Grass Fed Beef Have More Pink When Cooking
Practice you always wonder why our beef is purple in the package?
It's not so often that y'all see a purple colored New York strip or ribeye at the grocery store. Only if you have shopped Pre® grass fed and finished beefiness, y'all're probably familiar with the purple beef we offer. Most of the steaks and ground beef you come across in the store are cerise in color and psychologically, we tend to call back the red color is more appealing. Keeping meat fresh is something we work hard towards and are constantly monitoring at Pre. Ane of the more than natural ways to combat spoilage is past vacuum-sealing our products so that all the oxygen is removed. This returns the beef to its natural state and in turn keeps the beef fresher, longer.
We fabricated a quick video touching on this on Instagram, watch it hither.
The color of fresh beef is determined by myoglobin. This is a protein found in muscle tissue and is normally purple in color. It changes color depending on how much oxygen it is exposed to. When exposed, the fe in the muscle starts to react and become unstable, turning either cherry-red or brown depending on the level of oxygen present. This is why beef changes colour.
Nosotros asked Julie, our Pre® Quality Manager to talk united states of america through this in more particular, watch her talk over the unlike meat colors in our video below:
There are 3 main states for this color change:
STATE i: Oxymyoglobin Atmospheric Oxygen (O2) Present (bright red in colour)
STATE 2: Metmyoglobin Depression Oxygen (O2) Partial Pressure level (brownish in color)
STATE 3: Deoxymyoglobin No Oxygen (O2) Present (purple in color)
Read more: The Big Fatty Truth About Pasture Raising Cattle
And so why does most packaged beef look red?
The color of vacuum packaged beef will exist distinctly unlike than beef in an overwrap tray or in a MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging) packet. Vacuum packaged beef will appear a deep red/royal color compared to the bright red colour typically seen in other types of packages and behind the butcher counter. The reason for this difference in colour is the presence of oxygen. In a vacuum package, oxygen is removed from the packet creating an anaerobic surroundings – an environment where no oxygen is present. This changes the colour of the meat to that deep red/majestic color. This is called "Deoxymyoglobin".
In an overwrap tray, oxygen is present due to the open up nature of the packet with the surrounding air we breathe. In MAP packaging, gasses such oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen are added in order to continue a bright cherry color. This is called "Oxymyoglobin".
When Pre's vacuum-sealed package is opened, and the beef is brought back into the presence of oxygen, you volition find our Pre beef changes to a bright scarlet colour. Our beef is a deep imperial color in the package. This is because all the oxygen has been removed to preserve freshness. When y'all open the package, information technology is exposed to oxygen and turns bright crimson – that'south what we call blooming. Considering nosotros seal our meat airtight, you get to meet this cute transformation.
You volition too notice this phenomenon behind the butcher counter or in the trays, when some steaks overlap. The overlapping steak volition leave a brown color considering it was limiting the oxygen exposure to the meat. That land is called "metmyoglobin" as referred to in the visual below.
In summary, nosotros know the bright red color of beef is unstable and the presence of oxygen volition gradually deteriorate the meat and oxidize fat. (This is why beefiness does not final as long when it is behind the counter or in those overwrap trays.) In MAP packaging, this shelf-life issue is combatted with adding additional gasses such as Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide but the total shelf life is much shorter than Pre because eventually, the presence of oxygen volition start to spoil the meat. With Pre packaging, we exercise not add whatsoever gasses to help extend the life of beef, nosotros just remove every bit much air as possible. Upon removing the oxygen, the beefiness is back to a stable color and freshness is extended.
We tested out our steak packaging in a five-day refrigerator test alongside a butcher paper wrapped steak. See the test results here.
Source: https://www.eatpre.com/blogs/gather/why-beef-changes-color