Man grilling food

Creatas Images/Creatas/Getty Images

Sometimes red juices appear on the surface of meats as they melt, or they ooze out into the skillet or pan. For novice cooks or squeamish eaters, this can be disconcerting, because the appearance of blood isn't always appetizing. In truth the red liquid is seldom blood, and its appearance is perfectly normal when meats are cooked.

Heat and Protein

The reason liquids escape from your meat as it cooks has to do with the beliefs of proteins when heated. When they're warmed gently, the proteins in your meat begin to go house, just as they do in an egg as it's boiled. As the rut continues to rise it strengthens the bonds within the protein molecules and that, in turn, causes them to contract. This is why hamburger patties ordinarily shrink on the grill, and why a well-done steak is smaller than an identical steak cooked to medium-rare. The muscle tissues in the meat contain a relatively high percentage of liquids, and when the cells contract and shrink, a portion of those liquids volition be forced out.

It's Ordinarily Non Blood

It can exist disconcerting to see what appears to be blood coming out of your food, but that unremarkably isn't what yous run across on your plate or in the pan. Unremarkably it's water containing myoglobin and cytochromes, ii substances that transfer the oxygen needed to fuel the muscles as they do their work. Both incorporate iron, which means they turn red in the presence of oxygen. As the meat progresses from rare to well-done, they undergo a chemical change, losing their rosy color. This is why, in fully cooked meats, the juices become articulate. Until that point, juices escaping from the meat will look red or pink in your cooking pan.

Just Sometimes It Is

Occasionally, you will see 18-carat blood ooze from your meats every bit they're cooking. Y'all'll sometimes run across a spot of dark red blossoming in a piece of beef or pork as it grills, or watch a few drops seep from the bone of a chicken leg every bit it chips. The blood is contained within modest capillaries, veins and other blood vessels that sometimes aren't trimmed from the cut meats. In chicken legs, for instance, it's normally from the femoral artery that runs through the thigh. As long as y'all cook the meat to its recommended temperature, this is nothing to be worried almost.

Knowing the Divergence

Once you understand there is a difference between the two types of fluids, it's easy to recognize. The red juices pooling at the top of your hamburger are always myoglobin, from within the muscle tissues of the footing beef. Real blood is ever a deeper, more than vivid ruby, and it volition come from a specific spot rather than from the cutting as a whole. Pinkish cooking juices are fine in beef or even pork, merely must exist avoided in chicken. If the juices run clear from a bird's leg, but contain a small pool of bright red claret, the chicken is withal probably safe. If y'all're uncertain, employ an instant-read thermometer to check the meat has reached the recommended safe temperature.

References

  • On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen; Harold McGee

Writer Bio

Fred Decker is a trained chef, former restaurateur and prolific freelance author, with a special involvement in all things related to food and diet. His piece of work has appeared online on major sites including Livestrong.com, WorkingMother.com and the websites of the Houston Relate and San Francisco Chronicle; and offline in Canada'southward Foodservice & Hospitality magazine and his local daily newspaper. He was educated at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the Northern Alberta Institute of Applied science.

YOU MAY As well LIKE