ACOT Message Board

I've just returned some bad meat to the store for the second time, and it's a different store than the first time. Each time I bought the meat around lunch time. It was still days before the sell by date. It was a "value pack" ie multiple cuts in one package. I went straight home from the store. I promptly brought the meat in the house and put it in the fridge. At dinner time I open the packages. The part of the meat where the pieces were overlapping one another is brown!

Is there something different about sirloin that makes it more prone to spoiling? Is it cause the pieces of meat were overlapping?

And yes, I did take the meat back for a refund the next day.

Just because it is brown where it overlaps, does not make it bad. Did it smell bad? Meat is usually only really red on the top and when it has been dyed by the store. It is very common for it to brown where it touches, like an apple browns when exposed to air.

I agree with Kara-- frequently the top steaks are a different color than the others- due to lighting and such...

although if you are not comfortable I agree with not eating it.. we just bought a huge pork loin and had to return it because when we cut into it to put it on the grill the center was greenish-- gross.

It browns if you leave it in the package from the store...I think the plastic is sort of porous. Also, the browning is caused by air exposure in the package. I take mine out, put them in a ziploc freezer bag and squeeze out the air before sealing it. Then, the meat stays red longer. However, you can eat it if it has turned brown, as long as it still smells okay and is not gray!

I agree with all of the above - just because it is brown does not mean it is bad. It has to do with air and light exposure. Smelling it is the key!

I did not liked the way it smelled. However, it was not a total gag me smell. It was more like the brown part had a slightly bad smell and the rest of the meat did not smell at all. I will admit that I have chronic nasal congestion due to sinusitis and allergies. I do have a sense of smell, but it probably is not the best.

The brown part also was shriveled up and had a different texture. In both cases the packages spent about 8 hours in my fridge between when I brought them home and then opened them.

I was also wondering about "meat dying". The one package that I kept, I ate one of the steaks and put away the other. The brown areas actually were less brown the next day! When I cut into the raw meat, there were like lines of brown on the inside and the top was red.

I think I'm just going to avoid sirloin. If it's a value back it seems to always be overlapping. Also, the one I did eat, but cut away some of the brown, was tough.

Thanks everybody. It's been about a decade since I really did any real cooking. (I don't consider getting a box out of the freezer and putting it in the microwave to be cooking.) There's just a lot that I don't remember. I used to ask my mother cooking questions, but her Alzheimer's is now so bad.......

The good news is that I've lost around 15 pounds!

IMHO, Sirloin is a tougher meat, and I'm not a huge fan. I prefer flank, skirt or round steak for pan frying, stovetop or baking recipes. On the grill is a different story - you just have to go with rib eye or back ribs... yum. Of course we've cut back on red meat as a part of our new healthy living. I need to stop talking about it now before I get the craving for a great big steak.