At some point we’ll all discover that something in our fridge has gone bad. Maybe you bought it and forgot about it or maybe the supermarket was a little too optimistic about the expiration date. Either way there are some telltale signs that your steak has just died for the second time. Mold is the easiest to spot as is oozing fluid (caused by decomposed myoglobin in the muscle) or general discoloration (caused by both myoglobin and hemoglobin in the blood). Bad steak also tends to be slimy.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 r62tvcooks | 2010-12-27 20:01:32 |  169,825 Views |
How do I know if my meat is spoiled?
But what about the smell? Like many other foods rotting steak smells like sour ammonia or the infamous “rotten egg” smell of sulfur. If you’re not sure whether your steak passes the smell test that’s a pretty good sign that it’s still okay. A bad steak doesn’t just have a bland smell; it has a noticeable rancid stench. Fresh beef on the other hand generally doesn’t have a strong odor. Fresh steak may smell a little metallic but that’s perfectly normal because beef naturally contains iron.
Steaks spoil the same way that everything else in the back of your refrigerator does: they’re exposed to bacteria. Once the meat is exposed to air all sorts of bacteria molds or yeasts find their way into the food and certain chemical reactions begin to take place. Hydrogen sulfide is one particular chemical that’s notorious for its rotten-egg smell and both that and pungent ammonia are often produced by decomposing food. Cold dry environments like the refrigerator can slow the growth of bacteria but they can’t stop it; the steak will still decompose.
Meat of any kind can become cross-contaminated with other perishable foods so storing your steak too close to other foods and not in an airtight container is a storage mistake that will ruin your meal. In addition to keeping it separate store it on the bottom shelf so there’s no chance of those liquefied myoglobin fluids leaking into other foods. Once you’ve cooked your steak the best way to prevent leftovers from spoiling is to refrigerate them immediately after you’re done eating them to minimize the time they sit at room temperature.
