Defrosted Beef Mince

[woozle]

I've just checked on some beef mince that I was defrosting for today out on the kitchen counter (I know, not the safest way to defrost meat). The thing is, the meat doesn't seem to have a funny smell but it has turned brown and bled out slightly. Prior to being placed on the counter for a little over 14 hours it had been in the refrigerator for about 6 hours -- is the meat still good to go for later on tonight?

[Suzanne]

Shame on you! But you knew you were doing it the unsafe way.

Beef mince (ground beef to us Yanks) will turn brown when exposed to air. And the liquid that "bled out" is water and myoglobin that were in the cells of the meat; thawing it rapidly that way will make them leach out faster because the cell walls have burst.

Some folks here will tell you to throw it out, because it was sitting in the temperature "danger zone" (4C to 60C/40F to 140F) way too long. Me, I would cook it, but I would cook it really really well-done (no rare hamburgers!). And I would put it back into the fridge until I was ready to cook it.

[woozle]

Yeah, it's back in the fridge right now and will be for about another 3 hours. I don't intend on cooking it rare -- always well done. Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a shot!