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alternatives to spam for long term meat storage

beerftw

beerftw

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I have a rotation of canned foods in my cabinet, keep beans and rice on hand, mostly all planned incase there is ever a natural disaster or a state wide power issue disrupting logistics I would not go hungry. Problem is spam is the biggest frontrunner and I hate spam, it is supposedly ground up pork shoulder and ham, but I think they throw eyeballs or whatever leftover they can in there, it seems to be all greese and gelatin.

I have stocked armour treet, which is more like bologna or hot dogs and is ham and chicken, it is alright if I have no other choices and I prefer it to spam, but really this is my I am going to die if I do not eat it food. I found recently at hed chopped canned ham in the same size can as spam, with ingredients ham water and salt, way better than spam and cheaper. I also have been stocking up on those ham in a can things that stay good for upwards of 5 years, slightly more expensive than spam but hey atleast it is not spam.

I have also bought american made corn beef spread and brazilian cans or corned beef, as well as cans of corned beef hash. I have also had before cans of canned ground beef, but they cost a crapload for what you get, smell like dogfood but it tastes ok in a recipe, though by itself it is very rubbery.


Things I will never buy- vienna sausage--------no! Potted meat, this is just cat food, not only does it smell the same as cat food, it comes in the exact sized cans cat food often does, I think they take the catfood unfit for cat consuption rip off the labels and throw a potted meat label on it.
 
Don't they sell canned chicken, fish, and pickled meats near you?
 
Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but I did a bit of googling and found this:

https://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/how-to-store-meat-for-years-without-refrigeration/

Towards the end it mentions that canning is the best way to preserve meat long-term

Sems like you could have canned meat without it being Spam. Even if you have to can it yourself.


Edit: Also, what lefty said - there are many more options in the canned meat area than Spam.

Tuna, chicken, salmon, beef, just to name a few.

On a side note, amused by this when I googled for canned meat images:

e5a7_canned_unicorn_meat.jpg
 
beerftw said:
I have a rotation of canned foods in my cabinet, keep beans and rice on hand, mostly all planned incase there is ever a natural disaster or a state wide power issue disrupting logistics I would not go hungry. Problem is spam is the biggest frontrunner and I hate spam, it is supposedly ground up pork shoulder and ham, but I think they throw eyeballs or whatever leftover they can in there, it seems to be all greese and gelatin.

I have stocked armour treet, which is more like bologna or hot dogs and is ham and chicken, it is alright if I have no other choices and I prefer it to spam, but really this is my I am going to die if I do not eat it food. I found recently at hed chopped canned ham in the same size can as spam, with ingredients ham water and salt, way better than spam and cheaper. I also have been stocking up on those ham in a can things that stay good for upwards of 5 years, slightly more expensive than spam but hey atleast it is not spam.

I have also bought american made corn beef spread and brazilian cans or corned beef, as well as cans of corned beef hash. I have also had before cans of canned ground beef, but they cost a crapload for what you get, smell like dogfood but it tastes ok in a recipe, though by itself it is very rubbery.


Things I will never buy- Vienna sausage--------no! Potted meat, this is just cat food, not only does it smell the same as cat food, it comes in the exact sized cans cat food often does, I think they take the catfood unfit for cat consuption rip off the labels and throw a potted meat label on it.
Click to expand...

I like Spam, but I can’t eat all of the can in the prescribed time. The missus won’t touch it. Not 100% what you are asking...maybe look into surplus MRE or other military rations. Spam sammich, sliced thin and on a hamburger bun, good eats. Don’t pay attention to the ingredients.....


View attachment 67233290

View attachment 67233291
 
The Mark said:
Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but I did a bit of googling and found this:

https://www.offthegridnews.com/off-grid-foods/how-to-store-meat-for-years-without-refrigeration/

Towards the end it mentions that canning is the best way to preserve meat long-term

Sems like you could have canned meat without it being Spam. Even if you have to can it yourself.


Edit: Also, what lefty said - there are many more options in the canned meat area than Spam.

Tuna, chicken, salmon, beef, just to name a few.

On a side note, amused by this when I googled for canned meat images:

e5a7_canned_unicorn_meat.jpg
Click to expand...

Hmm I have had a sparkle deficiency lately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I have all the beans and soups and stuff but canned tuna and chicken too...
 
lefty louie said:
Don't they sell canned chicken, fish, and pickled meats near you?
Click to expand...

I really can not stand canned fish or tuna, canned chicken to me can be fairly bad as well, depending on who makes it, going from tasting good to tasting like a chicken version spam. Fyi only pickled meats I can find here other than pickled sausage are pickled pigs feet, not going to eat that, and for canned fish I would rather go to the creek and catch catfish, but they can be tempermental depending on the temperature and season.
 
beerftw said:
I really can not stand canned fish or tuna, canned chicken to me can be fairly bad as well, depending on who makes it, going from tasting good to tasting like a chicken version spam. Fyi only pickled meats I can find here other than pickled sausage are pickled pigs feet, not going to eat that, and for canned fish I would rather go to the creek and catch catfish, but they can be tempermental depending on the temperature and season.
Click to expand...



After a second sunrise in the same 24hr period, your taste buds may have to adjust.............flash frozen or flash fried?
 
Rogue Valley said:
MRE Meals Ready to Eat | Military Meals
Click to expand...

Those are kinda really pricey, and their shelf life varied wildly depending on the temperature they are stored at, plus I spent enough years eating them. My goal was to keep a few weeks of canned goods on hand and rotate things out when they neared expiration. Pretty pricey at 90 bucks a case for mre's when canned goods last just as long but provide far more meals for the cost.
 
beerftw said:
I really can not stand canned fish or tuna, canned chicken to me can be fairly bad as well, depending on who makes it, going from tasting good to tasting like a chicken version spam. Fyi only pickled meats I can find here other than pickled sausage are pickled pigs feet, not going to eat that, and for canned fish I would rather go to the creek and catch catfish, but they can be tempermental depending on the temperature and season.
Click to expand...

I have not, but...Have you ever looked into canning your own meats?
 
lefty louie said:
I have not, but...Have you ever looked into canning your own meats?
Click to expand...

Too much effort for me, yes I have looked into it, and plenty of people have died from it mostly from poor sanitation as well as ignoring that vacuum tab on the top, if it is sucked in you are safe, if it is popped up you have botulism and throw it out. But my biggest thing is the time and effort needed for it.
 
Spam is meat? I though it was fat and peckers.
 
The question is why.

They say 3 days of food and water, but if I cared, I'd make it a week. Your run of the mill catastrophe can last longer than 3 days.

But it's a band aid, really.

You can buy beans and rice in 50 pound bags. That will keep you alive for a while, assuming the emergency doesn't kill you quick.
 
Rexedgar said:
Check the ingredients, evidently ‘ham meat’ is different than pork. Who knew?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)
Click to expand...
Funny. I had a Cuban sandwich yesterday that had ham and these big (white) pork slices. I picked off some of the pork slices, my daughter asked why, and I said I didn't want to eat the pork. She gave me a funny look and pointed to the ham, that smartass. I'll have to show her this.
 
Rexedgar said:
Check the ingredients, evidently ‘ham meat’ is different than pork. Who knew?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(food)
Click to expand...

Ham is just the second best cut of pork, bacon being the forst. The rest are differing in flavor and toughness, and ham being added to spam was to try and cover up the taste of pork shoulder(wierdly pork tougher cuts taste worse than tender cuts, while with beef tougher cuts taste better but are harder to prepare)
 
beerftw said:
I have a rotation of canned foods in my cabinet, keep beans and rice on hand, mostly all planned incase there is ever a natural disaster or a state wide power issue disrupting logistics I would not go hungry. Problem is spam is the biggest frontrunner and I hate spam, it is supposedly ground up pork shoulder and ham, but I think they throw eyeballs or whatever leftover they can in there, it seems to be all greese and gelatin.

I have stocked armour treet, which is more like bologna or hot dogs and is ham and chicken, it is alright if I have no other choices and I prefer it to spam, but really this is my I am going to die if I do not eat it food. I found recently at hed chopped canned ham in the same size can as spam, with ingredients ham water and salt, way better than spam and cheaper. I also have been stocking up on those ham in a can things that stay good for upwards of 5 years, slightly more expensive than spam but hey atleast it is not spam.

I have also bought american made corn beef spread and brazilian cans or corned beef, as well as cans of corned beef hash. I have also had before cans of canned ground beef, but they cost a crapload for what you get, smell like dogfood but it tastes ok in a recipe, though by itself it is very rubbery.


Things I will never buy- vienna sausage--------no! Potted meat, this is just cat food, not only does it smell the same as cat food, it comes in the exact sized cans cat food often does, I think they take the catfood unfit for cat consuption rip off the labels and throw a potted meat label on it.
Click to expand...

Has to be pouched or canned? No jerky?
 
beerftw said:
Those are kinda really pricey, and their shelf life varied wildly depending on the temperature they are stored at, plus I spent enough years eating them. My goal was to keep a few weeks of canned goods on hand and rotate things out when they neared expiration. Pretty pricey at 90 bucks a case for mre's when canned goods last just as long but provide far more meals for the cost.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've eaten plenty of them myself. Just providing some variety. Some disasters transcend weeks.
 
beerftw said:
I have a rotation of canned foods in my cabinet, keep beans and rice on hand, mostly all planned incase there is ever a natural disaster or a state wide power issue disrupting logistics I would not go hungry. Problem is spam is the biggest frontrunner and I hate spam, it is supposedly ground up pork shoulder and ham, but I think they throw eyeballs or whatever leftover they can in there, it seems to be all greese and gelatin.

I have stocked armour treet, which is more like bologna or hot dogs and is ham and chicken, it is alright if I have no other choices and I prefer it to spam, but really this is my I am going to die if I do not eat it food. I found recently at hed chopped canned ham in the same size can as spam, with ingredients ham water and salt, way better than spam and cheaper. I also have been stocking up on those ham in a can things that stay good for upwards of 5 years, slightly more expensive than spam but hey atleast it is not spam.

I have also bought american made corn beef spread and brazilian cans or corned beef, as well as cans of corned beef hash. I have also had before cans of canned ground beef, but they cost a crapload for what you get, smell like dogfood but it tastes ok in a recipe, though by itself it is very rubbery.


Things I will never buy- vienna sausage--------no! Potted meat, this is just cat food, not only does it smell the same as cat food, it comes in the exact sized cans cat food often does, I think they take the catfood unfit for cat consuption rip off the labels and throw a potted meat label on it.
Click to expand...

Canned beef, chicken and tuna and salmon all have fairly long life span. Now if you want true long term shelf life go to freeze dried, I have nearly a full year of various meals, meats, breakfasts, you name it, four six adults, 25 to 30 year shelf life, and even after that they are still. There are lots of brands available, our favorite brand is Mountain House, try s few and get what you like. I did it over time buying in bulk kits when I could. We havr one bedroom dedicated to food storage along with more in the storm shelter.
Stock what you like you like to eat.
 
Some alternatives include:
  • Salt cured meat --> Lasts until you remove them from or they lose their salt casing. There are wet (brining) and dry salt curing methods.
  • Smoke cured meat --> Lasts until you eat it. (Salt cured fish is called "kippered" fish. You may want to keep your kippered fish intake modest.)
  • Dried meat --> Jerky is a dried meat that may or may not be smoked. The smoke is for flavor. The drying is what cures the meat. It's sometimes done in the sun and other times in ovens.
Each of the curing processes above does the one thing that's needed to make flesh meat last for a long time: they leech the moisture from it, which is what curing is. I can't speak to how tasty (or not) such meats will be after decades, but so long as they aren't allowed to regain their moisture, they'll be safe to eat. To wit, a ham Pembroke Gwaltney cured in 1902 is still edible.

The basic principles of curing are not new. Egyptians and other ancient cultures used them to create mummies. What must on do to mummify a cadaver? Remove the organs and dessicate the flesh and bone. Thus treated, the flesh will for millennia not rot.

People are familiar with scores of cured meats, especially pork, and other foods. Indeed, many of them are damn near ubiquitous:
  • Bacon
  • Salami and sopressata
  • Proscuitto
  • Mortadella
  • Pickled (brining) anything
In addition to the millennia-old technique of dry curing, one can use more modern methods such as vacuum packing (cooked or raw), freeze dried foods, and canning. With exception of brining and canning, preserving food is mostly about drying it out.


Aside/Notes:
  • FWIW, Americans are taught all one needs to know about how and why curing works in Chemistry 101 and Biology 101. Curing is nothing other than the aggregate application of principles such as "life requires water," pH and fermentation, oxidation (or more aptly, what it takes to inhibit oxidation), salt's role in osmosis, adhesion, cohesion, and so on.
  • One can go "basic" and just cure "whatever" or one can go gourmet and add all sorts of spices and whatnot to the curing process to imbue the cured food item. Add garlic, pepper, thyme, rosemary, etc. along with the salt, for example. Smoking is used as much to cure meat as it is to impart flavor. (Smoke on the food keeps "bad" bacteria from getting on the outer surface of the food item. Basically, they just don't like it; I presume because there is something in the smoke molecules that's toxic to them. Smoke also produces and exterior coating that inhibits oxidation.)
  • Boiling food in a vacuum sealed bag has become de rigueur in recent decades. It goes by the term sous vide. If you're of a mind to vacuum pack raw foods that must be cooked, make sure to plan for the plastic bag's expansion when heated.
  • You can freeze dry foods yourself. Just be sure to package them properly after doing so.
  • Don't let your work go to waste. If you dry cure large cuts of meat, be sure to have to a way to resume the curing process after slicing off the portion you intend to eat "immediately."
  • To add a bit of enjoyment to your life in the wake of hardship, be sure to have some fruited moonshine around. There's nothing hard about it. Make some shine, put a peach or whatever pitted fruit suits you in a jar, a cinnamon stick or fresh herb leaves, pour in the shine, seal the jar and let it sit until the catastrophe happens, or for a month or two at least (the longer the better) if you can't wait for a catastrophe (LOL).

    peach-pie-moonshine.jpg
  • You can cure your own meats and store them properly, or you can buy them cured and simply store them properly.


References:
 
Perhaps....bags of beef jerky? Not "canned meat", but it's meat and it's designed to last.
 
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