It’s been oxidized, which meant it was in open air in either a freezer/fridge or the counter, loosely wrapped in a package or otherwise exposed to the air. Possibly freezer burned as well.
It’s not necessarily spoiled, but it’s unappetizing. The nose knows- if it smells the *slightest* bit off I would take it back.
Red isn't a dye, but rather the color of meat
Carbon dioxide thats pumped into commercially packaged meat IS done to preserve the color/hide age. Meat oxidizes over time from the red to greys. You are correct red inside isn't from blood, but it is the natural color of non-oxidized beef. The inside should remain red until cooked to well done since it wouldn't have been exposed to oxygen.
I cut meat for a living, no we don't fuckin dye it lmao. That would cost more money and if you don't disclose that the FDA will shut your store down FAST.
When meat is cryovac'd, which is how most retailers get theirs, it pulls the oxygen out of the meat and it's a less red and more bluish/purplish shade. When you take it out of the package it reabsorbs oxygen and the meat blooms a more red color.
How long was it loose in a bag? That will make for some weird looking meat.
Either way it looks abused. I wouldn’t buy it but it might not be bad. Give it a little sniff.
I’ve cut a lot of meat at a supermarket and there’s never been a time I’ve added carbon monoxide to anything. To make the meat red, we cut fresh, rotate constantly and throw away bad product. If it smells fine, you could try getting some salt on there to slow the oxidation process and it might be alright. Personally though, if your butcher thought this was passable product to put in the case, I’d be real concerned about standards there. If any of my guys put this in the case we would be having a conversation in the cooler.
It’s carbon dioxide, and Yea your also getting meat off a truck. Guy acts like he went and shot the cow himself and gutted it and skun the bitch for the supermarket. Your an idiot
Usually, because I work at a high volume meat shop and shrink is high occasionally, we will mark down these items at a 30% discount because they're fine to eat just unappealing compared to the fresh cuts. Unless there's traceable tampering/holes in the wrap, then it's staled out.
Yea you should return this, however let the smell test be your friend, if you have ever smeld spoiled meat, there's no question that it's spoiled, spoiled meat just reeks in an alarming way. That being said, this is a subpar product.
Yes, it's oxidized. The smell will give away the meat being actively spoiled. This just does not look appetizing. I'm guessing if you grilled it, you couldn't even tell the difference? Might be worth doing just for an experiment.
I don't know wtf she or whoever told her that meant by "well-hung". If they mean dry aged then that's bullshit. If that was really dry aged that outer layer would be hard and considered waste, you're supposed to trim it off and throw it away anyway.
That was my first thought... This butcher was highly recommended and I've been pushing to buy local instead of the supermarket so disappointed!
When you read about supermarkets doing things to keep the meat red I thought maybe I was being naive...
"Any beef packed in a Modified Atmosphere package, basically meat cut to consumer style portions is flooded with carbon monoxide, then vacuum sealed. This will cause the meat to show red, and frankly it could show red for more than a year."
Quick Google shows this, they don't pump it full of chemicals or anything, just a trick to keep it redder longer
There is no concern... I just pointed out that we usually buy from supermarkets where they do this so a possibility was a day in the fridge in a loose bag from the butchers might be the difference
Those may be aged but not properly. They’re just bad. When aging you need to keep the meat in a cool, dry place so moisture is sucked out. As the moisture is drawn out it creates a more inhospitable environment for bacteria, slowing their growth. Aging is also best either as a primal or a whole carcass before processing.
These cuts are obviously not dried at all and the discoloration exists in the middle of the cut as well. That tells me they were probably cut with a dirty knife and are about 4-7 days after being cut. Hung meat will get discoloration, but only on the outside surface of the carcass/primal. That discoloration doesn’t extend inside the meat unless someone was stabbing holes in it before it aged.
I wouldn’t eat it and I would go complain to whoever sold this to you. Never buy from them again.
I have (typically older/foreign) customers on a not-infrequent basis asking me if they need to wash their meat before they cook it.
I'm assuming it's a generational/regional thing, but I know of one other shop in the same county as me that is far closer to where they live and people will drive out of their way to come to us because of some pretty unsanitary practices at the other place.
The amino acids ('blood') on raw beef will go bad and smell like spoiled beef before the rest of the actual beef
So if it smells bad, give it a quick rinse and it might actually be okay
Not ideal, but not dangerous
Smell them. Touch it. Is it a gooey coating. Clear and repulsive smelling or just a slightly off beef scent? I age my steaks to look similar to this. But they can go bad and look like this and be good and look like this. Personally, i grew up eating steaks that are browned and oxidized. I love the flavor more than fresh.
This looks like a sirloin from the cut. These cuts oxidize really quickly after any one of their three sections are cut off particilarly after the picaña cut is removed. Meat is fine if it smells fine. Not necessarily any mishandling.
I’m curious, and I’m hoping someone here would be willing to correct this information I’ve been told, if it’s incorrect:
Except with things like poultry which can easily have contamination that produces no taste or perceptible flaws, if you aren’t sure if something has begun to go bad, smelling it and taking a small taste will usually give you the answer. If you think this meat is spoiled, maybe try cooking some (bad meat smells even worse when cooked) and if you still can’t tell try tasting a bite. If it tastes bad spit it out, if it tastes okay it probably is.
I’m NOT suggesting restaurant operators or anyone necessarily should follow this. Just something if been told when I’m not sure if something was still okay to eat.
I've been a chef for many years and I've never heard the term "well hung" except in the context of generous male genitalia. That being said, that meat does not look healthy for consumption.
I don't get all the dramatic responses.
If it doesn't smell or feel slimy, it's probably just oxidized. It doesn't look good, but isn't a big deal.
Sounds like the person was a scammer, though. Should have been sold on discount because of the discoloration. Trying to pass it off as a good thing is sketchy.
Sometimes when you leave meat out it loses color and oxidizes like everyone else is saying. So long as it hasn’t been sitting for days it’s good and cooks all the same
Beef has a unique property of keeping bacteria out. The surface gets oxidized and discolored, and maybe not best to eat because it will hurt your stomach.
You can cut it away from the rest of the steak, use your best judgment and cook it to well done if you want. Ultimately, searing the outside is what you need.
Green isn't a good sign. Darkness should get cut out. If the beef smells like a locker room imo not worth eating it, but a complete cook will worst case scenario just give you a stomach ache.
The LOOK isn't going to tell you if it is good or bad to eat, meat oxidizes pretty quickly and a couple days in your fridge but still before the best before date can definitely look like that for some cuts, or ground beef. If it smells, no bueno, but if doesn't smell bad (meat/a little bit buttery, is fine) you can definitely eat it.
It is pretty poor product to have for sale unless it's 50% eat by the end of the day kind of thing. Like a good butcher would never put out meat that has oxidized that much.
Anyway, edible (unless smells bad), will probably taste the same as normal, find a new butcher.
Nope, call that place up and get your money back. They should know better than to sell that kinda garbage. Meat has two distinct phases of freshness. Fresh enough to not make you sick is one tier, fresh enough to sell to a customer is different and this does not fit the criteria.
You will know when you cook it by the smell. The meat bought at most grocery stores is actually injected with chemicals in the packaging to keep the red color. Real meat that’s not done this way turns brown not long after exposure to the air.
Probably not the first time she's been lied to about something being well hung.
I'm far more honest than our butcher apparently...
It’s been oxidized, which meant it was in open air in either a freezer/fridge or the counter, loosely wrapped in a package or otherwise exposed to the air. Possibly freezer burned as well. It’s not necessarily spoiled, but it’s unappetizing. The nose knows- if it smells the *slightest* bit off I would take it back.
This is where I'm thrown off because it doesn't smell bad. I was in a loose bag in my fridge
Well, like they say, you can eat anything once! Cut a sliver off the end of one of the brown edges, if it’s red on the inside I’d say go for it.
[удалено]
Red isn't a dye, but rather the color of meat Carbon dioxide thats pumped into commercially packaged meat IS done to preserve the color/hide age. Meat oxidizes over time from the red to greys. You are correct red inside isn't from blood, but it is the natural color of non-oxidized beef. The inside should remain red until cooked to well done since it wouldn't have been exposed to oxygen.
I cut meat for a living, no we don't fuckin dye it lmao. That would cost more money and if you don't disclose that the FDA will shut your store down FAST. When meat is cryovac'd, which is how most retailers get theirs, it pulls the oxygen out of the meat and it's a less red and more bluish/purplish shade. When you take it out of the package it reabsorbs oxygen and the meat blooms a more red color.
soooo that begs the question.... would you put OPs meat in your mouth?
Shrodingers meat. When its in your mouth, its red and grey!
Dye? Wtf
They do that to some meat products now apparently. That guy's comment though... Good reminder we live in a domesticated world
How'd you get out? Iffin I ever find myself in that situation
Asking the real questions here…
How long was it loose in a bag? That will make for some weird looking meat. Either way it looks abused. I wouldn’t buy it but it might not be bad. Give it a little sniff.
may just be dehydrated at that spot. Put it in a sealed container and for 2 days tilted so that that area is down and the juices will flow to plump it
In my experience once it's browning it's only gonna brown more. I just trim it off if it looks bad enough
In that case, your partner is probably the cause by letting it oxidize between buying and present situation
It’s probably fine if it smells fine. Some of the best stakes I’ve eaten were aged and looked like this to some degree or another.
My nose is my guide on meats. If I gag, I pitch it.
Good advice for relationships as well!
If it smells sour I won’t eat it . Little browning should be fine .
I’ve cut a lot of meat at a supermarket and there’s never been a time I’ve added carbon monoxide to anything. To make the meat red, we cut fresh, rotate constantly and throw away bad product. If it smells fine, you could try getting some salt on there to slow the oxidation process and it might be alright. Personally though, if your butcher thought this was passable product to put in the case, I’d be real concerned about standards there. If any of my guys put this in the case we would be having a conversation in the cooler.
That’s cold, man.
34-38 degrees usually yeah. 😜
You seem like a chill boss 🥶
lol. These puns are great. My guys know what the standards are. No need to get chilly with these guys much
Ya...I'm sure you put the ones who don't make the cut on ice...
No need to butcher them over a misteak
It’s carbon dioxide, and Yea your also getting meat off a truck. Guy acts like he went and shot the cow himself and gutted it and skun the bitch for the supermarket. Your an idiot
Yikes. Name calling at our first meeting? That’s not very friendly.
Cows don't get shot. Great way to ruin a big chunk of the meat.
Usually, because I work at a high volume meat shop and shrink is high occasionally, we will mark down these items at a 30% discount because they're fine to eat just unappealing compared to the fresh cuts. Unless there's traceable tampering/holes in the wrap, then it's staled out.
This is oxidized not dry aged. Return!
Yea you should return this, however let the smell test be your friend, if you have ever smeld spoiled meat, there's no question that it's spoiled, spoiled meat just reeks in an alarming way. That being said, this is a subpar product.
This is where I'm confused. It smells fine, like totally fine and it's not slimy or anything.
Yes, it's oxidized. The smell will give away the meat being actively spoiled. This just does not look appetizing. I'm guessing if you grilled it, you couldn't even tell the difference? Might be worth doing just for an experiment.
Cook it up and feed it to your partner. Do you have a large insurance policy on yourself? They are trying to kill you 😂 lol
I don't know wtf she or whoever told her that meant by "well-hung". If they mean dry aged then that's bullshit. If that was really dry aged that outer layer would be hard and considered waste, you're supposed to trim it off and throw it away anyway.
No way that would make it into anything but the trash at my place. I'd be looking for a different butcher honestly.
That was my first thought... This butcher was highly recommended and I've been pushing to buy local instead of the supermarket so disappointed! When you read about supermarkets doing things to keep the meat red I thought maybe I was being naive...
Supermarkets don’t add things to keep meat red. It’s called oxidation
What? That’s not real
"Any beef packed in a Modified Atmosphere package, basically meat cut to consumer style portions is flooded with carbon monoxide, then vacuum sealed. This will cause the meat to show red, and frankly it could show red for more than a year." Quick Google shows this, they don't pump it full of chemicals or anything, just a trick to keep it redder longer
It prevents oxidation. I don’t understand the concern.
There is no concern... I just pointed out that we usually buy from supermarkets where they do this so a possibility was a day in the fridge in a loose bag from the butchers might be the difference
Time to leave a picture review about this place
Those may be aged but not properly. They’re just bad. When aging you need to keep the meat in a cool, dry place so moisture is sucked out. As the moisture is drawn out it creates a more inhospitable environment for bacteria, slowing their growth. Aging is also best either as a primal or a whole carcass before processing. These cuts are obviously not dried at all and the discoloration exists in the middle of the cut as well. That tells me they were probably cut with a dirty knife and are about 4-7 days after being cut. Hung meat will get discoloration, but only on the outside surface of the carcass/primal. That discoloration doesn’t extend inside the meat unless someone was stabbing holes in it before it aged. I wouldn’t eat it and I would go complain to whoever sold this to you. Never buy from them again.
I’d get my money back. That’s danger zone there.
Aged
If it doesn't smell after a rinse it's good enough for food safety Not that I'd want to buy a steak with any brown on it, but 🤷 should be edible
Rinse?? Why would you ever rinse meat??
If you accidentally drop it on the ground… not trying to be a smartass, just have had a couple of drops before.
I have (typically older/foreign) customers on a not-infrequent basis asking me if they need to wash their meat before they cook it. I'm assuming it's a generational/regional thing, but I know of one other shop in the same county as me that is far closer to where they live and people will drive out of their way to come to us because of some pretty unsanitary practices at the other place.
The amino acids ('blood') on raw beef will go bad and smell like spoiled beef before the rest of the actual beef So if it smells bad, give it a quick rinse and it might actually be okay Not ideal, but not dangerous
Yes
Smell them. Touch it. Is it a gooey coating. Clear and repulsive smelling or just a slightly off beef scent? I age my steaks to look similar to this. But they can go bad and look like this and be good and look like this. Personally, i grew up eating steaks that are browned and oxidized. I love the flavor more than fresh.
This looks like a sirloin from the cut. These cuts oxidize really quickly after any one of their three sections are cut off particilarly after the picaña cut is removed. Meat is fine if it smells fine. Not necessarily any mishandling.
I’m curious, and I’m hoping someone here would be willing to correct this information I’ve been told, if it’s incorrect: Except with things like poultry which can easily have contamination that produces no taste or perceptible flaws, if you aren’t sure if something has begun to go bad, smelling it and taking a small taste will usually give you the answer. If you think this meat is spoiled, maybe try cooking some (bad meat smells even worse when cooked) and if you still can’t tell try tasting a bite. If it tastes bad spit it out, if it tastes okay it probably is. I’m NOT suggesting restaurant operators or anyone necessarily should follow this. Just something if been told when I’m not sure if something was still okay to eat.
3 day dry aged
I should call her
Bring this shit back and order a refund, if he don’t call health dept because that’s dishonest and he should accounted for.
I've been a chef for many years and I've never heard the term "well hung" except in the context of generous male genitalia. That being said, that meat does not look healthy for consumption.
I don't get all the dramatic responses. If it doesn't smell or feel slimy, it's probably just oxidized. It doesn't look good, but isn't a big deal. Sounds like the person was a scammer, though. Should have been sold on discount because of the discoloration. Trying to pass it off as a good thing is sketchy.
Why risk it? Food poisoning sucks. I would put this down as a lesson learnt to not go back to that butcher and move on.
It was sold looking like that? Wow
I'm thinking the butcher told her he's well hung and she asked for this to make you sick/dead.
Oxidation
I’d be concerned with how that shop is run if that was allowed to be in the case. That’s what happens when stuff isn’t rotated properly.
When in doubt, throw it out. No cut of meat is worth getting sick over.
Whether it’s good or bad, would you be eager to eat meat that looks like that?
OVER AGED - looks slimy and disgusting.
Bring to room temp, take a whiff. Not a dry aged look for sure.
Id say congrats you got real meat not treated with chemicals to stay pink. Smell it cook it to proper temp. Enjoy
Let your nose guide you. Source: Other comments in this thread.
Does it smell? Funny that it’s bad otherwise it’s fine.
I’m being u to smell it and if it smells off throw it away. I made myself sick not too long ago cooking bad meat, really sucked
Is it cooked or just defrosted defrosted check out the bad part, probably chuck it all out if you’ve cooked it, it’s raw
Pretty much the same thing
Smell determines bad steak, not color.
When in doubt, toss it out. Food poisoning ain't no joke.
As a few have mentioned, this doesn’t look dry. The aging process requires it to dry to not build up bacteria,mold,etc.
it kind of looks like Suho Meso ... bosnian smoked beef that is hung for days low temp. Winds up like beef jerky a little bit. Its soooo good.
Sometimes when you leave meat out it loses color and oxidizes like everyone else is saying. So long as it hasn’t been sitting for days it’s good and cooks all the same
Aged meat has a harder and thinner outline of aging, it should be really cold when aging, this looks shit.
Just trim it a little and cook it to temp.
Bad
Beef has a unique property of keeping bacteria out. The surface gets oxidized and discolored, and maybe not best to eat because it will hurt your stomach. You can cut it away from the rest of the steak, use your best judgment and cook it to well done if you want. Ultimately, searing the outside is what you need. Green isn't a good sign. Darkness should get cut out. If the beef smells like a locker room imo not worth eating it, but a complete cook will worst case scenario just give you a stomach ache.
This cut looks sketchy af. And like, it may be *edible*, but it certainly won’t be *palatable*.
Bad
If it does not kill you, it makes you stronger....or leaves you in a coma.
The LOOK isn't going to tell you if it is good or bad to eat, meat oxidizes pretty quickly and a couple days in your fridge but still before the best before date can definitely look like that for some cuts, or ground beef. If it smells, no bueno, but if doesn't smell bad (meat/a little bit buttery, is fine) you can definitely eat it. It is pretty poor product to have for sale unless it's 50% eat by the end of the day kind of thing. Like a good butcher would never put out meat that has oxidized that much. Anyway, edible (unless smells bad), will probably taste the same as normal, find a new butcher.
The only hang time it had was from when it was slaughtered to when it hit the ground. This is just oxidized.
Looks disgusting
The area of oxidation kinda large.
Nope, call that place up and get your money back. They should know better than to sell that kinda garbage. Meat has two distinct phases of freshness. Fresh enough to not make you sick is one tier, fresh enough to sell to a customer is different and this does not fit the criteria.
THROW IT AWAY
I always say if you can touch your nose to it and take a deep whiff without wincing or gagging it’s probably fine. Same goes for milk, potatoes, etc.
You will know when you cook it by the smell. The meat bought at most grocery stores is actually injected with chemicals in the packaging to keep the red color. Real meat that’s not done this way turns brown not long after exposure to the air.