Toss The Ground Beef Sitting In Your Fridge If It Has This Texture

Ground beef forms the basis of many delicious meals — all-American cheeseburgers, hearty meatloaf, and Indian keema with peas, to name a few — and even its leftovers can be put to good use. But like all meats, there are telltale signs that the food has spoiled, and texture is one of the biggest. 

"If you open the package and the meat feels or looks slimy, that's a problem," registered dietician Lillian Craggs-Dino, DHA, RDN, LD, told Cleveland Clinic. "Fresh ground beef should be a little firm to the touch and crumbly." While the color can safely range from bright pink to slightly brown, the texture should never be sticky or wet. If these signs are present, it's best to throw out the entire package.

Many meat products, including ground beef, develop a gooey, shiny film when contaminated with bacteria. While not every type of bacteria is harmful to humans, they can still release toxins that absolutely are. For this reason, it doesn't work to simply cook slimy ground beef in the hopes that heat will kill the bacteria. It may do so, but even meat cooked to a safe internal temperature cannot eliminate the toxins. On top of that, the texture will remain mushy even when cooked, and the food might still make you sick.

If you've cooked spoiled beef, wash your hands thoroughly and sanitize any surfaces that came into contact with it. To begin with, it's strongly advised not to rinse ground beef under the faucet, as this easily spreads bacteria. Plus, rinsing won't remove the slimy film, so unfortunately the trash can is the only safe destination in this case.

Packaging is your first key indicator of quality. If your ground beef has any tears, rips, or even a small hole in the wrapping, choose an alternative. The same goes for any kind of leakage. Ground beef is not a naturally juicy product, so liquid seeping beyond the absorbent pad or out of the package is a bad sign. Once you're home, how you store it depends on whether the meat is fresh or frozen. Fresh beef should be refrigerated as soon as possible and will stay in good condition for up to two days. After that, it needs to be cooked or frozen. Importantly, it should remain in its original, unbroken packaging. Frozen ground beef can last up to four months and can even be cooked straight from frozen.

The USDA strongly discourages partially cooking ground beef with the intention of finishing it later. This method does not kill bacteria effectively, and improper storage or extended time in this half-cooked state allows bacteria to thrive. Properly cooked ground beef will appear brown or slightly charred, with color even throughout. To be sure, use a meat thermometer. Once it's cooked, eat it while still hot, then seal and refrigerate leftovers as soon as possible. Waiting for food to cool completely before refrigerating is a common mistake and can expose ground beef to bacterial growth by keeping it in the "danger zone" — between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.