Steak lovers have been told that the red liquid oozing from their rare meat is not actually blood.
Those who would rather eat their steak well done usually do so because the ‘bloody’ appearance of a rare steak puts them off. However, it’s now been revealed that the red liquid is actually something completely different.
It’s an easy mistake to make, given that it looks and smells like blood. So what is this mysterious liquid?
It’s actually myoglobin, a protein responsible for delivering oxygen to an animal’s muscles. This protein only turns red when the meat is cut or exposed to air, and can darken when heated, reports the Mirror.
Therefore, the “bloody” steak on your plate is simply cooked at a lower temperature, making the red hue of the myoglobin more pronounced. Jeffrey Savell, a Meat Science expert at Texas A&M University, told HuffPost readers that more active and older animals produce meat with higher myoglobin levels. This not only affects steaks but also explains the darker meat in turkey legs compared to the lighter breast meat.
The legs’ active muscles generate more myoglobin. Surprisingly, the red hue we associate with raw meat is due to exposure to oxygen during packaging. Without this, the freshest beef would appear purplish, turning cherry-red upon oxidation, which is what we’re used to seeing in stores.
Oxidation is also responsible for red meat turning brown after a few days, but as Savell points out: “Brown meat doesn’t mean it’s bad. But supermarkets will discount it and mark it down. If you buy brown meat, just be sure to cook it right away, because it’s likely already been out there for three or four days.”
Additionally, he clarified the misconception about rare steak ‘bleeding’, stating that meat is “about 70% water”, and when combined with red myoglobin and other pigments, it results in a juice that resembles diluted blood. He reassured: “You have water, and myoglobin, and other pigments that leak out. That’s where this juice comes from. I can assure you it’s not blood.”
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.