Temperature distribution studies were performed in two industrial-scale water spray/cascading retorts to investigate the influence of various processing conditions (rotation, programming of the come-up phase, programming of the pressure build-up) on the temperature distribution throughout the retort. Retort temperature data were analyzed for means and standard deviations in temperature at the beginning of the holding time (HT), maximum temperature difference between test locations at the beginning and after 1, 3 and 5 min of the holding phase, and box-and-whiskers plots for each location during the holding phase. This study revealed that the temperature distribution studies are a useful tool in the evaluation and identification of retort processing conditions and in the evaluation of the performance of the equipment. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.