Fresh or Not So Much: Questions About Meat Color That Affect Everyone
'04.03.2021'
Source: Rambler
Whether it's a blood red steak or white chicken meat cooked any way you like, in the end our stomach doesn't care what it digests and breaks down. So why do we care so much that the raw product looks attractive and pleases us at least for its original color? It's all about the habit of visually assessing the freshness and quality of meat according to established color patterns, writes Rambler.
We will definitely put the rich red color tenderloin in the basket, the darkened edges will force us, and many will not even look at the piece of meat iridescent with rainbow colors. And completely in vain! As it turned out, in the majority view of what color fresh meat should be, there are many controversial points. Today we will try to clarify with concrete examples all the dark spots related to the color of the meat, putting them in a question-answer format.
What affects the color of the meat?
The color of the meat of any animal (and fish too) depends on the ratio of red and white muscle fibers in it. So, horses, cows and other mobile animals require a lot of oxygen, which means a lot of myoglobin. The muscles of the chicken need much less oxygen, which explains the light color of its meat.
All this explains only the color itself, but not the shades, which somehow form our ideas about the freshness and even suitability of the product for food. They depend on the species, age and sex of the animal, as well as its diet and, in fact, the level of mobility.
Meat or meat product may change color after being in the refrigerator, making it slightly lighter or darker, but this does not in any way indicate spoilage.
How does vacuum affect color?
Often meat comes to a modern person already in a hermetically sealed, sealed form, and the seller is more than anyone else interested in making it look appetizing. Therefore, the aim is to vacuum the product as soon as possible in order to preserve its original rich purple color. At the same time, pieces of meat or minced meat in contact with oxygen acquire a reddish-brown hue due to the oxidation of the myoglobin protein. But it is very unlikely that immediately after opening the factory packaging, the store mince in your kitchen will quickly darken and lose its presentable appearance, and it certainly will not deteriorate if the storage conditions are observed.
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How does freezing affect the color of the meat?
When properly frozen, when the meat is well packed, wrapped and positioned in the freezer, only slight discoloration and browning is possible. Of course, this does not in any way affect the safety of the product, but if these requirements and restrictions are not observed, for example, for the freezing period, dry white spots may appear on the surface of the meat, indicating a freeze burn. They are also safe, only such areas lose their former taste, become excessively dry compared to the rest of the piece. If you are not very worried about the integrity of the finished piece of meat, then the issue can be easily solved by simply cutting off the places damaged by frost.
Can the minced meat patty inside be considered finished?
Yes. The ground beef may turn pink on the inside after it has been safely cooked. The pink color appears due to the reaction between heat and myoglobin, which, as we already know, is responsible for the red or pink color. It can also happen when nitrile-containing vegetables are cooked with meat.
Since safety and readiness cannot be judged by color, it is very important to use a thermometer for food when cooking ground meat. In order to make sure that harmful bacteria inside the cutlet is destroyed, the temperature in the center should exceed the mark in 71-75 ° C.
What causes rainbow-colored meat?
Meat contains iron, fat and other compounds. When light strikes a piece, it splits into the colors of the rainbow, as it does in nature. Only here the situation is slightly complicated by the different degrees of light refraction in substances on the surface.
In addition, there are various pigments in meat that can give it a rainbow or greenish hue when exposed to heat. Packing the meat in an airtight wrap and keeping it protected from light helps prevent this situation. But this “color” does not threaten the quality or safety of fresh meat.
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What caused the strong discoloration of sausage products?
It just so happened that chemicals, preservation, oxygen pumping, and ultraviolet light are the surest ways to protect the product from spoilage. But exposure to light and oxygen causes oxidation, which leads to the "breaking" of color pigments, especially in the process of processing meat into a sausage product.
The preservative solutions used in these processes have a different composition for each individual manufacturer and, of course, change the shade in different ways. But something can still be generalized. So, raw pork is usually gray in color, but it turns light pink in sausage products.
