How to cook rotten meat. Main signs that food has gone bad

Yes, sometimes we bought stale meat or it was slightly spoiled during or during transportation. It’s a pity to throw it away, but it’s unpleasant to cook, how to correct the defects of meat, and what they are. Meat deteriorates under unfavorable storage conditions; sometimes, before it has time to deteriorate, it simply loses its freshness. This is the kind of meat spoilage that we will talk about.

Meat licking occurs when storage conditions are violated. For example, if the meat was stored in primitive conditions, or at above-zero temperatures. Slime-forming bacteria are resistant to low temperatures, but at a temperature of 0 degrees they already begin to develop. The most susceptible to sliming processes are places stained with blood or in areas of the carcass where folds form - the flank, neck, shoulder blades, and the inside of the abdominal cavity.

The process of sliming can be detected by touch; the surface of the meat becomes sticky, with a gray coating and a sour smell of mold, even more damp, like in a damp cellar without ventilation.

Microorganisms that form mucus do not penetrate deep into the tissues of meat and are located on its surface. Therefore, such meat after special processing can be used for food, but it is not suitable for further storage. If the meat has a putrid odor, it is better to dispose of it. How to fix meat if it has acquired an unpleasant damp smell and has become sticky? To do this, rinse well with water with added salt, a tablespoon of salt per liter of water, rinsing well with your hands or a brush. It is better to cut out areas with a strong odor. Such meat must be cooked urgently in any way that requires a long time and exposure to high temperatures; if it is beef, then cook for at least 2.5 hours.

Tanning the meat. It occurs for the first time hours after the slaughter of an animal, if the carcass was not placed in a cool room, but it was in a room with a temperature of 16-20 degrees. Tanning of meat also occurs when transporting warm meat that has not cooled down after slaughter in tight packaging, under oilcloth or cellophane, without access to air. The lack of fresh air slows down oxidative processes and anaerobic breakdown of glycogen begins, releasing acidic and odor-emitting substances.

When meat spoils in the form of tanning, the meat acquires a brownish-red or gray color, even with a greenish tint, and a sour smell appears. With this type of meat spoilage, if signs are detected, it should be chopped into pieces and dried in the open air, places with greens should be cut out and then washed with water with the addition of salt or vinegar. If the sour smell does not disappear, then such meat cannot be used for food.

Meat acquires a sour smell due to poor bleeding during slaughter. When stored at high humidity and in a warm room. The meat softens, becomes gray in color with an unpleasant sour odor caused by acid-forming bacteria. Corrected by thorough washing with salt and acid.

The meat has darkened. This occurs with an increased concentration of coloring substances, if moisture evaporates strongly from the surface of the meat, or when stored in a dry, warm room. This defect is especially pronounced in the cervical region and in places with bruises.

Flies and other insects often land on meat, leaving their marks on it. Flies leave eggs and larvae on meat, and I eat at least on fish. In addition, meat is contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.

Rotting meat. This is the most complex and destructive process of protein breakdown. Rotting begins and occurs under favorable conditions with elevated storage temperatures. Rotting is a process in which decay products are formed and accumulate, many of them are poisonous and smell bad. Failure to comply with hygiene rules contributes to the development of the rotting process. If the animal was emaciated, sick, with a high content of connective tissue and blood in the meat.

Meat with initial signs of rotting is less dangerous for humans than meat at a later stage. Eating meat with signs of rotting is dangerous and prohibited.

No matter how good a housewife is, anyone can have a similar problem - there is an unpleasant smell of beef or pork in the kitchen and in the refrigerator. How to get rid of the smell from meat?

First you need to inspect the refrigerator and freezer, find and carefully examine it. Perhaps the situation can be fixed. For example, there is simply old meat in the refrigerator. How to get rid of the smell?

Methods

If the meat is not rotten, but simply old and smells unpleasant, you can try cooking it by pre-processing it. If the rotting process has just begun, the product can still be saved. There are several ways to get rid of the unpleasant smell of meat:

You can marinate the product in red wine, adding various strong-smelling spices - thyme, rosemary, dill, basil;

Mustard does a good job of repelling any odors. You can coat a piece of meat with it, leaving it like that for a couple of hours;

Garlic also perfectly eliminates odor. You can grate meat with it;

A strong saline solution or pomegranate juice is a great help in destroying meat;

You can soak the product in milk for a couple of hours, repeating the procedure once or twice;

Cold chamomile infusion with a pinch of sugar. You need to put old meat in it for half an hour. This procedure will help eliminate the odor.

After using all the marinades, the meat should be thoroughly rinsed in cold water and thoroughly fried. However, if the product is hopelessly damaged, it is better not to take risks. After all, heat treatment will not help in this case. Meat, as a perishable product, is subject to the rapid destructive action of putrefactive bacteria. Spoiled, of course, is not suitable for consumption.

If there is a smell on the dishes...

Now let's talk about how to get rid of the smell of meat on a cutting board or knife? To do this, you need to treat them with hot water and detergent or soda. The dishwasher does an excellent job of removing unpleasant odors.

If there is a smell in the refrigerator...

How to get rid of the smell from meat that has been absorbed in the refrigerator?

A simple remedy that quickly gets rid of any unappetizing odors in the refrigerator helps a lot. You need to put a saucer inside with either sliced ​​lemon or orange, or coffee beans and freshly ground coffee. Simple baking soda works well to remove odors. Place it in an open container in the refrigerator for several days. It absorbs all foreign aromas. You can buy special napkins at the store that absorb odors and put them in the refrigerator.

More effective ways

If these measures do not bring results, we must move on to more serious measures.

First you need to turn off the refrigerator. Then wash it. To be effective, there are several excellent proven methods:

A solution of any detergent used in the kitchen;

A solution of lemon juice in water in a ratio of 1:1;

Soda solution - prepared from a couple of tablespoons of soda and a liter of warm water.

The empty refrigerator is thoroughly washed with any of the above solutions, and the walls are wiped dry. Only after this can the device be connected to the network and filled with products.

Everything seems to be done correctly, but an unpleasant aroma still hangs in the air. How to get rid of the smell of rotten meat quickly?

Lemon (peel and juice) will help!

The product has probably deteriorated greatly and has completely permeated the inside of the refrigerator with its odor. This means that it is worth using potent agents. One of them is to make a solution from the juice and peel of one lemon and water. This solution must be heated and placed warm in the refrigerator.

After which the device is closed for five to ten minutes. During this time, plaque on the walls, particles of dried food, and possibly rotten meat, which emit a stench, begin to soften. Then it is carefully washed with soda solution. To enhance the effect, you can wipe the already dry walls of the refrigerator with dry soda sprinkled on a sponge.

Ammonia

If meat is rotten, how to get rid of the smell? A solution of ammonia also helps a lot. It not only affects aromas, but also destroys bacteria. You only need a few drops of ammonia per liter of water to clean your refrigerator. However, then it must be ventilated for 24 hours; it must not be filled with food and the doors must not be closed.

You may need to take a closer look at all the food in your refrigerator and freezer. After all, food without packaging could absorb the smell of spoiled meat and bacteria could grow in it.

The refrigerator should be cleaned twice a month. Then the question of how to get rid of the smell of rotten meat or any other unpleasant odor will not arise.

Cleaning the sink

Everything is done - the refrigerator is washed, the food is sorted, but an unpleasant aroma still hovers in the kitchen. Probably, the meat gave off an odor while it was defrosting in the sink, bloody liquid flowed into the siphon, and now the sink is the source of this fetid aroma. How to get rid of the smell of rotten meat in the sink? You should pour a glass of soda into the sink and pour in a large amount of boiling water - 3-5 liters. A chemical reaction will occur. Adhered particles of fat will come away from the walls of the sewer pipe, and the meat smell will go away. Then you need to rinse the sink with hot water.

Getting rid of indoor odor

How to get rid of the smell from meat? You should do some serious cleaning of the room. It is necessary to wash the floor with a disinfectant detergent containing chlorine. After washing, the kitchen must be thoroughly ventilated. The walls of the furniture also need to be wiped down. Any diluted in water will do for this. After all, fat settles on the walls, and it absorbs odors. Clean furniture surfaces will help get rid of unpleasant odors faster.

Microwave smell

It happens that the unappetizing smell of meat comes from the microwave. She probably hasn't been washed for a long time. A large number of food particles have accumulated in it, which gradually rot, creating a persistent unpleasant odor. Therefore, the microwave must be washed using the same products as for the refrigerator. Then a cut lemon is placed in a clean device, a container of water is placed, and the stove is turned on for three minutes. To avoid problems with odors in the microwave in the future, it is better to use a special plastic cap when heating food.

Conclusion

Now you know what to do if the meat is rotten. How to get rid of the smell? Quite simply, using detergents or improvised means available to any housewife. However, it is better not to lead to a disaster with meat products, but to promptly monitor the condition of the products in the refrigerator and freezer compartments.

It's easy to tell when food is completely spoiled. When mold grows on a product, things are obviously bad. But signs of food spoilage may not be so obvious. Eating spoiled food can cause serious food poisoning, so it's important to make sure your meals are prepared with fresh ingredients.

How food spoils

Food spoilage does not happen by accident. This is a natural process. To understand how to maintain food quality and prevent spoilage, we must know what can cause it.

Foodborne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella are responsible for millions of cases of food poisoning each year. Most of these cases are the result of eating spoiled meat.

1. Check the color of the meat. Good poultry can be bluish-white to yellow in color. The optimal color of raw pork is grayish-pink. Ground beef can be more difficult. Most people associate fresh ground beef with a bright red color. However, this reddish color is not the natural color of fresh beef and is caused by the meat being exposed to air. If fresh ground beef is vacuum sealed, the color will be purplish-red. Contrary to popular belief, just because your ground beef turns out brown doesn't mean it's bad. The meat of older animals is darker than that of young animals.
2. The smell of meat. This is probably the easiest way to determine if meat is bad. If it smells rancid or just plain unpleasant, don't eat it. Raw poultry has a more distinctive odor, but when it begins to spoil, it develops a putrid odor.
3. Take the time to check the meat by touch.. Spoiled meat often has a slimy texture, which is a sign that bacteria have begun to grow on its surface. Bad meat, especially poultry, can also become sticky and stringy.

The smell of meat is quite common. What to do if the meat is smelly? What does smell mean? How to remove smell from meat? It appears in several cases:

1. When the meat is rotten;
2. Meat can suffocate in a plastic bag;
3. Smells bad due to poor feeding;
4. The smell of rotten meat is also characteristic if the animal was slaughtered incorrectly;
5. Some varieties have an unpleasant aroma initially, and this is their distinguishing feature.

In some cases, the meat will have to be thrown away completely, and in some cases it can be rehabilitated and cooked without harm to health.

Fresh meat always has an even, uniform color

As mentioned above, some meats, such as knoor, lamb, pork and rabbit, have an unpleasant odor regardless of the degree of freshness.

What to do about an unpleasant odor?

If the meat should smell like this initially (for example, boar), then start cooking it. If not, start processing before cooking.

As stated above, rinse under cold water. If the smell has not completely disappeared, then spray the surface with a weak solution of vinegar. It will serve as a preservative and hide the smell.

If this does not help, then soak the meat for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It will disinfect the product and make it suitable for consumption.

After potassium permanganate, the meat can be beaten so that the liquid comes out completely.

Flavorful dishes from all over the world

Housewives from all over the world know what to do if the meat tastes bad. Cooking slightly rotten foods is especially popular in the hot East, where it is difficult to store them. In India, animal dishes are served with curry, and in Thailand, always with pepper. Curry will kill the remaining smell, and hot pepper will remove the unpleasant taste and disinfect.

Products of questionable freshness are actively used in Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese culture. Many high-end restaurants serve food that has spoiled in advance. It is believed that the unpleasant smell drives away evil spirits, although the cooks are silent about the harm to the stomach. Be very careful with meat products in these countries: if it is not written anywhere that the recipe calls for slightly spoiled meat, which it is, it is better to refuse to eat it.

Cellophane does not allow air to pass through. In a bag made of such material, meat can easily “suffocate”

In the middle zone, the smell of rotten meat is often eliminated with onions and garlic. Chop onion and garlic into the container, add pepper, herbs, and vinegar. Within a few hours the smell goes away and it becomes ready for cooking. Kebabs and kebabs are prepared with such seasonings. So, if your meat has spoiled, it’s okay, it’s served that way in many countries around the world.

Suffocated in a bag - what to do

For various reasons, the product may turn sour in cellophane. Not all meat can acquire flavor: fatty meat and chicken skin are most prone to acquiring “aroma.” This may be due to faulty operation of the freezer or carelessness of the housewife. Is it possible to save spoiled meat?

Follow the meat washing methods described above. If you are not going to cook it right away, then cut it and put it in a clean container. If you decide to cook it right away, it is best to boil it, you need to do this with two onions: the meat broth will spoil, but the meat will be very tasty and sweetish from the onions. Pork lends itself especially well to this method.

How to remove odor: folk remedies versus professional ones

How to get rid of the unpleasant smell of meat? It is quite easy to remove a rancid odor if it has just begun to deteriorate, has acquired an odor from improper storage, or has been lying next to a poor-quality product.

Folk remedies

1. Ice water;
2. Marinade;
3. Potassium permanganate (will also make the meat attractive in appearance, tint it a little)
4. Bleach;
5. Vinegar.

These products are good when you only need to process a small amount of product. You need to be very careful with bleach - it can have a bad effect on the taste of food. Its advantage is that it kills harmful bacteria and extends shelf life.

Professional products

Butchers have their own secrets on how to remove the stench from meat that smells.

Not every housewife knows about the existence of meat baking powder. It destroys the protein structure. If you sprinkle it on already bruised, rotting meat, it will destroy the cells that have begun to decompose.

All that remains is to wash it again, and you can put the carcass back on the counter or in the freezer.

Gets rid of rotten smell in the refrigerator

Getting rid of the rotten smell in the refrigerator is not so easy

How to get rid of rotten smell? It is not so easy to remove the rotten smell from the refrigerator. While it is still possible to remove it from the refrigerator compartment, it is almost impossible to remove it from the freezer compartment. First of all, remove all food and defrost the refrigerator. Then wash it thoroughly, treat it with vinegar and soda. This should be enough. You can remove the unpleasant odor by placing an open container with technical vinegar or milk. After a few days in the refrigerator, the smell will go away.

How to get rid of a very strong odor? How to get rid of the smell if folk remedies don’t help? If the meat has gone bad for a long time, then feel free to buy conditioner or other chemical product for the refrigerator. It is sold in the department with household chemicals next to cleaning products. The instructions for use are written on the packaging. You can get rid of the smell of rotten meat using store-bought products, but it is not always necessary. It is better to use them in the most extreme cases: they are not cheap, and excess chemicals have never made products better.

How to choose a quality product

You need to be able to choose meat so that it doesn’t go rotten immediately upon arrival home, not overpay for bones and get a good product. Here are some tips to help you.

Despite sanitary control and quality certificates, it is impossible to completely insure yourself against purchasing stale meat at the market or in a supermarket.

Fresh meat. Main features

The surface of the meat should be dry to the touch, and the meat juice at the cut site should be transparent and not plentiful; the meat should not stick to the fingers on the cuts.

The smell of meat should be natural and natural, without all kinds of impurities and extraneous unpleasant odors. The fat on fresh meat should crumble when pressed, not smear.

The meat must be firm to the touch, and the pits from pressing with fingers, a fork or knife must quickly level out.

If you blot with a napkin, there should be no pronounced wet marks left on it. If there are no abundant traces of blood on the napkin, then the meat has been bled correctly and conscientiously.

Color

Fresh beef has the color of ripe raspberries, and the fat layers can be white, cream or yellow. Darkening of the meat and a shift in its color towards a brown tint indicates questionable freshness of the meat.

Veal should have a light pink color, and the fat layers must be white. If the meat has a darker color, it means they are trying to sell you beef instead of veal, or the veal is stale.

The color of fresh pork ranges from pink to rose-red. Lard can be either white or cream in color, but its color must be uniform. As with beef, the dark color of the meat should be a red flag, as the pork is unlikely to be fresh.

Young lamb is always light red in color, with white layers of fat. The meat of old animals is dark red or red-brown in color, while the fat is yellow. It is difficult to confuse lamb with other types of meat, since it has a specific, pronounced odor.

Fresh poultry meat may vary in color. In chickens and turkeys it has a pale pink tint, and in geese and ducks the color of the meat is red. The age of a bird is determined by its skin and fat: the softer and whiter the skin and the lighter the fat, the younger the bird and vice versa.

Signs of spoiled meat

- Sour smell in the air;

— Sticky mucus on the surface of the meat;

— The meat is too wet on the surface and on the cuts;

— The juice on the cuts is cloudy;

— The deep part of the muscle fibers is brown-red or gray-red;

— Meat fibers are flabby;

— Fat and bone marrow lose their shine, stick and smear;

— The predominant color of meat is gray.

Traces of masking the staleness of meat

If the edges of a piece of meat are blurred, this indicates that the meat was soaked in vinegar in order to get rid of the stale smell and mucus on the surface.

If the fat on a piece of meat is pink, it means the meat was soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate to give it a fresh look.

Have delicious meat dishes and bon appetit!