An analytical model for cooking automation in industrial steam ovens.

Abstract This paper presents an analytical model for the prediction of cooking time of meat products in industrial steam ovens. To achieve this aim, the paper first develops a mathematical model for cooking meat, which is numerically solved and validated on the basis of the outcomes of an appropriate experimental campaign. Numerical simulations are then performed setting different values of sample sizes, with the aim to derive a parameterised model able to analytically reproduce the time–temperature curves of meat samples. As input the model developed requires an appropriate “translation” parameter, describing the shape of the time–temperature curve as a function of the sample size and diameter; as output it gives an estimate of the cooking time. The “translation” parameter is provided as a result of the numerical simulations for a wide range of sample size and length. The analytical model is validated by comparing the predicted cooking time with experimental cooking data related to time–temperature curves of seven meat samples. The comparison shows that the average percentage deviation between experimental results and model predictions is about 4.6%, proving good performance of the model developed. The model can be successfully used to estimate the meat cooking time starting from typical values of meat parameters, and, due to its simplicity, it appears to be suitable for direct implementation as a tool to monitor and automate the industrial meat cooking treatments by means of computer control.

[1]  Gauri S. Mittal,et al.  Meatball cooking — modeling and simulation , 1995 .

[2]  Eva Balsa-Canto,et al.  Identifiability and robust parameter estimation in food process modeling: Application to a drying model , 2007 .

[3]  Purificación García-Segovia,et al.  Effect of cooking method on mechanical properties, color and structure of beef muscle (M. pectoralis) , 2007 .

[4]  Romeo T. Toledo,et al.  Fundamentals of Food Process Engineering , 1980 .

[5]  P. Lewicki,et al.  Food properties handbook , 2009 .

[6]  Gauri S. Mittal,et al.  Dynamics of Crust Formation and Kinetics of Quality Changes During Frying of Meatballs , 1994 .

[7]  F. C. W. Olson,et al.  Sterilization in food technology , 1957 .

[8]  J. R. Dixon,et al.  Computer determination of spore survival distributions in thermally-processed conduction-heated foods , 1969 .

[9]  Denis Bruneau,et al.  Drying and smoking of meat: heat and mass transfer modeling and experimental analysis , 2005 .

[10]  Francesco Marra,et al.  A numerical analysis of radio frequency heating of regular shaped foodstuff , 2008 .

[11]  James G. Lyng,et al.  THE INFLUENCE OF COMPOSITIONAL CHANGES IN BEEFBURGERS ON THEIR TEMPERATURES AND THEIR THERMAL AND DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES DURING MICROWAVE HEATING , 2002 .

[12]  M F Caboni,et al.  Effect of different cooking methods on some lipid and protein components of hamburgers. , 1997, Meat science.

[13]  Qiaofen Cheng,et al.  Quality of pork ham as affected by locations within sample, cooking methods and storage , 2004 .

[14]  P. S. Sheridan,et al.  Determination of the thermal diffusivity of ground beef patties under infrared radiation oven-shelf cooking , 2002 .

[15]  James G. Lyng,et al.  Quality of radio frequency heated pork leg and shoulder ham , 2006 .

[16]  Gauri S. Mittal,et al.  MODELING AND SIMULATION OF UNFROZEN HAMBURGER SINGLE‐SIDED PANFRYING WITH FLIPPINGS FOR MICROBIAL SAFETY , 2006 .

[17]  Liana Drummond,et al.  Feasibility of water immersion cooking of beef joints: Effect on product quality and yield , 2006 .

[18]  Karl McDonald,et al.  The effect of injection level on the quality of a rapid vacuum cooled cooked beef product , 2001 .

[19]  Tanmay Basak,et al.  Microwave driven convection in a rotating cylindrical cavity: A numerical study , 2007 .

[20]  Zhongli Pan,et al.  Physical and Thermal Properties of Ground Beef During Cooking , 2001 .

[21]  Pedro D. Sanz,et al.  Thermophysical Properties of Meat Products: General Bibliography and Experimental Values , 1987 .

[22]  Margit Dall Aaslyng,et al.  The influence of cooking technique and core temperature on results of a sensory analysis of pork—depending on the raw meat quality , 2004 .

[23]  Frank P. Incropera,et al.  Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer , 1981 .

[24]  Hans Janestad,et al.  A model for simultaneous heat, water and vapour diffusion , 1999 .