What are these dark areas in turkey meat?
I have some amount of prepackaged sliced turkey meat that otherwise smells and tastes good.
Today though I noticed that a few slices have darker spots in them, like as shown in below photo. A vast majority of the slices in the package do not have any spots like these (perhaps most of the slices in the package do not come from the same turkey).
In case it is useful, the use-by date on this package is April 13th 2018 (about 3 weeks from today); I opened the package 4 days ago.
The question I wanted to ask:
What are these dark areas in turkey meat?
Best Answer
I find when carving turkey that when you carve the last slice from the breast , you get marks like that , in the same place, where the bones jut out into the meat.
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Quick Answer about "What are these dark areas in turkey meat?"
Perfectly safe to eat. The dark colour is caused by the iron in the blood.Why is there black stuff on my turkey?
Black spots on turkey skin are a natural occurrence. It is pigment from the feathers. It means it was a dark-feathered turkey. The same residue may be there in the skin on turkeys that were white-feathered, but you do not notice it because it looks clear.What are the black spots on my turkey?
Why does my Heritage Black Turkey have spots on its skin? When your Heritage Black Turkey arrives, you may notice blue or black spots on the skin. Unlike a commercially bred white turkey, our turkey is dark-plumed. When processed, the pigment from the feathers can extrude into the skin.What is dark meat on a turkey?
In turkeys and chickens, dark meat is sourced from the leg or thigh. These animals carry more myoglobin in these locations in order to help deliver oxygen to their muscles as they run around. They need their exercise, too!"Why is my turkey breast meat brown?
They rely on an iron-containing protein called myoglobin, which shuttles oxygen from the blood to the mitochondria found inside muscle. Because of the large amount of myoglobin, these muscles appear dark.Turkey Tips - White Meat vs. Dark Meat in Your Turkey
More answers regarding what are these dark areas in turkey meat?
Answer 2
My guess is that they are small amounts of blood left in the meat and cooked with it. Perfectly safe to eat. The dark colour is caused by the iron in the blood.
But that is based on you saying the spots are in the meat. If they are on the surface, I'd be less confident.
And, are there any instructions about the shelf-life after opening the package (i.e. how many days you can keep it after opening)?
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Images: Ekrulila, EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA, Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz, Alihan Gülyağcı