Is meat at around bone red safe to eat?
Once a while we have customers complained to us that whether the chicken bone or the meat around the bone turns red/purple especially on the thigh and drumstick, is it under cook and is it safe to eat?
There are actually couple of reasons why it is red/purple even though it is well cooked and safe to eat:
The liquid contained in the mass of a chicken, including the bone marrow can push through the bone’s surface during the marinating and cooking processes. The bones and meat adjacent to them become stained, and will remain a deep red/purple color regardless of the final temperature inside of the cooked chicken.
Myoglobin is a richly pigmented protein that delivers oxygen to cells and to muscle fibers. The more active an animal is, the more oxygen is contained in their muscle, giving it a darker color.
Because of chickens are flightless birds, so the breast meat is never heavily oxygenated. Low levels of myoglobin are why chicken breasts have such delicate white flesh. The heavily worked legs have darker meat because of higher levels of myoglobin.
While chicken is slaughtered and readied for delivery to our store, myoglobin can tend to pool in the meat fibers.
The acidity of the meat can affect its color, too. The higher the pH level (lower acidity), the pinker the meat will be. This is why some chefs use an acidic marinade with citrus or vinegar to help reduce pink colors in chicken meat. But marinades will do little to protect against tinges of pink/purple from marrow and myoglobin.
At Foong Lian Clay Pot Foods Cafe, we always maintain a very high standard to make each and every pot perfect – a rich tantalizing aroma, nicely crisped rice but not burnt on the bottom of the pot and moist and tender chicken meat but not overcooked. Now that you know why your chicken can sometimes be pink/purple, it’s time to eat chicken more confidently and enjoy the perfect clay pot of chicken rice by us.
