When one per cent oxygen is too much: Colour in wet-aged beef
Brown or grey discoloration in vacuum-packed beef during the first weeks of wet ageing is not merely a cosmetic issue. Colour directly affects purchasing decisions, can lead to complaints and write-offs, and reflects chemical processes at the meat surface. A 2025 study by the University of Hohenheim and the German Institute of Food Technologies therefore examined how different oxygen concentrations affect colour stability.
Longer aged, less colour-stable: What the muscle loses along the way
Wet ageing improves tenderness, but longer ageing does not affect every quality attribute in the same way. A study published in the Journal of Food Science investigated why wet-aged steaks lose redness more quickly during retail display as ageing time increases.
Aroma is not created by time alone: How microorganisms contribute to ageing
Ageing flavour is often described through method and number of days. A 2023 study in Foods shows why that explanation is incomplete. Researchers compared beef rump under different post-mortem ageing processes and linked measurable volatile compounds with the dominant bacterial and fungal communities.
Reading colour correctly: An assessment routine instead of instinct
Colour is the first quality attribute customers see. It therefore quickly becomes a proxy for freshness, ageing and enjoyment. Professionally, that shortcut is risky: purple meat may bloom normally after opening, a brown area may result from oxidation, and a persistently red appearance does not automatically prove that a product is flawless.
‘Everyone can afford good meat’ – a conversation about conscious enjoyment
In October 2018, Ronny Paulusch spoke with stern.de about how to recognise good meat and whether quality inevitably requires a large household budget. The central argument remains relevant: conscious meat consumption starts not with the largest possible quantity, but with selection, knowledge and appreciation.
A new medium does not need a long founding myth. But it should explain why it exists. Meat Morning Briefing was created because every day I see how much knowledge our sector holds – and how rarely that knowledge comes together in a form that people can actually read, understand and use in the morning.
