brown beef when raw any ideas

annie-c

VeryTrying wrote: »

I didn't know that so little was understood about the quality of our food that perfectly good meat would be casually thrown away when there was no risk to health. Does this explain things better?


......

By all means, throw your meat away if you don't like the colour, but remember there really isn't anything wrong with it and all you are doing is wasting money, not protecting your family's health.

To be fair, a number of the posts above also imply that the colour of meat alone is not a sufficient indicator of its safety or otherwise. Personally I think it is good advice that, given that the meat is brown, it is important to at least investigate further, ie checking for smells or sliminess before cooking/eating. If the meat had been bought from a reputable butcher and transferred staright to the fridge at home then I'd tend to agree that it is probably fine, but given that it came from a supermarket, where there is lots of scope for it to have been left unchilled for unknown periods of time, then I think the OP is right to be cautious in order to protect his family's health.

I found this US govt advice if it helps anyone: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Color_of_Meat_&_Poultry/index.asp

Nova5

Yes, I did feel quite wasteful in throwing it away considering I'm trying to change my lifestyle to OS.

It's done now and I'm not getting it out of the bin. I'll know next time to have a good sniff first!

busiscoming2

I always 'sniff' meat products before cooking them, and I taught my kids to do the same (for when they went/go to uni). Learn to know what they are supposed to smell like, then you know when they smell slightly different. Brown mince is ok, just looks yuk!

VeryTrying_2

busiscoming2 wrote: »

I always 'sniff' meat products before cooking them, and I taught my kids to do the same (for when they went/go to uni). Learn to know what they are supposed to smell like, then you know when they smell slightly different. Brown mince is ok, just looks yuk!

Brilliant! If we don't teach the younger ones, they'll just believe everything Mr T says. At least this Board is doing its bit to try and pass on some of the old-fashioned knowledge.

I think you can't beat the SNIFF TEST (on unfrozen/defrosted meat, of course) - if it smells wrong, then it most probably is. Two things to remember: no point in smelling still frozen meat, and let the meat air for a minute or two after opening the pack.

bestyman

Hi all ,
I bought 2 fillet steaks last week with a use by date of today .
I took them out of the frodge for about an hour on Friday night but then put them back in we we decieded not to eat them ( we got drunk instead)
Tonight we were gonna eat them but they have gone a browny colour . I have seen beef like this before in the supermarket but have always avoided it .
It does not smell ( i think) . Is it safe to eat and why has it gone like this?
11 quids worth of fillet here so dont want to throw it .
Thanks
Mark

vixtress

bit of a rubbish answer but i have definately read on this board that it is ok to eat. its somthing to do with oxidisation or somthing.
am sure someone will be along with a more legible answer soon though

Robothell

Generally speaking, the brown colour on red meat is harmless. Indeed, if a bit of beef is properly hung it will have a lovely dark brown colour to it. If it smells fine, eat it and enjoy it. It'll do you no harm.

lil_me

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=494564&highlight=brown%2Bmeat HTH

tallyhoh

It should be okay, very bright red beef has not been hung long enough and will be tough.

pammy14

It should be better than red meat as the brown colour is the way beef should look, when it has matured for up to three weeks. Nowadays when you buy from supermarkets they tend not to let it mature so it is red.