Food, including meats, can go stale even when stored in the freezer. You have to know how to tell if steak is bad to ensure it is still safe to eat.
No matter how much you love steaks or how expensive you bought them, the meat won’t be good for long. The idea here is not to stock up on meats you can’t easily consume.
How to Tell if Steak is Bad
You would not want to experience having a bad craving for a steak, only to find out it has gotten already bad when you are ready to cook it. Or worse, you’ve already spent time and effort but realize you can no longer eat it after having your first bite.
Here are the ways to tell if your cooked or frozen steak has already gone bad:
1. Expired
When buying the meat at a butcher or supermarket, you have to ask or check its expiration date. This way, you can be certain the meat is good, and it will remain that way until the date when you plan to cook it.
Many buyers get confused with use-by-date and sell-by-date tags. The seller uses the sell-by-date label to determine up to when they can sell the meat while giving ample time for the buyer to store it before cooking. The use-by-date tag reminds the buyer up to when the meat will retain its freshness.
If the meat is frozen and has a use-by-date tag of June 14, you have to get it from the freezer and leave it at room temperature by the 12th or 13th of June to thaw. Typically, steaks thaw within 24 hours, but thicker cuts need a longer time.
You have to be organized in keeping food in the freezer. Create a list of the items inside, when you bought them, and the indicated expiration dates. This way, you can easily check if there is anything that will expire soon, so you can consume it before it gets wasted.
2. Feels slimy
The meat that feels slimy to touch indicates that it has expired. You will feel it’s sticky and slippery on the surface, signs that it is rancid and will develop molds within days.
When the meat already has molds, it means that it is already loaded with harmful bacteria. Throw it away at once, and check the other food items placed near the spot where you stored the meat. They might also have acquired the molds, especially if they were not properly stored.
3. Has a strange color
There are times when you don’t feel the slime, but it has a greenish, yellow, or brown color. The discoloration can happen on the whole meat, or they have color spots all over. It is best to throw the meat away instead of cooking it and tasting it if still edible.
A meat’s color is due to two proteins: hemoglobin and myoglobin. Hemoglobin is in the blood, and myoglobin is responsible for the meat’s reddish color.
Myoglobin reacts with oxygen and turns into a purplish-red hue after you have sliced the meat. The color will turn cherry red when the sliced meat is exposed to air for around 30 minutes. After three days of exposure to the air, myoglobin will fully oxidize, resulting in the meat turning brown.
It is still safe to eat at this point. You have to look out for the significant darkening and patches of color all over the steak.
4. It is dry
This may be more suitable for answering the question – how to tell if a steak is bad after cooking? Steaks are supposed to be juicy. This means that it is already beyond its best days when the meat looks dehydrated or shriveled once cooked. While this won’t make you sick when you eat it, the experience will no longer be the same.
It is still not rancid, but the freshness is gone. This may be due to improper storage before freezing. Ensure that you put your fresh steak in a vacuum-sealed package before freezing to avoid the meat from getting dry before it expires.
5. It has a strange odor
While the smell of raw meat isn’t exactly that nice, you will know the difference when something smells off. It will acquire an odor similar to ammonia that will make you grimace.
However, dry-aged steaks sometimes acquire the smell of ammonia not because they have gone bad but because it is only part of the aging process. It happens as a result of the meat producing lactic acid.
To be sure, always check for the other signs that the meat has expired before throwing it away.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is brown steak bad?
Raw meat that turns brown or grey doesn’t mean it is bad, but it is near expiry. Check for the other signs of an unsafe steak, such as slimy surface, dryness, color spots, and odor. If it shows any of these signs, it is best to throw the meat out as it may already be unsafe for consumption.
How long does steak last in the fridge?
The ideal duration of keeping raw steaks in the fridge is three to five days. If cooked, do not reheat and consume the meat after four days. According to the USDA, eating cooked steak stored in the fridge for more than four days may increase your risk of getting a food-borne illness.
Final Thoughts
How to tell if steak is bad? Look for the signs, including a slimy surface and discoloration or color spots. You must also consider the odor and check its expiration date.
To avoid the meat getting rancid before it expires, put it in an airtight packaging before freezing. Ensure that you don’t keep raw meat in the freezer beyond five days and cooked meat in the fridge longer than four days to avoid the risk of getting a food-borne illness from the steak once cooked or reheated.
