And as detailed here , raw steak can be safely refrigerated for three to five days. Excerpt: Does it turn the color grey? Turns out they use bleach in supermarkets to make it stay red. When fried as beef burgers, the meat turns white in colour. Maybe you open a package of ground beef, and a little bit of brown is on the bottom of the package. Meat is full of a pigment called myoglobin, which is responsible for delivering iron and oxygen to muscles. A pink color can also be formed in slow cooked meat Fresh cut meat is purplish in color and remains so if it is vacuum-packed--and thereby deprived of oxygen--immediately after cutting. The grey color is a result of oxidation. I developed the recipe by grabbing ingredients from my refrigerator and cupboards one "crunch time" when I needed an easy dish fast. Ok, so you’re wondering why your ground beef turns from a really bright red to a really dark grey? This creates metmyoglobin, which is responsible for the meat turning grayer than your grandpa. | Southern Living When you're browning meat, you're essentially trying to sear a combination of meat, fat, and water. When ground beef goes truly bad, on the other hand, other signs of spoilage are normally present, including an off odor, a sticky or tacky feel, or a slimy appearance. cooked ground beef, pink color can show up with levels as low as 5 parts per million - that is 5 milligrams per kilogram of beef. That being said, most packaged ground beef has a slight odor, especially if it has been in there long enough to turn gray. The plastic film used for packaging beef in market is permeable to oxygen so continuous exposure to oxygen can lead to grayish brown color of ground beef. Eating it might not kill you, but it can give you a severe case of diarrhea at the minimum (I thought I could "cheat" by adding in a lot of taco seasoning -- nope -- not recommended). If the meat was fresh/not on clearance, then it shouldn't be bad yet. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Here we go: There is an important lesson here about heat management. Wiki User Answered . No. of ground beef, but end up cooking other things before getting to it. It didn't seem to smell, but I wanted to ask you guys before I made the decision. No one wants to get sick from bad meat. What yall think . Spoilage is a function of freshness (or lack thereof), where… Many of us are putting on our detective hats, closely inspecting the product from the label to the color and everything in between. This may not look as appetizing, but it's a fresh, healthy piece of meat. Unsaturated fats break down quicker than saturated fats so fish and chicken go bad quicker than red meats. This will also happen to any beef you store in the freezer. i've used beef that's nearly black it has a strange taste but its not deadly. This indicates a chemical change has occurred in the protein of the meat. Smell it. I have some thawing in the fridge and forgot about it. Green ground beef is no good; get rid of it. AUGUSTOALGUSTO offer daily download for free, fast and easy. aslong as you sear it it should be safe to eat, it should not have any strong smells with the exception of a slight buttery smell from the fat. However, it's fairly common to see ground beef that has turned brown or grey on the inside of the chunk of meat. discussion from the Chowhound General Discussion, Flank Steak food community. It’ll guarantee the freshness, and we think it tastes better, too! Want to see more Southern Living videos? Once the meat comes in contact with oxygen (like when the seal is broken), it will quickly turn bright red thanks to the myoglobin. The presence of oxygen, however, eventually turns beef grayish-brown. Here's how it works: The pigment responsible for the red color in meat is oxymyoglobin, a substance common to all red-blooded animals. Ground meat can be the repository of unsold steaks and roasts and even unsold ground beef from the day before. The grey color is a result of oxidation. The USDA also recommends cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of 160°F before serving it. of ground beef, but end up cooking other things before getting to it. Back in the old days, the butchers would put out the ground beef for display, it would get oxidized and then they would have to "refresh" the meat by adding in saltpeter (potassium nitrate) and mixing it around. Having them flat allows them to stack nicely in the freezer and allows for a faster thaw if needed. I work at a meat plant. For ground poultry, it's 165 degrees. This is because most of us won't eat food that smells bad or feels slimy. Brown or gray hamburger can be very unappetizing, but the color change doesn't necessarily mean you can't eat the meat. 3 65 Super Easy Finger Foods to Make for Any Party From chips and dip to one-bite apps, finger foods are the perfect way to kick off a party. If it's been vacuum sealed at the store, it could still look slightly purple. “Spoilage bacteria,” though generally harmless, can make meat smell bad … http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Factsheets/Color_of_Meat_&_Poultry/index.asp#5. Oxygen and light break down the fats into rancid fragments. My rule is: if it doesn't smell bad it's okay to eat. The meat's red to purplish-red hue comes from contact with oxygen. Download Ground Beef Turned Grey After Thawing With Hd Quality By Augusto for desktop and phones. After frozen they have a dark color. When packaged they are red as can be. The enzymes that use the oxygen still work, turning the myoglobin brown. The FDA website says that MAY mean it's already begun to spoil-- so what does that mean? Flatten them out, cool them in the fridge, then freeze them. It has the potential to make for a flavorful meal, as long as it’s used correctly. When cooked, bulk sausage turns from pink to tan to brown, depending on how long it is heated. Please join this discussion about when is ground beef bad within the Diet & Bodybuilding category. However, ground beef also may undergo discoloration prior to spoilage and remain perfectly suitable for consumption. Egg rolls shall be consumed tonight then. 3 65 Super Easy Finger Foods to Make for Any Party From chips and dip to one-bite apps, finger foods are the perfect way to kick off a party. As the USDA explains, “Oxygen from the air reacts with meat pigments to form a bright red color which is usually seen on the surface of meat purchased in … It smells OK, but it doesn’t look very appetizing and I wonder if it’s safe to eat. It's a good rule of thumb never to cook a burger less than medium unless you personally just ground the meat yourself. If you do detect an off odor or if the meat seems sticky or slimy, throw it away. When beef is exposed to oxygen present in air, it causes the breakdown of the color pigment. Some places/brands even dye their meat to keep it looking red even after it's oxidized, because redness==freshness to consumers. Ground turkey is a versatile ingredient that can be rolled into meatballs, shaped into burgers and meatloaf, and crumbled into sauces. The meat's red to purplish-red hue comes from contact with oxygen. Ground beef can turn brown in the absence of oxygen. Never place cooked food back on the same plate or cutting board that previously held raw food - people often make this mistake when cooking on the barbeque. Brown or gray hamburger can be very unappetizing, but the color change doesn't necessarily mean you can't eat the meat. And a dry-aged steak is still bright red when sold in the butcher shop. According to USDA guidelines, ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 F. Use a meat thermometer to be sure. For longer-term storage, you should freeze ground beef no later than two days after purchasing it. Bear in mind, this is a higher temperature than most rare or even medium-rare beef. USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service . This is not necessarily a bad thing. He assured me that the grey one was cut only an hour after the fresher looking red one. When raw meat goes truly bad, on the other hand, other signs of spoilage are usually present, including an off odor, a sticky or tacky feel, or a slimy appearance. The meat is usually still safe to eat when cooked, but the brown, unappealing color turns off most consumers. All that ground beef underneath the top layer has no access to oxygen, so it turns an unappealing color of gray. I have tried about everything I can thin of to fix the problem. The steaks are vaccuum sealed then frozen. Taste of Home is America's #1 cooking magazine. It's just oxidized. This will also happen to any beef you store in the freezer. It may look less appetizing but is safe. But ground beef that’s not exposed to oxygen — like the meat that’s on the interior — will often lose its red color after a few days. Water boils at 212F, and there's a fair bit of energy required to push water at 212F into water vapor at 212F. When you're browning meat, you're essentially trying to sear a combination of meat, fat, and water. Trust your nose, though, and always cook ground meat thoroughly. The grey would then disappear. But, that smell shouldn’t be strong enough to move your guts! Because it looks so nice, most butchers use a plastic wrap that allows some oxygen to get through, giving the top layer of your ground beef a bright, red color. If you don’t yet see film on your steak, but it has a strange color, like more brown, yellow, or green than the bright, purplish red color it should have, you might also have spoiled beef. We have a customer complaining about their steaks not being red after they thaw them out. While she spends most of her time writing these days, she still exercises her culinary muscles on the regular, taking any opportunity to turn local, seasonal ingredients into beautiful meals for her family. Ground meat can be the repository of unsold steaks and roasts and even unsold ground beef from the day before. put in the fridge for 2/3 hours so it cools down and then freeze it, this process stops the beef from growing larger ice crystals which might damage the texture. Even if we did, it would mostly just taste and smell very bad. Change in color of beef does not indicate bad quality. Keep an Eye on the Danger Zone. These spices can subtly affect the color of the cooked meat. Myoglobin’s chemical compound contains iron, which, after a few days of oxygen exposure, will oxidize. As others have indicated it is simply oxidation occurring. Ignoring storage time, regarding color, brown meat is as safe to eat as red meat. The grey would then disappear. Most markets tint ground beef red to make it appear very fresh. Read the Why Did My Meat Lose its Color (and did it go bad?) If you had more people over, you could easily decide to make more by breaking off another patty. Please join this discussion about when is ground beef bad within the Diet & Bodybuilding category. If your ground beef has turned brown or gray in color, or if the outer layer is still pink but the inside has turned (or vice versa), there are a few other ways to tell if it is okay to use. Ground Beef. It’s perfectly safe to eat, although you should be aware that the color indicates it has been in the package for a while. To avoid having your fresh meat turn brown, use it as soon as possible after purchasing it. Fresh, raw ground beef should be red due to its levels of oxymyoglobin — a pigment formed when a protein called myoglobin reacts with oxygen (3).