Simulation of cooking cylindrical beef roasts

Abstract

A mathematical model was developed to predict temperature and mass transfer of cylindrical beef roasts cooked in a forced-air-convection oven. The finite difference method was used to solve the simultaneous heat and mass transfer equations. Dynamic transport properties were estimated during the cooking process. The model was tested using beef semitendinosus muscles. No difference (P > 0.05) occurred between the predicted and observed cooking times. Moisture loss generally was underestimated because of the lack of compensation for dripped moisture loss during cooking. Our model is suitable for predicting cooking times. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.