The Development of a Digital Twin to Improve the Quality and Safety Issues of Cambodian Pâté: The Application of 915 MHz Microwave Cooking

Foodborne diseases are common in Cambodia and developing good food hygiene practices is a mandatory goal. Moreover, developing a low-carbon strategy and energy efficiency is also a priority. This study focuses on pâté cooking, a very common food product in Cambodia. In this paper, the authors chose to develop a digital twin dedicated to perfectly predict the temperature for cooking in a 915 MHz single-mode cavity, instead of using a classical and energy-consuming steaming method. The heating strategy is based on a ramp-up heating and a temperature-holding technique (with Tylose^® as the model food and Cambodian pâté). The model developed with COMSOL^® Multiphysics software can accurately predict both local temperatures and global moisture losses within the pâté sample (RMSE values of 2.83 and 0.58, respectively). The moisture losses of Cambodian pâté at the end of the process was 28.5% d.b (dry basis) after a ramp-up heating activity ranging from 4 to 80 °C for 1880 s and a temperature-holding phase at 80 °C for 30 min. Overall, the accurate prediction of local temperatures within Cambodian pâté is mainly dependent on the external heat-transfer coefficient during the temperature-holding phase, and is specifically discussed in this study. A 3D model can be used, at present, as a digital twin to improve the temperature homogeneity of modulated microwave power inputs in the future.