title: Non-uniformity of surface temperatures after microwave heating of poultry meat.
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 degrees 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 degrees C between the average surface temperature on the edge and middle of regular slabs of chicken after 30 s exposure. Results show that microwave heating, using 2450 MHz, is unlikely to produce consistently uniform enough surface temperatures on meat to reduce bacterial numbers without surface damage.
authors.affiliation: Food Process Engineering, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Goksoy
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: James
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008872:Microwaves / Q000145:classification; D013821:Thermometers; D013997:Time Factors