Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

HOW IS SPAM MADE?
=================
*

------------------------INGREDIENTS-----------------------------
x Chopped pork shoulder meat
x A bit of ham added
x Salt
x Water
x Sugar
x Sodium Nitrate

There isn't really much scary meat in it, such as the stories about
pig snouts and such, even though meat used for canning contains
adjacent fat and connective tissues that need not be described on the
label, however. Presence of tendons in canned meat is considered
permissible if the amount is under 10% in contents; the reason being
that finely ground tendons are believed to be digestible in the
presence of other proteins. For every 100 pounds of this meat, you
need about 3 1/2 pounds of salt, a pound of sugar, and about an ounce
of sodium nitrate. Nitrate is what gives Spam it's eerie
pink++without it, Spam would fade to a drab meat-loaf gray. The
consistency of Spam is not quite fleshlike, being too rubbery for
that, and is constructed on the principle of concrete. Coarse chunks
of meat are held together by a pate of finely ground meat.
Approximately 3/4 of the meat is ground coarsely (through a
three-eighths-inch plate of the grinder), the remaining quarter
finely (one-eighth-inch plate). Grinding, mixing and curing must be
done in achilled factory (34 degrees Fahrenheit) to minimize
bacterial growth. Mix the 2 grades of meat with the salt, sugar, and
sodium nitrate in a vacuum mixer set to a 27-inch vacuum, for 5
minutes. Release vacuum and let the mixture cure overnight,
maintaining refrigeration. The next day, mix in the vacuum mixer for
about 10 minutes again. The chilled meat is then ready for canning.
Though the canning plant doesn't have to be refrigerated, the meat
must not warm more than a few degrees (to no more than 40 degrees
Fahrenheit) in transit. Spray the inner surfacee cans with oil for
easy removal, then pack with meat mixtuer and seal under a 27-inch
vacuum. Spam is still raw when canned. Cooking and sterilization take
place in the sealed can. The time required to sterilize depends on
the size and shape of the can. The classic 3 7/8" x 3 1/4" x 2 1/8"
oblong can takes about 70 minutes in an oven set to 230 degrees
Fahrenheit. The can's sturdy design andinternal vacuum prevent
explosion. Hormel's dating code is a 5-digit number on the bottom of
the can, something like F04173, where F encodes the processing plant.
The first 2 digits represent the month (04 for April), the next two
are the day (17 is the 17th), and the last is the year (3 means it's
1993 unless it's a really old can). There is a record of canned meat
(not Spam, obviously) remaining edible for 114 years. However, a
Hormel brochure suggests using all canned foods within 2 years. Says
Hormel, "It is important to keep in mind that all foods are
substances which arderived from living matter. All living things have
life spans that are characteristic of the species. " Even Spam.

Submitted By SAM LEFKOWITZ On 08-05-95

Browse by categories