The present work has employed an optimization process among experimental temperatures and those obtained by finite elements analysis (FEA) for the determination of the convective heat transfer coefficient (h) during a stand up retortable pouch process in a steam-air retort. The process was divided in four periods, and the values obtained were: 828.7 W.m(-2).K-1 (hh1, first portion of heating; come up time); 538.5 W.m(-2).K-1 (hh2, second portion of heating; ball time); 1293.6 W.m(-2).K-1 (hc(1), first phase of cooling); and 183.6 W.m(-2).K-1 (hc(2), second phase of cooling). The results obtained were validated experimentally by meat product sterilization, presenting good correlation between experimental values and those obtained by the model. The values obtained contribute to the studies of heat transfer and thermal processes; besides, its values for pouches processes are scarce in the literature.o TEXTO COMPLETO DESTE ARTIGO, ESTARÁ DISPONÍVEL À PARTIR DE AGOSTO DE 2015.71