Developing a novel protocol for ready-to-eat beef sausage using superheated water (SW)-assisted radio frequency (RF) heating.

This study aimed to develop a novel protocol using superheated water (SW)-assisted radio frequency (RF) for evaluating the heating performance of food products. Beef sausage was selected as the ready-to-eat (RTE) food for the research. In this study, thermal properties (TPs) and dielectric properties (DPs) were measured. A computer simulation model was developed to explore the influence on internal temperature distribution during SW-assisted RF heating. Food qualities including texture, color, and microstructure were investigated. The results indicate an electrode gap of 180 mm and a sample height of 80 mm was chosen based on the electric current, respectively. The distribution of the electric field was well simulated using Comsol software, and simulated temperature profiles were found to be highly consistent with experimental results. Simulated results revealed the temperature profile was more uniform when the cylindrical sample was surrounded by circulating water. Furthermore, SW-assisted RF treatment demonstrated superior quality attributes in terms of texture, color and microstructure compared to SW heating alone owing to shorter heating time and relatively uniform temperature distribution. Therefore, SW-assisted RF heating has the potential to be a fast and efficient experimental tool for heating the various RTE foods safely and efficiently. [Display omitted] • A SW-RF system was developed to evaluate the heating performance of RTE foods. • Computer model for simulating SW-RF heating of beef sausage was established. • The simulated temperature profiles were in good agreement with experimental data. • Texture, color and microstructure of beef sausage was improved by SW-RF heating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]