A Comprehensive Evaluation of Microwave Reheating Performance Using Dynamic Complementary-Frequency Shifting Strategy in a Solid-State System

摘要

Abstract Solid-state techniques have the potential to address the nonuniform heating in magnetron-based microwave ovens. A previously developed dynamic complementary-frequency shifting strategy in solid-state systems showed better performance than other orderly shifting strategies on simple model foods. However, the dynamic strategy has not been compared with magnetron-based microwave reheating processes or tested on complicated commercial food products. To bridge this gap, this study comprehensively evaluated the microwave reheating performance using the dynamic complementary-frequency shifting strategy on five commercial and/or prepared meals with different characteristics, including single-component Pulled Chicken, multicomponent Beef in Gravy, multilayer Lasagna, multicompartment Pulled Chicken Lasagna, and multicompartment Mashed Potato Beef in Gravy. Results showed that the dynamic complementary-frequency shifting strategy improved microwave performance on all food products, especially on multicompartment foods. The presence of liquid components or the use of steam-venting packages may negatively affect the thermal profile collection in the dynamic strategy, hindering the algorithm performance, although considerable improvement was still observed. The complementary-frequency shifting strategy is highly promising to be incorporated in future solid-state microwave systems for improving microwave reheating performance.