The study is aimed at assessment of the surface temperature on lean beef meat pieces placed into a pressure tank and steam sprayed at all sides and subsequently vacuum cooled. The knowledge of the temperature of the meat surface is very important parameter during microbial decontamination of the beef carcass surface with steam. The surface temperature determines the effectiveness of the process. A high temperature of the carcass surface may however result in irreversible colour change of the treated surface, which is undesirable. Direct measurement of the carcass surface temperature during steam spraying is very complicated. Mathematical modelling of the steam-decontamination process of a beef carcass was possible by calculation of the surface temperature based on knowledge of the temperature development in the surroundings of the meat. At the same time, the modelling also used data on the time development of the heat-transfer coefficient by evaluation of experiments with a metal model of the carcass placed into the same environment. The surface temperature was assessed by exponential extrapolation of the calculated temperature profile near the carcass surface. The calculation's accuracy was checked by comparison of the calculated and experimentally measured temperatures inside the meat during three different trials of beef carcass steam decontamination. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.