The vinegar caused the myoglobin in the meat to oxidize, as it does when cooked, and turn brown.
It oxidized the iron in the myoglobin, rancidity is caused by oxidation of fats.
Or perhaps you used a dark balsamic vinegar and the meat was just dyed....

Ever make saurbraten? it's brown.

"Did the vinegar submersion have a cooking effect? "

Not sure about beef, but lime juice has a cooking effect on raw fish in making ceviche. The fish turns from translucent to opaque white.

Jim

Yes, the vinegar "cooked" the meat. As Jim wrote ceviche is sometimes made with vinegar as well as lime juice.

But I am curious, why are you trying to disinfect the beef before cooking it with heat?

"---But I am curious, why are you trying to disinfect the beef before cooking it with heat?"

Wondering about the same thing.

There are recipes which call for vinegar to tenderize meat, not sanitize meat.

dcarch

Never heard of disinfecting meat? Why?

Because it got cut.

Cutting meat does not per se make it insanitary.

Followup Question:
Does this mean the brown color is OK?
Or does it mean it rancidized it?

Followup answer:
Actually, I had in mind that it could serve to disinfect AND tenderize (or marinate, whatever..

I just wanted the easiest/cheapest way to sanitize+tenderize the meat prior to cooking, since how should I know how it was handled during its processing prior to its arrival at store, and even afterward?

And besides,
Note that the previous week, directly prior to cooking in crockpot, I had BRIEFLY soaked pieces of beef in vinegar, and it worked out fine, since the meal was delicious.

...basically soup veggies floating in a cup of honeyed water into which i'd chopped potatoes & yams (and added quick-oats and a SMIDGEN of sauteed onions - since i'm sorta allergic to potent onion/garlic). Once the latter was dumped into crockpot, added to that, i often add frozen corn, frozen green beans, parsnip, turnip, zuccini, preSoaked red lentils (sometimes some fresh green pepper or butternut-squash too).

Atop that:
Meat (sometimes skinned turkey wings or chicken, whatever)

Atop the meat:
Canned-crushed tomatoes (which i'd mixed with molasses & xylitol)
Also mixed into the tomato i put some chopped dill (and/or cilantro) from freezer.

Jally, Where do you live? Are you someone that is normally paranoid about the food that you eat or do you live in a place where there is some major safety concern about available meat/foods?

I'm not trying to insult you, I'm honestly interested in knowing the reason behind disinfecting meat. I've never heard of this before.

Ann

I had no idea vinegar could be a disinfectant. Can someone pls explain?

Vinegar is a good germ killer....germs don't live in acidic enviornments.
But vinegar also erodes metals, pickles vegetables, makes meat firm, and inhibits mold/yeast growth.
Think I need to make some sourbraten with a side of sweet and sour red cabbage.

No, the meat wasn't "rancidised", just oxidised as explained earlier. But really, you don't need to sanitise meat. If you feel the need you could rinse off the outside and pat dry on clean towels. The inside doesn't need rinsing at all, it hasn't been exposed to anything.
Long slow cooking in the crockpot will take cake of the tenderness aspect.
I have to ask, why so much sugar in your stew- honey, molasses, xylitol?

Firstly colleen, thanks!
Now i deduce that oxidization and rancidization are mutually exclusive.
Re: your question about so much sugar:
Actually, not so much.
Just approx. a tsp. honey in 1cup boiled water.
Then only part of the sauce from my fridge, concocted from crushed tomato, TB-vinegar, then just a small bit of molasses & xylitol (i never measure the latter sweeteners exactly since it never seems to matter)

As for the rest of the questions, I'm actually a cooking ignoramus more or less, who hopped on here for that very reason (to get answers).
;-)

If anyone's interested in the boring sequence of events leading to my ignorant posting, here goes:

Prior to hopping on here, I had browsed thru my 2 crummy cookbooks which are maybe from the 1980s or so.
(one Betty Crocker, the other Good Housekeeping).
I desperately checked the rear indexes for "marinades" & "meat preparation"
all i saw was that Good Housekeeping strongly advised against strongly-seasoning meats before freezing, due to them turning rancid.

So I told myself:
Vinegar is a strong seasoning.
But Good Housekeeping Cookbook did NOT warn against refrigration, rather just warned against freezing strongly-seasoned meats.

Whereupon I proceeded to refrigerate the vinegar-soaked raw meat, resulting in brown color.
So i told myself - is that the rancidity warned by Good Housekeeping?

Whereupon I hopped over to gardenweb (though i tend to occasionally favor hard copy due to becoming ill from over-exposure to LCD fluresence.

I'm still curious about why the meat needed to be sanitized. This reminds me of my dearly departed aunt who was so worried about "germs" that she used to wash her chicken with "just a little" Clorox in the water. We were all scared to death to eat her chicken!

Here is what the USDA has to say about washing meat and poultry:

Washing Meat and Poultry

Washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces. We call this cross-contamination.

Some consumers think they are removing bacteria and making their meat or poultry safe. However, some of the bacteria are so tightly attached that you could not remove them no matter how many times you washed. But there are other types of bacteria that can be easily washed off and splashed on the surfaces of your kitchen. Failure to clean these contaminated areas can lead to foodborne illness. Cooking (baking, broiling, boiling, and grilling) to the right temperature kills the bacteria, so washing food is not necessary.

Using a food thermometer is the only sure way of knowing if your food has reached a high enough temperature to destroy foodborne bacteria. Cook all raw beef and veal steaks, roasts, and chops to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F as measured with a food thermometer before removing meat from the heat source. For safety and quality, allow meat to rest for at least three minutes before carving or consuming. For reasons of personal preference, consumers may choose to cook meat to higher temperatures.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA food safety

Um. Vinegar is NOT a seasoning. Salt and pepper and spices are seasonings. Never heard that seasoning meat before freezing causes meat to become rancid. Poor refrigeration causes meat to become rancid. When meat is rancid, your nose will know. But, wouldn't bother seasoning meat before freezing anyway. What point?
Any sugar in a stew is "so much" sugar. Why sugar at all? Maybe a tiny pinch if the tomatoes are too acid, but unless you're going for the flavour of honey or molasses (in which case use a larger amount) unnecessary to use them as well. And why xylitol? Since you're using other sugars it seems a little OTT since you won't be saving much calorie-wise.
Surprised your cookbooks don't give guidelines for marination times. Unless you're making saurbraten, usually you would only marinate meat for a couple of hours max, chicken maybe half an hour. Otherwise you will get the reaction you experienced. Marinating is to flavour and tenderise meat, not disinfect it (which as has been discussed, is an unnecessary step). And usually used to tenderise meat which will be cooked quickly, such as a steak or chops, which don't have time to be tenderised by the long, slow cooking process.

Colleen - I questioned your first statement, so I looked it up. Here's how Epicurious defines seasoning:

Ingredients added to food to intensify or improve its flavor. Some of the most commonly used seasonings include herbs (such as oregano, rosemary and basil), spices (like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice), condiments (such as Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and mustard), a variety of vinegars and - the most common of all - salt and pepper.

I can onkly guess that the reason for not seasoning meat before cooking is so if it gets rancid you will smell it.....the other possible reason might be because you won't gain any advantage by freezing seasoned food.....but heaven knows there are lots of commercially frozen meals that are already seasoned.
Seasonings are things like black pepper, garlic, dried herbs, ground seeds like cumin or mustard and the red peppers and chili seasonings.
Vinegar and sugar are not considered seasonings.
Next time you have some meat you want to cook, post here and there are all sorts of people who will either tell you just what to do or direct you to a visual demonstration of what you want to know. We are a whole bunch of people who would love to teach you to cook!
Linda C

Welcome Jally!

This is a wonderful group of experienced and caring cooks. I arrived here many years ago as a novice but fairly capable cook. I have learned so much from the cooks here who have a great wealth of individual and collective knowledge and skills and share openly. I'm glad you joined in.

Eileen

And salt is a preservative as well as a seasoning, so I do wonder why GH cautions against freezing.

OK, thanks everyone! I guess that wraps it up for this ole gal...

...some relevant rhetorical Footnotes:

* Note - i'd read the USDA article prior to posting my Q.

* Note - Remember, it's an old cookbook.

* Note - Remember i'm sorta electrosensitive (even need to use a low-power laptop preferably lower than 1.8ghz - yet still get zapped. To me, powerful systems are like atom bombs. And sifting thru reams of info online are also like atom bombs. So hey, maybe y'all have a recipe to rid my body of its cumulative EMFs and de-sensitize me? Disclaimer: Please don't post any advice that's already online, since i've tried it all. Pr's each think they have the answer, but it's rather placebo effect which only works for less-compromised people.

* Note - sweetening actually is healing to me (whereas Raw onion, salt(even-sea-salt) and even many Vitamin C's have tested kineseologically bad for me) It's only organic-waxy-honey in berry tea (or sambucol or black cherry) and probiotic yogurt which support my recurring flu symptoms, caused by my autoimmune condition rebelling against computer use & stress & "foods-which-have-cooking-effect".

I'm closest to what ayurveda calls "vatta-kapha" (needing not too much of this and barely anything of that) - except i don't fit all their parameters. It's just to give you an idea. (btw arabica coffee+creamer is also healing to me)

re: sweetners, the attachment may interest

Here is a link that might be useful: Eat Taste Heal