That Red Liquid Coming Out Of Your Steak Isn't Blood Here's What It Really Is

Admittedly, seeing blood-like liquid oozing out of the meat when you cut into it isn't always the most appetizing of sights.

It also looks pretty grim when you buy it, as it's usually swimming in a ghoulish pool of red fluid.

So what is the weird red juice?

The red juice is myoglobin, a protein found in muscle fibers that carries oxygen and is colored a rather wonderful scarlet.

And it's this protein that "colors" the meat red and consequently also gives that same color to the liquid (which we mistake for blood).

That’s why muscle fibers and steaks when cooked properly are such a nice shade of crimson.

Most meat is made of 5% fat/carbs/minerals, 20% protein, and 75% water. When you freeze the meat, that water expands and turns into ice crystals.

The crystals' sharp edges rupture muscle cells. When the ice thaws, it carries some myoglobin with it.

Myoglobin contains iron — that's what gives red meat its color.

It's also what turns the water a "bloody" red.

When you cook meat, the myoglobin changes its color from red to brown, and that's how you know the meat is cooked.

Commercial meat packers sometimes treat raw steaks with carbon monoxide to lock in the myoglobin and keep it looking a nice, fresh red color.