"Jon Mcleod" wrote in message
m...
PN2222A wrote:

You will want to apply the field directly to conductive plates which are
in contact with the meat -- if you have any air gap between a plate and
the meat,
the voltage drop will essentially be all across the air gap, none across
the test sample.

I've been thinking about this. There is a question on how to get an
e-field into the meat, and there is a question about whether bacteria
exist in the meat.

i think its normally assumed that bacteria contaminate the surface of cut
meat during handling and from exposure to the air. ground meat is more
likely to contain bacteria because it is ground... that is, the outer,
possibly contaminated, surface is cut and chopped and put in contact with
lots more meat surface, so bacteria can get spread throughout the mixture...
and of course there is always the contamination probability on the grinding
equipment which is much more complicated than a simple knife or saw used for
sliced meats.