Articles techniques et présentations

Crust which develops at the surface of meat leads to reactions which affect food color, flavor and safety. Whole pieces of meat are only contaminated by microorganisms at their surface. Thus intense thermal treatment can inactivate pathogenic bacteria; however the associated high temperatures also lead to the formation of carcinogenic compounds.

An experimental study of crust development at the surface of whole beef meat subjected to hot air jet was performed; and a matching heat-mass transfer model is presented. The different modes of moisture transport were lumped together as an effective diffusivity while phase change and parametric material properties for meat were included.

Numerical results for in-crust temperature and water profiles were compared with experimental data.