Steak lovers who prefer their meat well-done often cite the “bloody” appearance of rare steak as a turn-off.
However, it turns out that the red liquid seeping from your steak isn’t blood at all. How do you like your steak? While many foodies argue that a rare steak is the most flavourful way to enjoy the meat, others are put off by the pink centre and the “blood” that pools when the steak is sliced. But here’s a revelation: that red liquid isn’t blood.
It’s easy to make the mistake, given the red fluid that leaks from a piece of undercooked meat. But this common misconception has left many people stunned. 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.
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.”
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