Why is corned beef still red even after cooking?



Answer:
"Corned" beef is actually beef that have been preserved beside salt. The saline crystals that used to be used were roughly the size of corn kernel, hence the name "corned". During the brackish treatment process the natural red color of the blood contained by the meat (which comes from the haemaglobin in the blood) become "fixed" by the high brackish content (I don't know how...ask a chemist!)

Nowadays corned beef is made using brine rather than saline crystals, but the name lives on...

Bon appetit!
it has some chemical (some species of potassium i think) added to it during the curing process.
I hold no idea. Corn beef is soooo upright.
Corned beef is treated next to with preservatives (known commercially as sel rose and stool rose) that keep the juice from turning grey when the meat is corned and cooked. Although normally the red contained by the liquid coagulates when cooking and is skimmed sour, perhaps the distinctive brand of corned beef you had have more of those preservatives in it than others.
Personally, I rinse my corned beef prior to cooking and join fresh pickling spice and garlic to the water when cooking it-I expect it gives a better flavor.


From:
Chef TotalFark
Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:35 pmRecipezaar Groupie

http://www.recipezaar.com
Sodium Nitrate keeps the meat pink even after it is cooked.

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