The objective of this paper was to estimate the volumetric heat capacity, rhoc and the thermal conductivity k, of conduction heated foods simultaneously and uniquely by using the hot wire probe method. To meet this objective, the heat conduction in the probe and its environment was modelled by means of the finite element method. Optimal experimental design methodology was, then, applied and the information content of various static and dynamic heat generation profiles were evaluated towards obtaining unique estimates for the thermophysical properties of the food. Simulations indicate that informative experiments were obtained from pulse heat generation profiles and this was confirmed by implementing pulse-like block profiles. However, the accuracy of the estimates is highly dependent on some features of the setup and the heat transfer model. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.