I bought it about 4 days ago. It was your typical red-colored, fresh ground beef. I thought I was going to use it immediately but I ended not. So its been sitting in the fridge, not the freezer, for 4 days. Now its brown, almost like its been cooked. Is it bad? Can I still eat it?
Probably fine to eat, unless it smells off. Browning is just oxidation; ground beef will always do that in a few days.
I wouldn’t eat ground meat that was older than one or two days, tops. Especially not if it’s changed color. Don’t risk it, it’s not worth it.
It may smell a bit off, but if you cook it thoroughly, it should be safe to eat.
What you’re seeing there is the oxidation of the iron in the muscle’s myoglobin - basically, your meat rusted. This would happen independently of any potential microbial action. In other words, this is in no way an indication of bacterial growth. Even perfectly sterile muscle tissue would do the same thing.
I’d cook it up and eat it myself. And for the record, my BS degree was in microbiology.
It is up to you. When in doubt, throw it out. (Myself, I’ve cooked brown hamburg because that was ALL there was for me to cook, and so far no one has died.) But when in doubt, throw it out.
Also, if you cut it in half, you’ll see that only the outer layer is brown.
I’d use it. Then again, my philosophy is that if I do not have some food induced enteritis every year or two, then I’m being overly cautious.
Its perfectly fine, but eat it within a few days.
At my parents grocery store they would grind fresh hamburger and then put in a full-service refrigerated case for customers to buy. it was never pre-packaged. Customers could get a quarter pound if they wanted.
Anyway, after two hours in the case the hamburger towards the bottom would turn brown. I always figured it was because it was getting very little oxygen. There was nothing wrong with it. It was safe and tasted just like the red stuff. Some people though just could not be convinced that there was not anything wrong with it.
I’ve been eating ground beef for over 50 years and never once got sick from it. (I’ve gotten food poisoning from various other things, though)
The brownness is indeed oxidation. Odor is more a matter of opinion. If it smells downright **rotten, ** I wouldn’t eat it. If it’s just “a little off” I’d cook it thoroughly.
I agree it’s probably fine, but give it a good smell and if it smells even a bit like ammonia or old socks chuck it.
The flip side is that we had some leftover ground beef in the fridge that I pulled out the other day to use. It’d been wrapped tight in a freezer bag, so it still looked great, nice and red. I was surprised, as yeah, it tends to go brownish usually after a day or two, but as stated above, that’s no biggie.
I smelled it…WOW. Yeah…colour is NO indication of edibility, lol. It was definitely off, which shouldn’t have been a surprise; I just forgot that it’d been TWO weeks since we’d made spaghetti, not just a few days. >.<
Slightly aged ground beef is what the dish of chili was invented for. Find a good recipe for some Texas red and give your gastro-intestinal tract something to worry about aside from bacteria and their byproducts.
Enjoy,
Steven
If your ground beef doesn’t turn brown in your fridge, it’s a pretty good bed your grocery store’s supplier has gassed it with a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide at some point. It’s considered harmless, and it drives out the oxygen in the package so the meat stays pink.
http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/fear-our-food-6
Ground beef oxidizes easily because of the large surface area, and unlike other meats should be tightly wrapped with plastic to keep air off and maximize freshness. But a simple change in color would only produce a barely discernable change in flavor. It is an indication that the meat has been around for a few days, and it’s time to use it. As always, you take a risk with undercooked ground beef because pathogens normally found only on the surface of meat that would be killed by cooking may remain active in the interior of ground beef.
My rule of thumb for ANY meat or dairy product is to smell it.
If you can get your nose even CLOSE to the product, it’s fine.
Seriously. Once you’ve smelled BAD meat, you’ll know exactly what I mean!
Ground meat usually has a bit of a slimy texture, so mere touch won’t tell the whole story.
And yes, the brown color is normal and safe. A very slight GREENISH tinge is the color to worry about!
The nose knows.
~VOW
It’s good. I frequently eat ground beef that’s been in my fridge for a week. Done it all my life, never gotten sick from it. The brown is normal.
I wouldn’t hesitate to use it as long as it doesn’t smell bad. If it was covered and at proper temperature for only a few days it’s going to be fine (unless it was contaminated when you bought it).
Eat it. It’s fine.