A theoretical analysis has been carried out to study efficient microwave heating for discrete food samples with intermediate layered ceramic composites. Continuous food samples with specific thicknesses are replaced by two discrete samples and ceramic is used as intermediate layer. The effective power absorption and temperature distribution are found to be functions of discrete food sample ratios, distributions of microwave incidences, ceramic material and its thickness. Alumina composite with l(a) = 0.42 cm and SiC composite with l(a) = 0.35 cm correspond to maximum effective average power due to one-sided microwave incidence for beef sample. Power absorption with Alumina composite is larger than with SiC composite due to one-sided microwave incidence. Enhancement of power absorption is smaller for both sides incidence which also corresponds to smaller thermal runaway. Discrete bread sample with SiC as intermediate layer shows larger power absorption than that with Alumina composites. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.