Agenator: An open source computer-controlled dry aging system for beef. (October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lau, Soon Kiat; Ribeiro, Felipe Azevedo; Subbiah, Jeyamkondan; Calkins, Chris R.
• Is Part Of: HardwareX. Volume 6(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-10
• Subjects: Meat -- Beef -- Chamber -- Aging -- Drying -- Evaporation -- Proteolysis -- Flavor -- Automatic -- Environment -- Relative humidity -- Temperature -- Mass -- Weight -- Fan rotational speed -- RPM -- Air velocity -- Air flow -- Control -- PID; Scientific apparatus and instruments -- Periodicals; Laboratories -- Equipment and supplies -- Periodicals; Laboratories -- Equipment and supplies; Scientific apparatus and instruments; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 681
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ohx.2019.e00086
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2468-0672

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Abstract: Dry aging of beef is a process where beef is exposed to a controlled environment with the ultimate goal of drying the beef to improve its quality and value. Comprehensive investigations into the effects of various environmental conditions on dry aging are crucial for understanding and optimizing the process, but the lack of affordable equipment focused on data collection makes it difficult to do so. The Agenator was thus developed as an open source system with a suite of features for investigating dry aging such as: measuring and recording relative humidity, temperature, mass, air velocity, and fan rotational speed; precise control within 1% for relative humidity and 50 rpm for fan rotational speed; robust signal integrity preservation and data recovery features; modular design for easy addition and removal of individual chamber units; and non-permanent fixtures to allow easy adaptation of the system for other applications such as investigating dehydration of food products. The open source system comes with user-friendly computer software for interfacing with the system and creating sophisticated environmental control programs. The Agenator is available to the public at https://osf.io/87nck/ .