2. Materials and methods
2.1. Samples
Lean beef as boneless rounds were supplied from a local processor (Burdur Güçbirligi Meat Facility A.Ş.) and stored at − 18 °C which were used within one week. Thawed meat samples (at 4 °C for 12 h) were ground through a 3 mm plate grinder (Arçelik, Turkey) and mixed with the ingredients. Meatballs were produced according to the following recipe: meat (96%, w/w), onion powder (1%, w/w), salt (0.5%, w/w), sodium carbonate (0.5%, w/w) and distilled water (2%, v/w) ( Icier et al., 2014). The mixture was kneaded for 15 min by hand, to obtain a homogeneous batter. The prepared batter was stored in a refrigerator (at 4 °C) for an hour after which it was shaped into cylindrical meatballs with a diameter of 0.025 m and length of 0.05 m length using a hollow cylinder block. Since the contact between the meatball and the electrode should be perfect for the uniform passage of the electrical current during ohmic cooking, the hollow cylindrical block was used as a standard mold to give the smooth cylindrical shape to the meatball batter. The production process stages of meatballs were carried out at room (20 ± 1 °C) temperature.