The effect of shrinkage on the cooking of meat

In this paper the cooking of meat is modeled as a process of time-dependent conduction through a constant-property medium that shrinks as its temperature increases. The overall shrinkage is the integrated result of shrinking that is distributed volumetrically through the piece of meat and depends on the temperature history at every point. The meat temperature history and associated shrinkage are determined numerically. The geometric configuration is the one-dimensional conducting slab with convective heating on both sides. Means for calculating the required cooking time are reported in the form of dimensionless charts for the temperature in the midplane of the meat slab. A numerical example shows that the cooking time calculated by accounting for meat shrinkage is appreciably shorter than the time estimate based on the classical Heisler chart for conduction in a constant-volume slab.