Steak has bits of horrible bitter/liquid like chunks of meat
When I cook round steak most of it comes out fine, but as I eat it bits of it (every four or five bites) I come across this one bit where when I bite in I feel a horrible tasting liquid type thing coming out.
I have no idea what this taste is coming from, when I cook I typically sear it on both ends flipping it over every 5 to 10 seconds. I've tried keeping the steak on one end for a few minutes then flipping it but that results in the steak not tasting as nice.
Is this an issue with the meat or my cooking?
Best Answer
It must be the meat; the only thing I can think is that it's melted fat, but for it to be bitter, it'd have to be rancid, and fat going rancid takes longer than the meat itself going bad, so it's a bit odd. I'd check for larger pockets of fat before cooking (not just marbling) and try steaks from a different source to try and confirm this. Unless... you're not adding fat to the pan or the steak, are you? Something that could've gone rancid, some of which ends up collected in a few places? That'd do it too, of course.
The frequent flipping is actually a really good thing: it makes the steak cook more evenly. Every 5-10 seconds is possibly slightly overkill; 15-20 seconds would probably do too. But in any case, it essentially keeps the heat coming from both sides, so that when the center of the steak reaches the right temperature, both sides are cooked the same amount. If you flip less frequently, you'll tend to end up with one side substantially more cooked than it needs to be. Bonus: flipping frequently also cooks the steak faster! And of course, though in hindsight this all makes perfect sense, I have to give credit to Harold McGee for it. There's a short writeup with great illustrations in this Cooking Issues post.
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Why is my steak oozing?
It's a solution called "weep" or "purge." It's often mistaken for blood. But if that were true, most white meat would leak red, too. It's actually a result of freezing the meat during transport. The juice is a mix of water and myoglobin.What are signs of spoiled steak?
A steak that has gone bad feels slimy. When you touch it, you'll notice a slimy film on the surface. The slime feels slippery and sticky, which are signs of a rancid steak that is days away from molding. Mold is an indication that fresh meat has absorbed bacteria and is no longer safe to eat.Why does my steak have a weird taste?
If your beef has honest-to-goodness blood in it, complain to your butcher. More likely, what you're seeing/tasting is myoglobin, which does have a bit of a metallic taste when it's not cooked. You can get rid of this in two main ways: osmosis and heat.What does rancid steak look like?
Your meat has gone bad if you see a slimy texture, yellow color, or a green color instead of the normal red or pinkish color you'd expect to see with steak. As mentioned above, if your steak has been kept in the freezer or refrigerator, it may have a slight brown color, but that does not mean it has gone bad.How to Tell If Beef Is Spoiled
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