Looking forward to cooking a steak all day is almost as amazing as eating the steak itself. But what if you get home and start to question if it’s a bad steak? You need to know how to tell if a steak is bad, and you need to know fast.
The shelf life of a steak is limited. While it will keep longer than raw chicken or other poultry, it will also eventually spoil, no matter if the cut of meat is a prime vs. choice.
Eating spoiled steak is not a good idea unless you want to end up with an awful taste in your mouth — or worse — risk of food poisoning and hospitalization.
Moms always used to say “When in doubt throw it out,” but when we are talking about an expensive cut of meat like steak, I’d like to be a little more precise than that before I throw it all in the trash.
Before dinner is ruined, use our handy guide to find out if your steak is bad or not.
Does the Steak Look Good?
One of the best ways to tell if a steak is bad is to check it to make sure it looks good. That means you need to know how a good piece of steak looks. We created this handy chart for you to judge your steak.
| Type of Steak | How a Good Steak Should Look |
|---|---|
| Raw Steak | Firm to the touch, red color, no slime or film, no discoloration, balanced moisture. |
| Frozen Steak | Properly frozen, no frost-bite, not excessively brown or other any other colors — it should be a dark red. |
| Cooked Steak | Firm to the touch, even brown coloring, no discoloration, no foul smell. |
| Thawed Steak | Firm to the touch, no slime or film, dark red in color, no green or white streaks. |
Steak goes bad when the bacteria start reproducing at a high rate. This can happen if it is left out on the counter, so put it in the refrigerator as soon as you get home from the butcher.
In addition, bacteria reproduce more quickly as the steak ages, which is why age is the best way to determine if a steak is bad or not.
If it has been in the refrigerator for more than a couple of days or is past the use-buy date even the slightest, be sure to check all of the following methods before cooking and eating that meat.
| Sign | Notes |
|---|---|
| Expiration Date | This isn’t a fool-proof check, but is a clue. |
| Discolored | Minor browning is OK, but more severe discoloration is problematic |
| Slimy Texture | If it is slimy, throw it out |
| Dried Out | It has lost its moisture and the end results will not be good |
| Bad Smell | If it smells bad, throw it out |
How to Tell if a Raw Steak is Bad
Smell. Fresh steak should not have an unpleasant smell. It’s not exactly pleasant, but it also doesn’t stink. Spoiled or rotten steak smells like bacteria or mold — it has a cheesy odor that is very off-putting. Sometimes it can also get an ammonia sulfur-like smell.
Texture. If steak becomes mottled or has a slimy film covering the surface it is likely bad. It should be firm to the touch and be neither slimy nor sticky.
Color. Beef that you buy from the store may have been treated artificially to enhance the color, so on the first day after purchase it will be bright red. This coloring darkens as it ages and will eventually become a deep brownish-red. The more brown the steak is, the older it probably is.
In addition, any hint of green or grey should cause you to label the steak as bad. Don’t eat it. Beef that is purchased from a butcher or farmer may have different coloring.
Moisture. If the meat is so dry that the marbling of fat is raised significantly or the meat is grainy from lack of moisture, it has probably passed its useable state.
Sell-By Date. While the sell-by date should be the first thing you check, meat can usually be used for two to three days after the sell-by date depending on how cold the meat has been kept and what kind of meat it is.
How to Tell if a Frozen Steak is Bad
Once a steak is frozen, you can’t use the sell-by date as your standard for whether or not the steak is bad. As long as it was frozen before the sell-by date, it’s a non-issue.
You also cannot really smell frozen meat, and there is no way to check the texture or moisture content because both are changed by the freezing process. So exactly how will you know if your frozen steak is bad? It comes down to two things.
Color. The frozen steak will always be darker and more brown than its fresh raw counterpart. It will continue to darken as it ages, but you do not want to cook meat from frozen if it has become a dark brown or has any hint of green or grey coloring.
Frost Bite. If a steak has been improperly sealed in your freezer, it may develop frostbite, which is usually visible on the surface of the meat as speckled white meat or actual frost on the meat.
One other way to check your frozen steak is to go ahead and thaw it in the refrigerator in a sealed container. After a few hours, you should be able to open the package and check it for smell or sliminess.
How to Tell if a Cooked Steak is Bad
Once steak has been cooked, it should be eaten or frozen within a couple of days. If you aren’t sure when the meat was cooked you can use these parameters.
Color. Meat should be brown with no hints of filmy grey, white or green colors on the surface.
Texture. No slime. If it has gotten slimy, skip it.
Smell. The chilled steak should smell appetizing or have no smell. Cold steak doesn’t have a strong smell, but when you put it to your nose it should not smell unappetizing. That’s always a bad sign. Sometimes you can’t detect the bad smell until the steak is reheated, and if that happens you should discard the meat.
How to Tell if a Thawed Steak is Bad
Once frozen meat has been thawed, you can use many of the same parameters you would use to judge a raw steak, with a few exceptions.
You can’t use the sell-by date on thawed meat, because as long as it was frozen within two days of purchase it is perfectly fine. You also won’t be able to tell as much from the texture of the meat because the texture changes as the meat freezes. Finally, frozen meat darkens and it will not ever return to the color of the meat at purchase.
Smell. Thawed steak should not have an unpleasant smell. Once you smell bad steak, its not a smell you will forget.
Moisture. If the meat is so dry that the marbling of fat is raised significantly or the meat is grainy from lack of moisture, it has probably passed its useable state.
Frost Bite. Even after frozen meat has been thawed, you can still look for signs of frostbite.
How to Keep a Steak from Going Bad
The best way to prevent a steak from going bad is to keep it in the refrigerator and use it within one or two days of purchase. It is possible to bring steak home from the grocery store and realize it was bad when you bought it, so you should definitely always check the smell and appearance when you remove it from the packaging.
In addition to refrigeration, you can also repackage the meat in an airtight or vacuum-sealed container and it will stay fresh longer. Finally, if you cannot use it in a timely manner, be sure to move it to the freezer.
FAQ
Cheese. Rotten steak has a cheesy odor from bacteria overgrowth. The best way to tell if a steak is bad is by the smell.
It’s not exactly a pleasant smell, but it shouldn’t be significantly unpleasant either. I suggest training your nose. Each time you purchase raw steak from the grocery store, smell it carefully and memorize that smell. This will allow you to quickly detect any off-putting odors when you have bad steak.
Firm, bright, red, and clean. No films, graininess, or strange colors.
This varies depending on the level of spoilage but could include a slimy or grainy film, green, grey, or yellow coloring, and visible dryness.
Yes. The bacteria in spoiled meat will definitely make you sick. Food poisoning can result in hospitalization. It is not a chance you want to take.
Steak actually comes in many different colors, but is generally red and turns more brown as it ages. This is because the blood in the meat is exposed to oxygen over time.
Steak Recipes to Try
