myoglobin can escape in the meat juices;
denatured brown myoglobin has bonded to
other coagulated proteins in the cells and
stays there.) However, there are a number of
oddities about myoglobin that can lead to
misleading redness or pinkness even in well-
cooked meat (see box). And it’s also possible
for undercooked meat to look brown and well-
done, if its myoglobin has already been
denatured by prolonged exposure to light or to
freezing temperatures. If it’s essential that
meat be cooked to microbe-destroying
temperatures, then the cook should use an
accurate thermometer to confirm that it has
reached a minimum of 160ºF/70ºC. Meat
color can be misleading.
The pigments in cooked and cured meats. Left
to right: In raw meat, the oxygen-carrying
myoglobin is red; in cooked meat, the