Potted meat

{{Short description|Form of traditional food preservation}}

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File:Harzer Pottsuse im Glas.jpg

Potted meat is a form of traditional food preservation in which hot cooked meat is placed in a pot, tightly packed to exclude air, and then covered with hot fat.{{Cite book|last=Briggs|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZIEAAAAYAAJ|title=The English Art of Cookery, According to the Present Practice: Being a Complete Guide to All Housekeepers, on a Plan Entirely New; Consisting of Thirty-eight Chapters|date=1788|publisher=G. G. J. and J. Robinson|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Shephard|first=Sue|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNxLRqSreGkC|title=Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World|date=2006-07-03|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-5553-0|language=en}} As the fat cools, it hardens and forms an airtight seal, preventing some spoilage by airborne bacteria.{{cite book|title= Food Lover's Companion|last= Herbst|first= Sharon|year= 1995|publisher= Barron's|location= new York|isbn= 0-8120-1520-7|page= [https://archive.org/details/newfoodloverscom00herb_0/page/455 455]|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/newfoodloverscom00herb_0/page/455}}

Before the days of refrigeration, potted meat was developed as a way to preserve meat when a freshly slaughtered animal could not be fully eaten immediately.{{Cite book|last=Hale|first=Sarah Josepha |url=https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6491049M/The_ladies%27_new_book_of_cookery|title=The Ladies' New Book of Cookery|date=1852|publisher=H. Long & Brother|edition=5th|location=New York|ol=6491049M}}

Spores of Clostridium botulinum can survive cooking at 100 °C (212 °F),{{Cite journal|last1=Peleg|first1=M.|last2=Cole|first2=M. B.|date=2000-02-01|title=Estimating the survival of Clostridium botulinum spores during heat treatments|journal=Journal of Food Protection|volume=63|issue=2|pages=190–195|doi=10.4315/0362-028x-63.2.190|issn=0362-028X|pmid=10678423|doi-access=free}} and, in the anaerobic neutral pH storage environment, result in botulism.

Often when making potted meat, the meat of only one animal was used, although other recipes, such as the Flemish potjevleesch, used three or four different meats (animals).