Funky smelling flank steak

Cafe Society
1

My roommate spent a nice chunk of change on some flank steak from the local popular independent butcher that is known for its good, if pricey, meat. She kept it in our very cold, temp-monitored fridge for 2 days and when she took it out to cook, it looked and smelled definitely off.

Upon returning it, she was chided by the not-very-nice lady who has worked there for years for returning a piece of meat that was perfectly good, and a reluctant exchange was made. The new piece of meat sat in our fridge for another 2 days and the same result was had. It even smelled off after cooking and to be honest, neither of us felt comfortable eating a portion. So it went in the trash. God forbid we would try to return it again.

We cook a lot of meat and are familiar with fresh-smelling meat of all kinds.

Is there a smell that is particular to flank steak with which we are perhaps not familiar? We double-checked the fridge temp and the meat was stored, unopened, in the back of the fridge. It had (both times) a bunch of gray spots all over it. The butcher lady saw this and said it was perfectly fine and that at the most, the meat had retained some of the plastic wrap smell from the tray. (? It definitely did not smell like plastic wrap!!)

Experiences with flank steak?

2

Flank steak is no different from any other steak. If it smells like bad meat, it is.

If the meat were old, you’d get those gray patches. It’s not necessarily bad, but if you see them, the flavor will not be at its best.

3

his user name suggests he has some experience with beef. I’d trust him.

4

Moral of the story: if meat goes possibly bad after two days, eat the next one before two days.

Nice chunk of change? Flank steak isn’t exactly expensive, just hard to find. I never see it in the grocery store, and saw it for the first time in awhile today in Costco of all places.

I concur with RealityChuckSteak, the graying might be signs of it aging, but aren’t a sign in itself of the meat being bad.

Flank steak is mostly muscle, isn’t it? It would definitely be of a different consistency than round or sirloin, and might age or smell differently.