Moisture transport during cooking of meat: an analysis based on Flory-Rehner theory
Special Symposium - Innovations in Food Technology (LMC Congress)
Innovations in Food Technology - Poster Session (Food - P2)
Keywords: Cooking, moisture transport, model
It is proposed that the moisture transport during cooking of meat can be
described by the Flory-Rehner theory of rubber-elasticity. This theory
contains the essential physics to describe the transport of liquid
moisture due to denaturation and shrinkage of the heated protein
matrix. The validity of the proposition is shown by a numerical
model, which comprises a linearisation of the Flory-Rehner theory
augmented with Darcy’s law for porous media flow. The model is used to
simulate cooking experiments performed with a rectangular piece
of beef. Reasonable comparison between simulations and experiments
is obtained. Further analysis of simulations renders insight
of yet unexplained phenomena observed during cooking of meat
