Canned Food Challenge Day 6: Bacon Spam

February is National Canned Food month and canned foods are a great way to stay prepared for any disaster or SHTF event. So, for all of February, Chowmageddon is all about eating out of cans--not all three meals, every day, but one meal per day. Soups alone could meet this requirement, but who wants to eat soup every day?

You don't have to be Hawaiian to love SPAM, and you don't have to limit yourself to the base flavor, which I used to think was pretty good... at least, until SPAM started churning out FLAVORS of SPAM. Now, Bacon SPAM stands out head and shoulders above its brothers and sisters, and I love to eat it as often as I can--which, given my high blood pressure and its higher sodium content probably isn't a good thing...

Overall ratings:

PRICE:

At $2.79 a can, with enough SPAM for 2-4 people, I think this is a great value. Particularly given the nutritional value for this product. 

SHELF LIFE  

While the poptop indicates that this might not last as long as more traditional opener-required cans, I've opened these up as much as a year after purchase and found no noticeable difference in appearance. 

EASE OF PREPARATION

Yes, you can eat SPAM raw. Many people like to spread it on crackers. However, given that this is kind of like a miniature canned-ham, SPAM should be cooked--I prefer mine fried. Handling SPAM might also not be much fun for eaters, as it is covered in a slime in the can (which helps get it out of the can, sort of). Once you do have your SPAM out, you need to slice it up for cooking--or even dice it up, depending on what kind of a dish you're making. As far as frying goes, SPAM does okay, although it can stick to the skillet a little bit more than other meats like balogna or ground beef. 

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

First introduced in 1937, SPAM rose to prominence as a food for troops in World War II. It also was used to feed people around the Pacific, and has become a staple of diets in those regions of the world. Yes, SPAM is high in sodium (they have a low-sodium version) the fact that it was good enough for the U.S. Military should be enough to convince anyone that it is a good choice for post-apocalyptic dining. 

VERSATILITY

You probably could live on nothing but SPAM, but really it's meant to be accompanied by sides. Given it is a meat, that means there are hundreds of recipes out there. In our bunker, Bacon SPAM is a great substitute for strip bacon with breakfast, or even with bread for sandwiches. It's also great diced up and added to or rice. Turkey SPAM is also great with mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, or even fried potatoes.

TASTE

Absolutely friggin' delicious. At least, Bacon and Turkey SPAM are. Once I had these flavors, I just don't like regular SPAM anymore. But the flavored SPAMs are great not just as a main course, or an ingredient, but just as a plain old snack--sliced thin, fried, and served on crackers with cheese, they can make any night in a bunker a lot better.

If you don't have SPAM stocked in your bunker pantry, you're crazy.