Comments on: I Try It So You Don’t Have To: Potted Meat

By: Brett

Brett — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:44:46 +0000

Potted meat is the EXACT same ingredients of hot dog franks. The difference is that the franks were formed and slightly cooked.

Potted meat is best enjoyed with saltine crackers and and ice cold coca-cola.

so you guys barfing at the potted meat. You’re still eating it in every hot dog you enjoy.

By: I Try It So You Don't Have To: Scrapple | So Good

I Try It So You Don't Have To: Scrapple | So Good — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:28:13 +0000

[...] scrap meat is so popular. As a nation, we willingly consume hot dogs, deviled ham, and even potted meat. In the same country, we let our water run excessively, leave the lights burning, and chuck [...]

By: KevinB

KevinB — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:19:46 +0000

I don’t hold any brief for the Armour product, which sounds horrible, but potted meat has been a staple in the UK and many parts of the Commonwealth for years. It was conceived as a way to both make use of the “ends” (leftover pieces of real beef and chicken, not just tripe), and to preserve it without refrigeration. Typically, the meats were ground into a puree, put into the pot, and then topped with aspic (a type of bland gelatin). The aspic would flow throughout the mixture, and then coat the surface, protecting it from bacteria.

I stayed at a B&B in Scotland in 2001, and as part of the afternoon snack, I was offered her homemade potted meat on toast points. It tasted quite like a pate, though not so rich and fatty (she didn’t use liver), and the aspic added an interesting texture. It was very good, and I had to stop myself from hogging most of it. Potted meat can be very tasty.

The Armour product described sounds typical of the worst practices of giant American food companies – take a good, simple food, and make it horrid. As examples, I offer: McD’s “shakes” (so-called I’ve been told because they don’t actually contain milk). I’m sure the original McD franchises actually made their shakes out of milk, ice cream, and syrup, until some corporate type realized most people equated thickness with goodness in milk shake (which of course meant it was made with a higher ice cream/milk ratio than a thinner shake). So out with the blenders, and in with the pre-mix which contains enough thickeners that it requires the sucking power of a $5 hooker to get it through the straw.

Next on my list: fish sticks. A nice piece of battered and deep fried fish has been enjoyed for centuries in the UK, and for many years on both US coasts, along the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and more. I don’t care whether it’s cod, scrod, lake perch or catfish; done correctly, it’s fantastic. But the corporate fish stick? Batter without taste or texture, and fish without flavour. Feh.

Finally: apple pie. I remember my mom’s pie – tender, flaky crust on top, a slightly firmer one on the bottom to hold it all together, and in between, lots of apples with a just a bit of sugar, cinnamon, and clove. I’m sure everyone remembers their mother’s pie. But the corporate ones? Tough, gluey crusts on both ends, filled with tasteless, mushy apples and enough sugar to make your dentist happy.

Armour potted meat may well be as horrible as the writer posted, but don’t give up on the idea; just this particular execution.

By: I Try It So You Don't Have To: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Crackers | So Good

I Try It So You Don't Have To: Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Crackers | So Good — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:43:35 +0000

[...] we survived the potted meat. Just barely, but we survived. A break is deserved, yes? I only posses so much intestinal [...]

By: Megs

Megs — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:20:14 +0000

When I was growing up in the South, my grandpa (“Paw Paw”) always stocked this stuff in the kitchen cabinets. Once or twice I had to resort to it for an after-school snack. Maybe it was my childhood iron stomach, but I didn’t think it was quite as bad as you’ve described. Don’t know if I could eat it now, though! I suggest you try (if you haven’t already) Vienna Sausages, usually found on the same shelf with potted meat at the grocery store, and also found alongside it in my Paw Paw’s kitchen. Note: this is pronounced “vye-ee-nee.” Great post!

By: Ack!

Ack! — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:25:12 +0000

A person can learn to eat alot of things when you are broke enough. The origination of the term “potted meat” goes back to a time before modern refrigeration and canning methods. Meat (mainly ham) was preserved for the winter by layering it in a crock (pot) with alternating layers of meat and lard, then putting it down in the ol root cellar for the winter. It worked to extend the usable life of foods out of season. I guess these days it has become some sort of catch all term for a hash of meat related products potted together in a can….ew…after looking up the ingredients, I don’t think I can ever eat that again, I don’t even know what tripe is….

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:57:46 +0000

I lived on a small island in the Pacific for 2 years and we ate a lot of this kind of stuff. (Canned meats are very popular when your food comes in a shipping container that’s been sitting on a ship for a month.) Spam is the best of this category of food, and I use both the term food and best lightly. But all canned meats can be improved in a stir-fry. The rice cuts down on the heavy salt and soy sauce helps to cover the flavor too. I’ve also had potted meat sandwiches which are pretty horrific. If you can find it, I would suggest trying canned corned beef. It’s my very least favorite of the canned meats.

By: Duckey

Duckey — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:47:50 +0000

This looks horrid do people actually eat that? My health food blog would not approve but hey… go you for exploring!

Duckey x

By: Arjewtino

Arjewtino — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:35:45 +0000

You should have put a fried egg on top.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:20:52 +0000

It made me wonder who actually eats this stuff. How many cans would you need to feed a family of 4? Maybe if you were homeless and/or starving, it would look live a variation on pate? Well, maybe not.

By: FoxyMoron

FoxyMoron — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:00:10 +0000

that was laugh-out-loud good. people in my computer lab are starting to stare.

By: Lemmonex

Lemmonex — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:55:19 +0000

On the can, there is a picture of it in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato. I just ate it on a piece of bread so I could really absorb the full experience.

Seriously, the thought of heating it makes me feel really ill.

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:52:50 +0000

Suicide_blond is on the same thought pattern as me….is there any “recommended” way to eat this anywhere on the can? Do they recommend you heat it?

It does sound completely horrific, and thank you for eating it.

By: restaurantrefugee

restaurantrefugee — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:56:00 +0000

This is the only thing that you have written that was difficult for me to read. It was – as is your style – beautifully written, thoroughly evocative of the subject. But potted meat – wow, did you take one for the team.

By: Food Rockz Man

Food Rockz Man — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:19:43 +0000

I’m not sure this column will have its intended effect . . . I mean . . . now I kind of wanna try this stuff to experience the nastyness. I’m not right in the head. But I’ll be back weekly and will contemplate following your lead.