This work is concerned with the thermal field inside the pool of a starch slurry that preheats and gelatinizes between the drums of a double drum dryer. Experiments are conducted at several steam pressures. drum rotation speeds and levels of the pool between the drums. Temperature time records are employed as a means of studying the effect of all variables to the thermal distribution in the pool. Measurements indicate that subcooled boiling may be the dominant mechanism for heat transport in the pool. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.