Advantages of RF Cooking | Disadvantages of RF Cooking

This page covers advantages and disadvantages of RF Cooking and its basics. It mentions benefits or advantages of RF Cooking and drawbacks or disadvantages of RF Cooking.

What is RF Cooking ?

The cooking in which radio frequency is used for heating is known as RF cooking. There are various applications of RF heating in food industry which include drying, baking, thawing, pasteurization, heating of bread, sterilization, meat processing, cooking etc. Radio frequencies occupy lower part of EM spectrum from 1 to 300 MHz. Frequencies from 10 to 15 MHz are used for food heating. RF frequency of 27.12 MHz achieves 20 cm of penetration depth during heating. Dielectric RF heating typically uses frequency band from 13 MHz to 6 GHz. FDA has recommended and approved 915MHz and 2450 MHz for application to food cooking. Different food products will take different time intervals for cooking based on frequency, shape/size of the food products and other parameters.

RF energy is generated using RF transistors and is amplified using Solid state amplifiers. This RF energy will replace magnetrons used in microwave ovens. RF energy can be generated using semiconductor devices (e.g. oscillators, mixers) and multiple antennas to fulfill the requirements in microwave ovens. RF couplers are used in microwave oven to provide closed loop feedback. Humidity sensors are also used inside the cavity for feedback. Table below mentions frequencies used in RF heating technique.

Frequencies	Food items	Process
14 to 17 MHz	Egg, Fruits, Vegetables	Thawing of frozen food
36 to 40 MHz	Fish and Meat	Thawing of frozen food
27.12 MHz	Cookies, Crackers etc.	Post baking drying
60 MHz	Cocoa beans	Roasting
9 MHz	Meat	Pasteurization

Benefits or Advantages of RF Cooking

Following are benefits or advantages of RF Cooking over conventional heating and drying techniques.
➨It avoids overheating of the surface of the food product.
➨It offers deep penetration and contactless heating of food.
➨The device such as microwave oven which uses RF energy delivers fast heating and requires less time. ➨RF energy based ovens are energy efficient and saves electricity.
➨RF cooking delivers tasty and hygienic cooked food.

Drawbacks or Disadvantages of RF Cooking

Following are drawbacks or disadvantages of RF Cooking:
➨The cooking devices which use RF energy are expensive compare to ohmic heating devices.
➨The different food products require different times for cooking. Hence user needs to be skilled to set the timer accordingly.

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