How Potted Meat Is Really Made May Surprise You
It's time to take a trip through culinary history and make your way to an odd little corner of the grocery store, as we explore the truth about how potted meat is really made.
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00:00It's time to take a trip through culinary history and make your way to an odd little
00:04corner of the grocery store, as we explore the truth about how potted meat is really
00:09made.
00:10In its most traditional form, potted meat is meat that's been cooked in broth or fat,
00:15ground into a paste, packed into containers, and then covered with a layer of some sort
00:19of fat. The fat layer is supposed to completely seal in the meat with no access to air, and
00:24it's also meant to prevent bacteria from reaching the meat and spoiling it. The meat can be
00:28seasoned and is usually salted. Sometimes sodium nitrite is added to help with preservation.
00:34Modern, commercially made potted meat generally doesn't have a fat layer. Instead, the meat
00:39is cooked, seasoned, ground up, and packed into cans — the kind that's sold in grocery
00:43stores is shelf-stable until opened, at which point it has to be refrigerated.
00:48Commercial potted meat may generally be shelf-stable, but homemade potted meat is not shelf-stable
00:53at all. Indeed, the traditional procedure of covering the cooked meat with an impermeable
00:58layer of fat and then storing it in a cold place is no longer considered a safe practice.
01:03Once you seal the meat into a container with the layer of fat, you absolutely must refrigerate
01:08it. It's too easy to leave behind some water and a tiny gap in the fat layer that could
01:12lead to mold growth, not to mention the risk of bacteria or other pathogens getting inside
01:17the container.
01:18Refrigeration is essential for safe homemade potted meat, no matter how good you are at
01:22preserving food.
01:23I'm gonna keep it cool.
01:26Think of homemade potted meat as a way to extend your supply of protein over a few weeks
01:30at most, rather than a long-term preservation method.
01:35Commercially made potted meat is a paste that you can spread on crackers or bread. In most
01:39recipes, you're supposed to grind up the meat that you cook into a similar paste. This not
01:43only helps with spreading, but also makes it easier to pack the food in a can without
01:47leaving any gaps that would waste space and invite pathogens in.
01:51If you don't have a meat grinder, there are a couple other methods for turning the meat
01:55into a paste. One option is blending the meat, which is fast but can be messy. You may have
01:59to spend extra time cleaning out the blender to ensure that there's no debris left behind
02:04to fester. The other option is pounding the cooked meat, such as with a mortar and pestle.
02:09But this could take a while if you're trying to make a large quantity, and again, meat
02:12can get caught in any little grooves, indentations, or other features of your kitchen tools.
02:18The phrase slow cooking refers to one of two methods. The first involves cooking something
02:23in an actual slow cooker, such as the well-known name brand Crock-Pot. The other involves cooking
02:28food for a very long time at a low temperature, even if it's in a more standard pot and not
02:33an actual slow cooker. Whatever the vessel, slow cooking allows food to become tender
02:38while sitting in a hot environment for a long time.
02:41Faster cooking at a higher temperature could unevenly cook the food and make it tough,
02:45neither of which is good for preservation. Not all potted meat recipes rely on slow cookers,
02:50but even stovetop instructions specify cooking for a couple of hours at minimum. Some recipes
02:55consist of cooking the meat, turning it into a paste, and then baking the result for a
02:59while longer before putting the paste into the storage container. So if you're making
03:03your own potted meat, be prepared for it to take a while. You're best off treating it
03:07like a weekend project, at least until you get the hang of it.
03:11"...weekend! That's what I'm talking about, a weekend!"
03:14Potted meat is salty. Like, really, really salty. If you're trying to avoid excess sodium
03:19in your diet, then you should probably avoid potted meat. Eating too much salt can raise
03:23blood pressure and lead to other adverse health conditions, after all. However, while controlling
03:27sodium is a reasonable goal for many people, sometimes high sodium levels are necessary
03:32in certain foods.
03:33"...the kids today don't know a squat about sodium."
03:37Salt is a preservative that keeps meat safe to eat, along with the cold storage layer
03:41of fat and intense cooking process. So while the salt level of potted meat might make you
03:45concerned about how it affects your diet, you should know that it's not there solely
03:49to add flavor. Plus, eating it with something that's not salty can help mellow out the taste.
03:54You definitely need to be careful if you want to cook up a batch of homemade potted meat.
03:58For one thing, there's a risk of botulism, so you have to process the meat very carefully
04:03to eliminate as much of the risk as possible. If food isn't canned properly, bacteria can
04:07get inside the can and grow, including the organism that causes botulism. What's more,
04:13botulism doesn't need oxygen to thrive. It also loves low-acid environments, such as
04:17what's often found in canned meat.
04:19"...it makes my stomach hurt."
04:21While adding sodium nitrite can help preserve the food, you still have to prepare and store
04:25it correctly. Once the meat has been cooked and sealed into a container with a layer of
04:29fat, it must then be kept in the refrigerator. Storing it under 40 degrees Fahrenheit is
04:33essential to prevent the growth of the bacteria that causes botulism. The meat should also
04:38be properly salted, and the entire container should be used up within a short time. This
04:42last point is a very good reason to use small containers when making potted meat at home.
04:47Don't try to keep homemade potted meat in the pantry, even if it's relatively cold in
04:51there. Chances are it won't be consistently cold enough to match the quality of consistent
04:56refrigeration.
04:57In the early days of potted meat, each container usually had one type of meat inside. It came
05:02from parts of the animal that people recognized and would eat without hesitation. Back then,
05:07the purpose of potted meat was to preserve the meat that was stored up for the winter.
05:11But now the point is to have cheap, shelf-stable food that offers protein and convenience.
05:16Nowadays, commercial potted meat is usually a combination of meats, such as chicken and
05:20pork or chicken and beef. Combining meats often helps one taste better while offering
05:24a more filling food. For example, when you have pork and chicken together, you get the
05:28fat of the pork, helping keep the mixture moist while the chicken offers a low-fat source
05:32of protein. The resulting combination means that the mixture isn't completely fatty, nor
05:37is it too dry.
05:39If you're not a fan of unconventional cuts of meat, then you might not like commercially
05:42available potted meat. That's because it uses seemingly any part of the animal that was
05:47available during processing, and it's not always obvious exactly which parts that meat
05:51came from.
05:52There are some people who believe that potted meat is sourced from some really undesirable
05:56and downright unsavory parts of the animals, but the truth is that it's from whichever
06:00ones are available to the manufacturers and legally okay for consumption. This can include
06:05the likes of stomachs, nerves, and fatty tissue.
06:08If you're not a fan of consuming mechanically separated meat that could be from any cut,
06:12then potted meat may not be your thing. But if you're fine with any culinary origin, as
06:16long as it's cooked and canned properly, then commercially potted meat can find a place
06:20in your kitchen.
06:21"'Cause I'll take anything."
06:23Spreadable meat in a can might sound quite similar to certain other preserved food products
06:27like Spam and deviled meat. And if you weren't already familiar with potted meat, then you
06:31might think that all of these products are basically the same. But there are some key
06:35differences. For one thing, Spam isn't spreadable. Instead, it's more typically sliced, baked,
06:40or fried, though there's no doubt that if you tried hard enough, you could mash it into
06:44something that looks like a paste.
06:45But when you get right down to it, Spam is a solid food product that isn't created the
06:49same way that potted meat is.
06:51"'My lower intestine is full of Spam.'"
06:54Now let's talk about the details in deviled meat, which is usually available as deviled
06:58ham or deviled chicken. Deviled is a culinary term that refers to the addition of hot seasonings
07:03like cayenne pepper or mustard. For another example, deviled eggs may contain Dijon mustard
07:08or paprika.
07:09Deviled ham and chicken look like potted meat and are spreadable meats that you can eat
07:13straight from the can. But they're not slow-cooked and then covered in fat. Instead, they're
07:17formed when ground meat is mixed with spices and other seasonings to create a flavored
07:21sandwich spread.
07:23Commercial potted meat is generally meant to be ready to eat right out of the container.
07:27So you could conceivably spoon it right out of the can and straight into your mouth without
07:30warming it up — if you're so inclined — or you could scoop it onto a cracker with no
07:35other preparation.
07:36But this sort of consumption wasn't typical back when refrigerators weren't common. Any
07:40meat that's potted is technically cooked. That's part of the preparation process, which
07:44involves cooking it for hours before it's put into a container and sealed in with fat.
07:48But back when food was kept cold in cellars, longer storage could be problematic. That's
07:53because it wasn't always easy to keep the storage area at a consistently low enough
07:56temperature, especially in warmer seasons.
07:59Thus, potted meats that had been stored for a long time were often cooked again before
08:03serving unless the meat had been preserved only a week or two before — and the weather
08:07was very cold anyway. But remember, if you're making potted meat at home, never try to keep
08:11it in a non-refrigerated area for even a couple of days. Instead, once it's sealed
08:16in a jar, stick it in the fridge.
08:17You gotta do it.
08:20Potted meat may sound rather odd if you've never heard of it before, but it's related
08:23to other foods that are more common and considered somewhat gourmet. One of them is meat confit,
08:28which is cooked very slowly while it's submerged in fat. It can be preserved in a jar for about
08:33a month if the meat is then fully submerged in the fat, and the final product is kept
08:37in the refrigerator.
08:38Duck confit is a common type of confit dish that might sound a little fancy and intimidating,
08:43but in reality, it's just a tasty way of preparing and potting duck meat while it's still on
08:47the bone.
08:48Then there's rillettes, which are also slow-cooked and prepared as potted meats, usually pork.
08:52They're seasoned with herbs and often found on the menus of gourmet restaurants. Rillettes
08:56are part of classic French and Mediterranean cuisine and can command a pretty penny when
09:01eating out. It's similar to pâté, but with a chunkier texture. And as always, it's smart
09:05to refrigerate either confit or rillettes.
09:09Potted meat usually doesn't contain wheat or similar gluten-rich ingredients outright,
09:13but many brands use natural flavors as part of their recipes. These are flavoring agents
09:17derived from natural sources, like plants, that are used to amp up the flavor of the
09:21meat. Sometimes the natural flavors are derived from wheat. If the food is regulated by the
09:26FDA in the United States, then the product's label must state that it contains wheat. But
09:30other times, the natural flavors are derived from gluten containing sources like barley.
09:35This may not necessarily be something that the FDA requires manufacturers to include
09:39on the label, if it's just the source of the natural flavor additive. For anyone who can't
09:43have gluten, this is obviously a problem. If you fall into this camp, then it's important
09:48to figure out which brands you can trust. Some of them may list the sources of natural
09:52flavors on websites or state that their products are gluten-free, while others may be less
09:56forthcoming. You can also check other sources to find out where a company gets its natural
10:01flavors.
10:05www.globalonenessproject.org