package for frozen or deep-frozen pastry, the package being characterized in that it is constituted by a pastry-making pan closed by means of a lid as defined in  claim 1 , and/or a membrane including an imprint of a lid as defined in  claim 1 .  
   
   
       6 . A package according to  claim 5 , characterized in that said pastry-making pan is a pie pan.  
   
   
       7 . A package according to  claim 6 , characterized in that said pie pan presents means for providing sealing relative to the pastry that it is to contain.  
   
   
       8 . A method of freezing an intermediate preparation for use in cooking a pastry in an oven, said intermediate preparation presenting at its top surface a fluid or viscous portion suitable for hardening during the freezing step, the method being characterized in that it is implemented in a package as defined in  claim 5 , said package comprising a lid as defined in  claim 1 , and a pastry-making pan.  
   
   
       9 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that said pastry is a pie and said pastry-making pan is a pie pan.  
   
   
       10 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that a membrane is interposed between the top surface of said intermediate preparation and said lid, the projections of said lid being imprinted therein during the freezing step.  
   
   
       11 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that it is preceded by closing said pastry-making pan by forcing on said lid.  
   
   
       12 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that, while closing said package by means of the lid, the projections become imprinted in the fluid preparation before it is cooled so as to form cells in the surface of the preparation after the freezing step.  
   
   
       13 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that said pastry-making pan is filled to a level that is determined in such a manner that the projections of the lid penetrate into the fluid or viscous portion without causing any overflow.  
   
   
       14 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that the distribution and the dimensions of the projections are adapted as a function of the distribution and the dimensions of the cells that are to be imprinted.  
   
   
       15 . A method according to  claim 8 , characterized in that said intermediate culinary preparation comprises a pie shell and a fluid mixture into which said projections become imprinted during the cooling step that leads to freezing.  
   
   
       16 . A method according to  claim 15 , characterized in that the fluid mixture is prevented from flowing prior to freezing between said pie shell and said pan by providing a rim of pastry at the top of said pie shell or by providing said pan with means for improving leaktightness.  
   
   
       17 . The use of the preparation obtained by the freezing method according to  claim 8  for preparing a pastry by cooking in an oven.