brown beef when raw any ideas

odds-n-sods

next time dont' take any meat out of the fridge until you are ready to cook it - and if that was minced beef - you wouldn't be able to eat it.

pammy14

Well I've eaten mince thats brown - no problem at all.

hilstep2000

As said above, it's oxidisation, that's all. Eat and enjoy!

odds-n-sods

you're supposed to eat mince the day you buy it as it goes off a lot quicker than other cuts of meat - as there is more air in it and the oxygen feeds the bacteria in the meat. If it's brown, its old - oxidized - and should not be eaten. Mince meat should also be cooked completely through - no red middles in burgers, for example.

People have died from eating old mince and mince that hasn't been cooked through - e coli, staph, etc all live on meat and if given the chance to multiply, will do so and can end up with enough to kill. If it doesn't kill, it can damage your kidneys, liver, etc and give you ill health for life. Not worth the risk for saving a couple of quids worth of meat, IMHO.

I'm a former chef who has taken many food hygiene courses.

Oxidized steak is fine to eat; as all the bacteria live on the surface, they are killed when you cook the meat. But not good for tartare or carpaccio, as these arent cooked, but I suspect that you lot dont make either of those!

busiscoming2

Hi there, I usually buy organic mince (from tesco - prepacked) and then freeeze it, but I notice when I get it out to defrost it is brown, whereas the normal lean mince stays red. Is it still ok to eat although its brown? is this normal? It is still brown even when it has defrosted.

Skint_Catt

No its fine - I can't remember what happens to it, but sometimes if you keep fresh mince in the fridge for a while it goes brown too.

floyd

Its just oxidation, perfectly safe to eat. If there is any smell to it other than raw meat/blood then I would be suspicious but if its just discoloured then go for it

Stephen_Leak

Red meat turns from red to brown due to the meat going through perfectly normal chemical changes in a protein called myoglobin. Indeed, some meats, pheasant for example, are inedible until they have been "hung" and these changes have taken place.

champys

Yes - and if meat stays red longer, it has usually been treated with this product butchers use (potassium nitrate? E252?). So it may well be a good sign that it goes brown quite quickly.

busiscoming2

Thanks, I shall worry no more!