ABSTRACT
From bread baking to food sterilization, most differences between the performance of a microwave product or process and its conventional counterpart can be attributed to the time-temperature history and its spatial variation in food. A product's adequate flavor or excessive moisture can be attributed to the same cause. Thus, time-temperature history and its spatial variation are critically important to microwave product and process development. A multitude of food and oven factors determine the rate of microwave absorption and its spatial variation, as discussed in Chapter 2. Additional food properties, such as density, specific heat, and thermal conductivity, as well as conditions surrounding the food (boundary conditions), determine the time-temperature history and its spatial variation.
