How can I efficiently heat a moving organic object for thermographic imaging?

[Jake Platt]

If one wanted to heat an organic object, say a vegetable, for purposes of high speed capture of thermographic imaging using a flir camera to study surface defects, what would be the most efficient (read: fastest) method of non-destructive heating, rf (think microwave) or infrared heating coils (like the ge flat cooktop) or traditional method (oven)? Also, I don't need or want to heat the whole object, just the surface, and the objects are moving on a conveyor.

 

[UltrafastPED]

For surface heating IR will work well, and microwaves will work poorly.

An oven has the advantage that it heats the potato uniformly from all sides (more or less), whereas a flame does not. Boiling water also heats from the outside in, and uniformly across the surface, but might not be convenient with your camera - or your conveyor belt!