Bloodless Meat? What Are We Eating?

Hello, and yes this is another post on FrankenFood. I bought some steaks last week and again this week, they seem to be cheaper than usual and I had taken advantage of the price. The first ones I bought were Sirloins, the ones I bought the other day were Ribeye. My favorite is the Ribeye, I like the way the fat around it makes it taste sooooo good.

So we noticed when cooking the sirloin last week it was extremely lean, so lean that it stuck to the grill and tore apart when we tried to turn it, then the other side stuck too. We also noted that there wasn't any blood coming out of it. Blamed it on the leaness of the meat.

But this week the ribeye's should not have been dry at all, there was more than a modest amount of fat left on the steaks, but again it didn't cook out of it, it just dried up, and again no blood whatsoever came out of the meat. It tasted sweet to me, my husband just couldn't put his finger on what he tasted, but he said it didn't even taste or feel like meat. I agree, neither of us finished our dinner.

I while back I mentioned on another thread that a lady in the grocery store, an elderly lady, looked at me and said 'you know that ain't real meat anymore, don't eat it, nobody knows what it is', well similarly another lady said to us while we were buying those horrible steaks ( they looked perfect) 'that meat isn't right'.

I have to say that I am convinced that something is wrong with the red meat in the market right now, and has been for about a year. I don't eat much meat at all, but I do love a good steak occasionally, sooo disappointing to buy some kind of franken meat. I mean it doesn't cook right, it doesn't bleed, it tastes weird and has a very odd texture to it.

Anyone else expeirence this lately?

Oh $h!t I have been eating bloodless meat since I was a boy. What I'm I going to do?

Try buying your meat at small markets if you can. I used to work with meat at a Sams club. Ever seen the blue dye they put in meat? I've seen blue blood come from steaks.

Does that keep me from eating storebought? Nope, but I know that it's not nearly as good as the "real" stuff.

Well they're making meats without animals anymore, "growing" it is the term.



Perhaps they've already introduced it into our food?

Originally posted by Mr Headshot
Try buying your meat at small markets if you can. I used to work with meat at a Sams club. Ever seen the blue dye they put in meat? I've seen blue blood come from steaks.

Does that keep me from eating storebought? Nope, but I know that it's not nearly as good as the "real" stuff.

Sadly I'm still under 18 so my mom does the cooking. I tried to educate my parents about Franken food but they said that it's non sense FDA will protect us.

The curing process is part of the problem with store-bought meats. There are so many damn preservatives in them to make the shelf life an extra day or two, and I have heard that often these things can basically dissolve the blood out of the meat.

I personally dont eat red meat, but I spoke to my parents about just this not too long ago. They sought out someone who raises beef every year, and now buy a half a cow and store it in the freezer, as opposed to buying anything from the store, and not only is the taste far better (according to them), but they both have commented on how they feel less bloated, less heavy after eating it.

Truthfully, I dont trust much of anything out of supermarkets anymore.

Thankfully my uncle owns a farm and has cattle. We could get all our meat from him or the small town butchers that are still left around here. We still get alot of our meat from the supermarkets though.

Don't worry - eating meat drained of blood is good for you - the Islamic faith eat it this way all the time it's called Halal Meat, and if I run out of home kill I head for the Halal butchers - I just feel it isn't interfered with as much and pumped full of water and heaven knows what else that the supermarkets are putting into it. It definitely tastes better.

You know, I don't know how to explain this but meat according to the type like vegetables has it's season. Rump will taste better at a particular time of year and the same goes for all meat. Don't forget, the grass they feed on changes through the seasons. You probably got the meat cheap because the season wasn't very favourable for that type of meat or cut.

Also how they are killed makes a difference - too much stress and it will definately affect the meat.

All farmers have their own views on all this but this is what I find here in NZ where our Cows play violins while they regurgitate the cud. lol and they're served their beautiful sweet green grass on a plate.

Just reading up a little about what we do see when we cook a rare steak, that juicy red stuff on the plate is a called 'myoglobin'

Myoglobin forms pigments responsible for making meat red. The color that meat takes is partly determined by the oxidation states of the iron atom in myoglobin and the oxygen species attached to it. When meat is in its raw state, the iron atom is in the +2 oxidation state, and is bound to a dioxygen molecule (O2). Meat cooked well done is brown because the iron atom is now in the +3 oxidation state, having lost an electron, and is now coordinated by a water molecule. Under some conditions, meat can also remain pink all through cooking, despite being heated to high temperatures. If meat has been exposed to nitrites, it will remain pink because the iron atom is bound to NO, nitric oxide (true of, e.g., corned beef or cured hams). Grilled meats can also take on a pink "smoke ring" that comes from the iron binding to a molecule of carbon monoxide to give metmyoglobin.[11] Raw meat packed in a carbon monoxide atmosphere also shows this same pink "smoke ring" due to the same coordination chemistry. Notably, the surface of the raw meat also displays the pink color, which is usually associated in consumers' minds with fresh meat. This artificially-induced pink color can persist in the meat for a very long time, reportedly up to one year.[12] Hormel and Cargill are both reported to use this meat-packing process, and meat treated this way has been in the consumer market since 2003.[13] Myoglobin is found in Type I muscle, Type II A and Type II B, but most texts consider myoglobin not to be found in smooth muscle.

Myoglobin

So this is why the meat turns really red when exposed to the air, and it isn't and hasn't been natural!
So if no myoglobin is present does that mean that injury kept it from being present, and what are the chances that a cow that the sirloin came from was injured then a week later the cow that the ribeye came from were both injured???

I think the answer is that it isn't present. It was my understanding that the store where I purchase most of my meats, buy local meats. So I guess it is possible that the local meat doesn't have added nitrates, but why the switch now? I have bought meat at that store for years!

Mod Edit: External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
The curing process is part of the problem with store-bought meats. There are so many damn preservatives in them to make the shelf life an extra day or two, and I have heard that often these things can basically dissolve the blood out of the meat.

I personally dont eat red meat, but I spoke to my parents about just this not too long ago. They sought out someone who raises beef every year, and now buy a half a cow and store it in the freezer, as opposed to buying anything from the store, and not only is the taste far better (according to them), but they both have commented on how they feel less bloated, less heavy after eating it.

I try and do this too, I bought half a lamb direct from the rearer, at the end of last year, and not only do I know where it is from, what it was fed on, even what shots the animals received, I also know that right up to the chop, they lived free and as happy as can be. That makes a huge difference to how the meat tastes.

Otherwise I use a local butcher. I have noticed of late in the supermarket, that they are packaging smaller cuts that you cannot necessarily recognise. I prefer to buy meat on the bone, it is tenderer when cooked, retaining more moisture and flavour, but you also know what it is, as opposed to trusting what it says on the packet. Plus you can then use the bones to make stock.

We've noticed odd meat for the past months, not sure how long. And strawberries, tomatoes. Have been eliminating food staples and very careful at what kind we get lately. Its altered.

reply to post by Unity_99


We have noted more than just these two incidences, also chicken that has a weird texture and just won't cook right, comes out stringy tough and rubbery, with no real chicken taste, but yet it smells wonderful cooking! And you are right, veggies cannot be left out of this, I bought brussels and green beans and potatoes that, just like the meats, had weird textures and lacked flavor.

I don't understand why this is a shock to anyone. If you want to be outraged, that's completely understandable. But to be shocked would lead me to calling you naive. Of course food is altered. What is considered "real" in the grocery stores nowadays? Meat, fruits, and vegetables are the main ones. We know fruits and vegetables are genetically modified thanks to Monsanto. So did you really think they were going to leave the meat industry honest? Come on! You know who has the REAL food... the stuff that is ACTUALLY good for you? The ones in power keeping it from you so they can have it for themselves. You ever wonder why those assholes rarely die of health complications? This is one reason why.

effing-A man!! exactly what I'm going through. went a month or so with great luck on the rib-eyes. had one batch where the clear, greasy fat pooled in the pan, and cooked all the steaks in it, awesome!

then I started noticing unusually beautifull cuts of angus rib-eye popping up, and cheap to. well, they don't kick off any fat drippings, infact the only thing that cooks off is a small gelatinous blob of goo. they smell strange and have a odd taste to them. also the chicken now is most all water pumped, once in awhile you can see the injection chords in it.

on top of that in the last year I probably got stuck with no less then 10 bad loads of ground beef. can't see it turn nor smell it cause they treat it. you got to bite into a heap of sour chile to find out the hard way.

and yes the vegatables are whack now too. they all look great, but are hard as hell, have little to no flavor, and no smell at all. even the fresh parsley and cilantro have no fragrance.

but most of all, the bacon is the worst. I've tried every brand on the rack and none of them taste like anything and the amazing smell is gone. now I know I can goto some butcher or fancy, trendy shop and pay a fortune for the real deal, but why should we have to??

Originally posted by space cadet
reply to post by Unity_99

 

We have noted more than just these two incidences, also chicken that has a weird texture and just won't cook right, comes out stringy tough and rubbery, with no real chicken taste, but yet it smells wonderful cooking! And you are right, veggies cannot be left out of this, I bought brussels and green beans and potatoes that, just like the meats, had weird textures and lacked flavor.

We used to have strawberries all the time as kids in the UK..used to go to the PYO farms and stuff our faces (we've all done it), and they were lovely.

We've bought a few punnets of strawberries from our local supermarket, and honestly, you would not be able to tell they are strawberries if you couldn't see their shape, by the taste alone.

They don't taste of...anything at all really..certainly not strawberry flavour. Which is odd, considering it's a strawberry!

Don't know what's going on with our food...but i know profit is probably the cause..faster growing varieties, with longer shelf life, increased disease and pest resistance are probably the reason...but i ask you, it all of this *worth it*?

If our food doesn't taste like food anymore, what's the point of a longer shelf life? I won't be buying any more of the rubbish, so in my case alone, their 'increased profit and reduced costs' have had the opposite effect...no profit from me at all in future!

I hate to say it OP...but perhaps the beef steak..wasn't beef steak. Maybe the meat came from 'a two legged animal' if you catch my drift.

Sorry.

reply to post by spikey


I honestly don't think it was real meat. It just didn't have a smell , a taste, or texture of meat. And like the poster above you, the cuts and meat are unusually nice looking, at a low price. These were cheaper than hamburger. I thought we were supposed to be told when franken meat was being sold in the stores as meat!

It's nothing to do with genetic modification, so ease up, fear mongerers.

I saw something on the news a few days ago about how butchers are cutting costs by actually gluing pieces of meat together. See here:

en.wikipedia.org...

This additive is also used to 'enhance' some cuts of cut.

As for the apparent bloodlessness of your meat, well now that just doens't make sense. You are aware, of course, that the pieces of meat are bled before being cut up and packaged? When I buy a steak, it has a little absorbent thingy in the bottom of the package to draw out any excess blood. So no, the steaks will not be particularly bloody.

I'd be more worried about what your butcher is putting into the meat than following the idiot's course of pointing the finger straight away at genetic modification. Forgive me, but I cannot abide people, with no scientific knowledge, watching a few propoganda videos on youtube and immediately jumping on the bandwagon to complain about GM.

I'm afraid DeepThoughtCriminal is absolutely correct. Crap cuts of meat are glued together and then sold as prime cuts.


YUK!

I have over 23 years experience in grocery/retail. I don't work grocery anymore, but here is what I learned while there.

The meat is meat and if it says beef, it is beef..or chicken or whatever it is labled. However, the way meats are butchered and processed, and stored has changed considerably in just those 23 years.

Back in the 1980s, your meat came in bulk or loose or in large cuts that had to be processed by an actual meat cutter there in the store. They were skilled artisans that could take a side of beef or pork and make any cut you wanted...from simple cubbed staeks to a crown roast.

Now, almost all processing is done at the packing and processing plant. That saves the store and grocers money because thay no longer have to have skilled staff. There are few real meat cutters in your grocer meat markets anymore. As suggested before, go to a small scale independent grocer for your meat to get REAL cuts like a bone in blade chuck roast...can't find them in the big national chains anymore.

What the packers do is have a an assemble line... or rather a dissassembly line of meat cutters trained to make just one cut or type of cut of meat... Henry Ford would be proud... they pay them minimum wages for this limited skil...as such...the avg wage for a "meat cutter" has dropped in the pack houses from 18.00 to 8.00 an hour..

Further, the number of meat packers has dropped...they went from state or regional meat packers to east of Mississippi and west of miss...to now national packers with maybe a handful of meat packing processors that are national...that is why when there is an ecoli outbreak, the whole country is now affected instead of just a few states.

Because the meat is now national, it takes longer to travel to market. For instance, the beef processed in Kansas by ConAgra has to travel all the way to NC. So now they inject them with saline solutions with coloring.... this is that geletanous blob that hangs onto the grill or frying pan when you cook it. This also diplaces the blood...kinda like embalming fluid displaces blood in humans at death...NO, I DID NOT say they use embalming fluid...I said they use saline solutions to preserve the meat...it is marketed to the retailer as a way to "enhance" the flavor of the meat.

The chickens do not taste right or have the texture yopu remember because they are now huge broilers being marketed as fryers. This way, they can get a few extra weeks as egg layers in the chicken houses and increase profits. Your fryer for peak taste and texture should weigh no more than 2 1/2 pounds. These things passing for fryers now weigh 3-5 pounds and are tough and leathery. Again, go to a small independent grocer for select cuts of poultry.

There are only about 3 meat packing parent companies in the whole country. These three control ALL of the food production from beginning to end...from little babies..calves, pullets, piglets on industrial farms to the time you see them and every by product in the store...they also own and split all of the food market in the grocery stores....

Think about it...all that variety is owned by just 2-3-4 parent companies... the variety and brand names are just subsidieries of those three.

Grow your own food if possible...or go to a farmers market if you can't for maximum freshness and nutrition... and flavor.

We went to our local grocery store last night to get a steak for dinner. We wanted a good ribeye and they had some on "sale" for $5.99 a pound. We couldn't find them, all we could find were some packs for $7.99lb. So I asked the butcher where the specials were and he just gave me this "you don't want those" look and pointed me to where they were hidden in the back behind some sirloin. These were "U.S. Inspected" ribeyes. In other words, imported from Mexico. They were really, really red--unnaturally red.

We opted for the local cuts for $7.99lb. For the two steaks we got, we would have saved about 4 bucks going with the cheaper cuts. 4 bucks was worth knowing I was eating locally raised and prepared beef.

Sometimes I wish I was a kid again, never worrying about what I ate or where it came from.