Potted meat

Potted meat is a preserved meat, where the meat is cooked, placed hot in a pot, tightly packed to exclude air, and then covered with hot fat. As the fat cools, it hardens and forms an airtight seal, preventing some spoilage by airborne bacteria.[1] Spores of Clostridium botulinum can survive cooking at 100°C (212°F), and, in the anerobic neutral pH storage environment, result in Botulism. 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.[1]

Often when making potted meat, only the meat of one animal was used,[1] although other recipes, such as the Flemish potjevleesch, used three or four different meats (animals).