How to identify a fresh meat?
I live in a big city, and there are not many fresh butcher shops here. Meats are found on supermarkets and they are passed by a frozen proccess to be able to stay longer on shelfs. I would like to know how to identify a fresh meat ?
Best Answer
Thanks to science, it has become very hard to determine the actual quality of meat these days. Packaged meat is flushed with a gas that has a high concentration of oxygen (60-85% or so) to oxidize the myoglobin in meat, which keeps the meat red.
What this means is that you cannot visibly determine if the meat is good, ever. It could've been "only" refigerated for a time and then frozen, without any optical change due to the gas that's in the package. Indicators of bad meat, however, are a bad smell (of course, you can only determine this at home) or if the container seems to be under pressure, which indicates that microbes produced additional gas that can't get out of the container.
Sadly, I have given up on trying to find out if meat from the supermarket is fresh or not, as there doesn't seem to be a way of knowing. While still having a lot of tricks at their disposal, going directly to a butcher seems to be the only option that gives you at least a better chance of getting fresh meat.
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Which meat is fresh?
Fresh meat refers to meat that has not undergone any preserving process other than chilling, freezing or quick-freezing, including meat that is vacuum-wrapped or wrapped in a controlled atmosphere. The definitions of "meat" and "fresh meat" are laid down in Annex I of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.What should you look for when buying fresh meat?
When purchasing meat and poultry, it's important to use your senses of touch, smell and sight. Always make sure the meat is firm to the touch, and check that they packaging doesn't have any tears, holes or excessive amounts of liquid. It should also be cold to the touch and have no odor.How do you know if beef is fresh?
Red meat like lamb or beef should be bright red- that means it's the freshest. If it turns a bit purple, it's still ok but means it's been exposed to some oxygen. 2. Press the meat firmly with your finger- if it springs back nicely, it is fresh; if not, it is most likely old because it is losing its firmness.What is the real color of fresh meat?
When meat is fresh and protected from contact with air (such as in vacuum packages), it has the purple-red color that comes from myoglobin, one of the two key pigments responsible for the color of meat.How To Tell If Beef Is Fresh
More answers regarding how to identify a fresh meat?
Answer 2
You can determine freshness by the bloom over the meat and by its reddish or pinkish color depending upon the quality of the meat and type of the meat. Moreover you can check by the smell and touch.
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