Another "is this meat spoiled?" thread

[Smurfy]

Hi.

I have these turkey burger patties I bought over the weekend. The sell-by date is Jan. 13. Today is Jan. 12th. I notoiced when I took the package out of the fridge, that the patties had started to turn color from pinkish to a brownish color in some spots. Im already paranoid about raw meat (this has nothing to do with my husband's weiner).

I sniffed the patties (fucking hate doing that) and I think it smelled different than it *should*. Is there a possibility that these are not good to eat anymore? 1 day before sell-by date? could the store have mis-calculated the sell-by date? i cooked them up, but Im still not sure they are good so I made turkey chili mac also.


hurry! I need an answer before my husband gets home!!

 

[Lestat]

they should be fine, just be sure to cook thoroughly.

You'd be surprised, a lot of cheapo restuarants buy meat the day after expiration to serve!!

just cook it up and season it, you'll be good. Ecoli doesn't have any particular taste to it anyway.. j/k

 

[Smurfy]

well now Im totally grossed out by this entire situation. I think my entire house smells like fucking rotting flesh. I cant stop smelling it (not sure if it even really exists - maybe all in my mind). Im *almost* losing my appetite.

 

[Lestat]

well now Im totally grossed out by this entire situation. I think my entire house smells like fucking rotting flesh. I cant stop smelling it (not sure if it even really exists - maybe all in my mind). Im *almost* losing my appetite.

you are just psyching yourself out..

how will you prepare it? you need to cook it in a way that you don't have to watch it or deal with it much.. just put it in skillet and come back in a few minutes once its cooked a bit.. put some seasoning in there too.. garlic would be good...

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I've eaten meat (ground beef, chuck, Jennie O ground turkey, etc) three days past the sell by date, meat that's been frozen and thawed and frozen and thawed, and meat that looked brown in some spots. I think it's just the way it was processed, since I notice the same thing on meat that's as fresh as possible. It's easy to be paranoid over these types of things but I'm sure you'll be ok, as long as you cook it thoroughly.

 

[Smurfy]

It's already cooked! I seasoned the patties up and fried them. They'er sitting on a plate on the kitchen counter now. I wonder if my husband will eat these. He probably will. He doesnt care. That leaves alll the chili for me!

 

[Spartacus]

I've eaten meat (ground beef, chuck, Jennie O ground turkey, etc) three days past the sell by date, meat that's been frozen and thawed and frozen and thawed, and meat that looked brown in some spots. I think it's just the way it was processed, since I notice the same thing on meat that's as fresh as possible. It's easy to be paranoid over these types of things but I'm sure you'll be ok, as long as you cook it thoroughly.

I have a cooler and I prefer to dump my beer in the cooler and cover it with ice
well some weekends I drink more beer than I have ice
so my solution was to take frozen meat and put it in the cooler with the beers
well one monday morning I went to the cooler to dump the weekends water(I use the water to water my plants-mini ecosystem eh?)
and there in the water was a package of previously frozen ground turkey
I estimated it had been floating in there uncool since saturday night
well I cooked it anyways tuesday
and ate it
I'm fine

 

[Hiatussin]

Get a spoilt pedigree cat. see if he eats it

thats what we do with our cat at home. he´d never eat ham that´s spoilt

 

[Lestat]

how did it turn out smurfy?

 

[Smurfy]

I guess it was fine. He ate two of the patties.

 

[Raina]

If you're still posting on Monday I'll assume you survived.

 

[Y_lifter]

Hi Smurf.. Ex Butcher checking in for doodie

All beef, pork, ground poultry when it is fresh is a red or pinkish color due to the hemoglobin in the blood in the meat doing its thing with the Oxygen.
Beef especially, as the muscle tissue has more blood in it than pork or poultry does.

As it is exposed to air over a few days in the meat case or fridge, that Hemoglobin get old and worn out in a way and the meat will turn color.
Anywhere from dark red to a light grey.

The plastic pkging is designed to allow O2 to get through for this exact reason, but not bacteria. The O2 coming through the plastic keeps the meat looking nice and pink colored and fresh in the store.

As long as the meat is kept cold, it is OK bacteria wise, and there is nothing you
can do about the color.

It can sometimes have a different smell, but not a Bad smell being a few days in the Pkg due to enzymes breaking down the meat and also very small amounts of bacteria beginning to grow.

The color you don't want to see is a greenish tint.
The smell you don't want is a bad one

I'm sorta glad lummy didn't die.

 

[Smurfy]

Ylifter, Thank you!! youre so smart!!

 

[sublime35]

Yeah I've been working in a meat dept. at Sam's training to become a butcher soon. Lights also have an effect on the meat. Once it sits out in the counter under flourescent lights they begin to brown.

 

[Y_lifter]

Yeah I've been working in a meat dept. at Sam's training to become a butcher soon. Lights also have an effect on the meat. Once it sits out in the counter under flourescent lights they begin to brown.

Very true my young butcher padawan..

Many meat cases have Incandescent lights over the meat for this reason.
Plus they make the red meat look more .. well.... red vs under floresc lights

 

[jackangel]

would you have given them to your son?

 

[Smurfy]

would you have given them to your son?

probably not, he's more delicate. he is but a child.

 

[jackangel]

probably not, he's more delicate. he is but a child.

lol! i get how it is.

 

[Y_lifter]

LOL @ lumpy being the food disposal..

That's OK. I am thought of the same way at our house.

 

[bigmann245]

i was going to say the red color was blood related. yea i freeze meat all the time for a later date. the sell by date is the date a store can sell it by to consider it "fresh". but here in florida winn dixie meat dept got caught injecting blood into the meat to extend the fresh date. freegin morons. but i keep the meat in the freezer past the date all the time with no problems. but if its in the fridge you have to be careful and make sure you dont keep it in there too long before you cook it. i always defrost the meat in the fridge for 1 day. i take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. thats the "safe" way to thaw meat. i took a food sanitation class when my wife had a in-home daycare.

 

[Y_lifter]

LOL

I used to work for Winn Dixie in the Meat Dept back in the mid 1980's
For the most part back then they were the leaders in the Meat biz among the Chains in the south. Really good stuff for a chain store. Then something happened in the late 80's and they hit the skids as a whole, and now suck ass in all respects.

Stories I can tell about the meat biz.. oh yea...

 

[Smurfy]

Well I had this problem with freezing meat and then a)forgetting to thaw it out or b) thawing it on the counter and it goes bad by time I get home or c) put it in the fridge to thaw and its still fuckin frozen when it's time to cook. so now I keep all my meat in the fridge for the week and plan my meals so that the meat gets cooked before the sell-by date. but for something like turkey burgers, from now on I will just keep them in the freezer, because they are very easy to cook frozen.