The rate of degradation of a cooked food product that is maintained at an elevated temperature can be reduced by the use of an encapsulated environment food holder. The encapsulated environment is a small, airtight or semi-airtight containment vessel that retains compositions that escape from a cooked food product over time. The volume of an encapsulated environment is greater than one hundred percent but less than one-thousand percent of the cooked food product volume. By holding single servings or portions of a cooked food product in a small, encapsulated environment palatability or taste of a cooked food product can be extended.