What is that jelly in SPAM?

[satanslawyer]

You know that gel/jelly in SPAM? What is that stuff? One of my co-workers said that the same stuff is in MRE’s. Another co-worker (a big fan of SPAM) says that he loves the jelly. In fact he uses it as a grease when he fries up his SPAM. This can’t be healthy!

[Triskadecamus]

It is the gelatinized broth from the cooking/canning process. It is primarily water, and fat, with a bit of gelatin, either naturally included from the pig parts used to make spam, or added in during the process. It is neither more, nor less wholesome than Spam itself.

Tris

Cabbage: A common kitchen vegetable, as large, and as wise a man’s head. A. Bierce

[Amfet]

It is gelatin and it’s there to help keep moisture in the meat product and not in a pool on the bottom of the can. Basically it helps the product stay moist and delicious for years…well moist anyway

[Amfet]

One of my co-workers said that the same stuff is in MRE’s

I cant comment on the taste but I do remember the “ham” version of the MRE was not gelatin coated, and was in a packet of briney water never had spam, never did manage to take a bite of the MRE ham, did spill the water tho…

[bmerton]

It’s called ‘aspic’.

same as in pork pies etc.

[brad_d]

My source: Spam: a Biography by Carolyn Wyman. Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999. Page 35, from a sidebar entitled “The Lowdown on the Slippery Stuff”:

Even people who can get past their fears about what’s in Spam often have a problem with the clear, gelatinous material that comes with it and gives it a distinctive “glug, glug” sound when you shake the can.

What is that stuff? In a word, gelatin. Like Jell-O, Spam gel is basically the glutinous material that comes from cooking animal tissue. Unlike Jell-O, Spam’s gelatin is an unbidden and, for the most part, unwanted by-product of cooking Spam in the can – and not, as many assume, an ingredient added to help it slide out.

…

Retired Hormel production manager Helmer Peterson has an answer to the “Should we use it?” question – an unqualified yes. He says Spam gelatin is almost 100 percent protein, extremely nutritious – maybe even the best thing in the can.

[bare]

Retired Hormel production manager Helmer Peterson has an answer to the “Should we use it?” question – an unqualified yes. He says Spam gelatin is almost 100 percent protein, extremely nutritious – maybe even the best thing in the can.

You instinctivly knew it was true as a child when you ate your boogers. There just ain’t nothin’ better for you than snot.