I hope I don’t sound like a total idiot. More so than usual…
Anyway, I’ve been having a run of terrible luck with ground beef lately. The past three out of four packages I have bought have looked A-OK on the outside, but are bad under the surface. I know that ground beef is usually darker on the inside due to less oxygen making it down that far; however, we’re talking dark brown. I made the mistake of smelling it once and still have nightmares about the stench.
What am I doing wrong? Is buying ground beef always such a gamble? I’ve tried different stores and gotten bad meat at each. I’d just say “screw it,” but I’m a big pasta person and the sauce just isn’t the same without ground beef.
That sounds like your local supermarket has a problem.
STOP buying their ground beef until they fix it.
AND call the health department like kambuckta said.
They should be putting out freshly ground beef pretty much on a daily basis. The only time I ever saw something like what you describe has been when ground beef has been frozen, thawed out and allowed to sit in the refrigerator for a day or so. Blech!!
Obviously, I haven’t smelled your EXACT ground beef, but, you’re saying this has happened with the past 3 out of 4 packages. I’ve had ground beef go dark brown and stinky.
I’ve probably bought ground beef 1000 times in my life, and I don’t know if I’ve EVER thrown a package out. Maybe if I forgot about in the back of the fridge for 10 days.
At least next time cook it. See if it still turns your stomach. Bacteria can stink. You kill bacteria when you cook it.
I’d be more worried about the rosy-pink stuff. That means the packer introduced carbon monoxide under the seal in order to keep the meat looking fresher than it is. You can buy yourself some REALLY old and stinky beef that way.
I don’t mind ground beef that has turned brown. I don’t always cook it right away and if it’s been in the fridge for a couple days, it’s going to look a little weird.
But the odor that makes you throw your head back? No fuckin’ way am I going to cook that. I toss it out in the OUTSIDE garbage because it’s grossening.
Go to a GOOD hardware store and buy a hand grinder. No it desn’t grind hands, well it could if you’re not careful, but it has a crank that you turn.
Buy stew meat, round steak, chuck roast or whatever’s on sale and grind your own meat. There will be less bacteria on a major cut, such as chuck roast, then in a small portion of store ground meat.
