Blood essential to making delicious Bison Meatballs? [closed]

We got a few more bricks of bison than usual due to the Whole Foods sale - they seem to get more bloody the longer they sit in the fridge (1/14 date).

Tried making meatballs for the very first time. I'm not a cook by any chance and the first time I try making something with food, it's often ??? - it was surprisingly delicious.

Totally winged it off Chef John's Italian meatball recipe. Splattered Italian seasoning, allspice, oregano, olive oil, splatter of buckwheat flour. Mixed it up. Broke into ~1.5" pieces of meat on a Safflower oil greased baking sheet. 425F preheated oven and 20 minutes later - the most delicious ever. Dash of more Italian seasoning. Add capers. Sea salt.

I was not expecting it to come out so well - did not even need to let the meat marinate or anything. Simply mixed it up in a bowl - and with just a butter knife (couldn't find spatula).

The baked coagulated parts (blood?) were exceedingly tasty. No sauce was used or made.

This really makes me wonder what made it so delicious. Was it because of the blood?

Best Answer

What makes a difference in great tasting meat dishes:

fresh ingredients (specially the meat)
seasonings, spices
fat (from the meat itself)
browning the meat to develop flavours (frying in oil or broiling in the oven)
not burning and not overcooking, which just makes it dry + colourless + flavourless

All of which you seemed to follow. I'm not sure where are you from, but I'm used to eating meat with much less than that - barbecue to me means simply meat + salt + fire and it is delicious when properly made.

As mentioned in the comments, the liquid that leaks from your meatballs is just water + myoglobin (a protein) and it's what makes meat juicy. The more you try to remove from the meat during cooking, the dryer and least flavourful it will become.