“Meat Juice”

I can’t count how many times I’ve had to defend the pink liquid surrounding a perfectly cooked steak resting on a plate or cutting board. It usually begins with a friend or family member questioning whether the steak is done well enough because they see “blood” on the plate or cutting board.  I promptly reassure them that it is not blood, but rather meat juice, to which my inquirer usually rolls their eyes and replies, “right, it’s just meat juice.” I’m hoping my blog today will settle this issue once and for all.

In order to properly explain the meat juice concept, we first need to talk about several elements of which meat is comprised:

Water. Meat is made up of roughly 70 to 80 percent water. This varies depending on the type of animal the meat comes from and specifically which cut of meat from within the animal.

Myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein found in muscle fibers and is what gives meat its red color. Myoglobin receives oxygen and iron from hemoglobin in the blood, which allows muscles to function. Myoglobin is water soluble, unlike other proteins in the muscle.

When myoglobin dissolves in water it produces the red or pink liquid we see in the meat package or on our plate. When the meat is cooked the juices lose their color and become pink or eventually tan to gray. To seal this debate for good, let’s compare chicken with beef. Both animals certainly have blood, correct? However, we typically only associate the pink liquid with beef. This is because beef has much more myoglobin than chicken.

Pro Tip: While letting your steaks rest after cooking, I recommend drizzling flavor infused olive oil (i.e. rosemary, garlic, etc.) over the meat, allowing the olive oil to mix with the meat juices. When plating the meat, drizzle a bit of the meat juice and olive oil combination over the meat. This will provide additional moisture and flavor to the meat.

Source: Goldwyn, Meathead. “Basic Meat Science For Cooks.” AmazingRibs, 13 Jan. 2014.