The design of cooking and cooling processes requires knowledge of the thermal properties of the food product. The heat capacity of food may be estimated by summing the apparent heat capacities of its components. This paper reports the apparent heat capacities of protein and fat components from lamb, beef and pork measured by a differential scanning calorimeter over the temperature range 30-85 degrees C. These measurements extend the range of available heat capacity data for individual components of meats. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.