Help! Rookie cook here...?!
Answers: Hi, I have a stupid question.. I bought a package of ground beef, and it looked really nice in the package.. nice and pink and what not.. then I took it out of the package and it is a different color in the middle, like the color of it after it is cooked.. Is this normal? Or should I throw it away?
Sadly, this is normal. Meat companies and grocery stores spray a preservative/coloring agent on the outside of the lump of ground beef to make it look more attractive.
Rather than go by looks, trust your nose.
If it smells fresh and beefy, use it.
If you aren't sure, don't use it. And be sure to cook ground beef thoroughly, even though it's nasty that way.
Best of luck.
You are good, meat changes color as it is exposed to air. Unless you had it for more then a week. Trust me, you can smell when it is rotten.
This is normal. It means that there is less oxygen in the inside of your meat than on the surface. Just like in your body, oxygenated blood is bright red, and the tired, used-up blood is a darker color. Your flesh is fine.
P.S. to thumbs-down people: Here's a separate website from a university saying the same thing I did: http://meat.tamu.edu/faqs.html#rainbow
it's Normal just cook it well you be o.k
mother is right they put somthing on the outside to make it a brighter red,its okay
It will change color. Smell it really good and if it smells kinda funky then throw it out. Defrosting in the microwave will do that too.