{"id":2125554,"date":"2025-04-04T06:17:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?p=2125554"},"modified":"2025-04-01T16:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T21:46:18","slug":"brown-stuff-in-chicken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","title":{"rendered":"If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It, This Is What It Means"},"content":{"rendered":"Poultry is a finicky staple of the American kitchen. To <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/how-to-cook-chicken\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cook chicken safely<\/a>, you have to know which textures, colors, smells and temperatures are safe for various parts of the chicken.\r\n\r\nLuckily, I have one concern for you to cross off the list: a chicken that's brown near its bones. That brown stuff in chicken, it turns out, is pretty normal and fine to eat.\r\n<h2>What is the brown stuff on my chicken?<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2128021\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_02_YVedit.jpg?fit=700,1024\" alt=\"A partially cooked piece of chicken breast on a white plate, showing a raw, pink and red center. It is seasoned with black pepper and herbs.\" width=\"700\" height=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\r\nMany concerned cooks have taken to the internet to document this odd phenomenon found in roasted and fried chicken: a \"bloom\" of reddish-brown on the interior, in the center near the bones.\r\n\r\nIt's an unpleasant surprise to find beneath the surface, especially after you've taken a bite.\r\n\r\nHowever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture <a href=\"https:\/\/ask.usda.gov\/s\/article\/What-causes-dark-bones-in-cooked-poultry\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reassures us<\/a> that the discoloration is normal. It's pigment from the chicken's bone marrow that has leaked out into the surrounding meat during the cooking process.\r\n\r\nThe USDA explains that this happens primarily when cooking younger chickens. Their bones, which are still porous and uncalcified, have more areas through which the reddish-brown marrow can leak. It also occurs more frequently in chicken that's been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/how-to-defrost-frozen-chicken\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">frozen and thawed<\/a>. This is because thawing poultry can cause the pigments to seep out further.\r\n<h2>Is the brown stuff safe to eat?<\/h2>\r\nThis bone marrow seepage, in addition to being common, is safe to eat. (People pay big money to eat bone marrow in fancy restaurants, after all.) The primary factor in determining whether poultry is safe to eat is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsis.usda.gov\/food-safety\/safe-food-handling-and-preparation\/food-safety-basics\/safe-temperature-chart\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cooking temperature<\/a>\u2014keep it above 165\u00b0F and don't leave it out at room temp for more than two hours.\r\n\r\nIf you still feel iffy about that discoloration or the thought of bone seepage is off-putting, opt for boneless cuts like chicken breasts. Or, cook your bone-in chicken right away, rather than freezing it to cook later.\r\n\r\n[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[\/cf]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;ve seen this discoloration, you&#8217;ve probably wondered what causes it\u2014and whether the chicken is safe to eat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7801,"featured_media":2128020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[303719,303745],"categories-v2":[308324,308369],"coauthors":[343846],"acf":{"long_pin_file":false,"ncv_override_generic_settings_option":false,"ncv_autoplay_option":"","ncv_stickyplay_option":"","ncv_ads_option":"","ncv_mute_option":"","ncv_comscore_option":"","ncv_autoplay_mobile_option":"","ncv_viewable_threshold_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_option":"","ncv_autopause_option":"","ncv_sticky_offset_mobile_option":"","ncv_autopause_mobile_option":"","ncv_sticky_mobile_option":"","ncv_remove_player_option":false,"ncv_moat_option":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>This Is What Causes That &#039;Brown Stuff&#039; in Chicken<\/title>\n\n\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/\" \/>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"This Is What Causes That 'Brown Stuff' in Chicken","description":"This odd phenomenon is found in roasted or fried chicken; it's a \"bloom\" of reddish-brown on the interior, in the center near the bones.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It, This Is What It Means","og_description":"This odd phenomenon is found in roasted or fried chicken; it's a \"bloom\" of reddish-brown on the interior, in the center near the bones.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","og_site_name":"Taste Recipes","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","article_published_time":"2025-04-04T11:17:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-01T21:46:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_01_YVedit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marnie Shure","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_01_YVedit.jpg","twitter_creator":"@tasteofhome","twitter_site":"@tasteofhome","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marnie Shure","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/"},"author":{"name":"skyword system user","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ccbba5e04c121f1dcff19cbc0692222"},"headline":"If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It, This Is What It Means","datePublished":"2025-04-04T11:17:01+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-01T21:46:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/"},"wordCount":326,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_01_YVedit.jpg","keywords":["News","Trends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","name":"This Is What Causes That 'Brown Stuff' in Chicken","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_01_YVedit.jpg","datePublished":"2025-04-04T11:17:01+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-01T21:46:18+00:00","description":"This odd phenomenon is found in roasted or fried chicken; 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The chicken is seasoned with visible spices and has a slightly charred exterior."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Trends","item":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/news\/trends\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It, This Is What It Means"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","name":"Taste Recipes","description":"Find Recipes, Appetizers, Desserts, Holiday Recipes &amp; Healthy Cooking Tips","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#organization","name":"Taste Recipes","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/toh-logo-red.png","width":166,"height":125,"caption":"Taste Recipes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/x.com\/tasteofhome","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tasteofhome\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/taste_of_home\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/tasteofhome"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7ccbba5e04c121f1dcff19cbc0692222","name":"skyword system user","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/fd0b78c3595fb197a4a5ef147ef361c7","url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/skyword-system-user-profile-photo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/skyword-system-user-profile-photo.png","caption":"skyword system user"},"url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/author\/skyword\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2025-05-18 07:27:29","action":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/article\/brown-stuff-in-chicken\/","author_details":{"2050051":{"ID":"2050051","display_name":"Marnie Shure","first_name":"Marnie","last_name":"Shure","user_login":"marnie-shure","user_email":"sw-139717@skyword.com","linked_account":"","website":"","description":"<p>Marnie Shure is a Chicago-based writer and editor with over a decade of comedy and food writing experience. For the past six years, she has covered restaurant reviews, recipes, breaking news, fast food taste tests, industry trends, and competitive eating. She most recently helmed The Takeout, a Midwest-based food website, and previously served as managing editor at The Onion. She also contributes to Food &amp; Wine magazine.<\/p>","twitter":"","instagram":"","facebook":"","public_email":"","linkedin":"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marnie-shure-13001819b","tiktok":"","youtube":"","location":"Chicago, IL","school_and_year":"Knox College","education":"Knox College, bachelor's in creative writing","highlights":"","expertise":"Food News","short_bio":"","user_nicename":"marnie-shure","type":"guest-author","nickname":""}},"images":{"2128021":{"image_url":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_02_YVedit.jpg","post_data":{"ID":2128021,"post_author":"7956","post_date":"2025-03-26 07:22:14","post_date_gmt":"2025-03-26 12:22:14","post_content":"","post_title":"If Your Chicken Has Brown Stuff Inside It Alex Schwartz For Taste Of Home 02 Yvedit","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"inherit","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"if-your-chicken-has-brown-stuff-inside-it_alex-schwartz-for-taste-of-home_02_yvedit","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2025-03-26 07:22:57","post_modified_gmt":"2025-03-26 12:22:57","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":2125554,"guid":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_02_YVedit.jpg","menu_order":0,"post_type":"attachment","post_mime_type":"image\/jpeg","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},"post_meta":{"_wp_attached_file":["2025\/03\/If-Your-Chicken-Has-Brown-Stuff-Inside-It_Alex-Schwartz-for-Taste-of-Home_02_YVedit.jpg"],"mdd_hash":["dd03b87e4c0761e3014e3d45ed8c23b1"],"mdd_size":["479213"],"_syndication_rights":["1"],"_wp_attachment_image_alt":["A partially cooked piece of chicken breast on a white plate, showing a raw, pink and red center. 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