DEVELOPMENT OF A DUAL OPERATED GAS FIRED MEAT ROASTING MACHINE

Abstract

Meat is an important source of protein and other nutrients needed for human metabolic processes. Meat roasting is not only for meat preservation; it is another means of cooking meat to give it a delicious taste and aroma. It is also a method to cook meat with less saturated fat. This work introduced a meat roasting machine that taps its source of power (gas and battery/solar energy) from inexhaustible form of clean energy that are abundantly available. Heating is done with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) while power for rotation and turning is achieved through 12V battery charged by solar power. The machine has incorporated mechanisms that ensure proper roasting, by exposing surfaces of the meat to the heat at equal interval. There is a provision to channel melting juice away to guide against fluctuation in heating and excessive smoke. It is a dual operated since it is designed to be both semi-automatic and manually (dual) operated with handling capacity of 5kg of meat. Beef loses 37% of its mass when barbecue, it means final product of about 3.15kg will be obtained. There are provisions of gas meter to monitor gas flow rate at every stage and electric motor speed controller to control the speed of rotation. Its portability and source of its power makes it applicable in both rural and urban areas. The cost of production of the machine is N 440,400.