Journal of Microwave Power and Electromagnetic Energy (JMPEE)

 

TITLE

Non-Uniformity of Surface Temperatures After Microwave Heating of Poultry Meat [PDF]

AUTHORS

E.O. Goksoy, C. James and S.J. James

1999

34

3

149-160

YEAR

VOLUME

ISSUE

PAGES

 

Abstract

Microwave energy has the potential to raise the surface temperatures of meat rapidly for a short period of time sufficient to reduce bacterial numbers significantly without causing physical changes to the meat. Studies have investigated the ability of a standard domestic microwave oven (2450 MHz; IEC 1191 W) an experimental repeatable microwave cavity (2450 MHz; IEC 1139 W) and a number of shielding techniques to achieve uniform surface temperature distributions on pieces of poultry meat. In the domestic oven temperature differences of up to 60 and 80°C were found between different points on the surface of the same sample after 30 s and 3 minutes of heating respectively. The use of a standard cavity and shielding resulted in a difference of less than 5°C between the average surface temperature on the edge and middle of regular slabs of chicken after 30 s exposure. Results show that microwave hearing, using 2450 MHz, is unlikely to produce consistently uniform enough surface temperatures on meat to reduce bacterial numbers

 

Key Words:

Decontamination, poultry, temperature distribution