For pork, the color of the meat is an important factor that determines its quality.
When you go to the market or supermarket, if you pay attention, you will see some pieces of pork that are darker than others. Many people think that the darker the meat, the better. Is this true? Let’s find out.
There are 4 main reasons why pork pieces have different colors.
The color of the meat depends on each part
After being butchered, people will divide the pork into many different parts. Parts that contain many blood vessels such as the meat in the neck area, shoulder meat, and front leg meat will have a darker color. Meanwhile, parts with few blood vessels such as the loin, hind leg, rump meat, etc. will have a lighter pink color.
Sick pork
If the pig is no longer alive before being slaughtered, the blood will not be completely drained out. At that time, a lot of blood and impurities will accumulate in the meat, making it purple or dark red. Sick pork when cut often has dark bruises due to blood clots.
Fresh meat and frozen meat
Meanwhile, fresh meat sold immediately after slaughter is often darker in color (due to exposure to air, pork is oxidized, so it has a darker color). In addition, meat can also be contaminated during transportation and packaging and turn dark black. In short, the longer the meat is left, the less delicious it is.
Water-injected pork
For profit, some people will inject water into pork to increase its weight. Meat containing a lot of water is often lighter in color, not fresh, and the meat does not look natural. You can see signs of bubbling in the meat. If you put your hand or a paper towel on the surface of the meat, you will feel wet.
How to buy good pork?
When buying pork, you need to look at the color of the meat. You should choose pieces of meat that are pink or bright red. That is a sign of fresh meat. Look at the fat as well. If you see that the fat is a nice white color, it is also a sign of fresh meat.
Fresh pork will have a faint fishy smell. If you see that the meat has a strong, unpleasant fishy smell or a strong odor, you should not buy it. It could be diseased pork or meat that has been left for too long.
When buying, you can touch the surface of the meat. A good piece of meat will have a slightly moist surface but still dry enough, not sticky to the hand. If the surface of the meat is wet, sticky, or greasy, it could be water-injected meat or spoiled.
Press your hand on the meat and if you do not see water coming out and the meat is elastic immediately, it is fresh meat. If you see pink water coming out or the meat is not elastic after pressing your hand, you should not buy it because it is a sign that the meat is not fresh.
