Is Spam ok to use in small amounts in an omelette?

Taffyboyslim said:
Trouble is you have to open a whole tin ?

Maybe chorizo or back bacon would be better ?
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Short answer - yes. Typically it's carb content is around 3+%, ie very low.

Value wise it's about the same as equivalent low cost processed or semi-processed meats; c. £1 per 100 gm. I buy ham from Aldi and mortadella from Tesco at about the same cost. But as you say a tin of spam is quite a lot and packets of sliced ham or mortadella can be a lot less quantity.

The big issue for me would be that any nutritional content from spam is very low, thanks to the amount of processing that goes into creating it. Low-cost ham slices from pre-formed ham are also fairly low nutrition; I think mortadella can be a better quality food. Ham carved from the bone can be far less processed and we look for offers at c. £1.60 per 100 gms, which for modest quantities make that fair value. Our local Morrisons does Wiltshire ham from the bone at that price. I guess gammon steaks would make a fair value alternative.

I'm wary about chorizo, the spices can conceal a certain amount of "stuff" within this heavily processed food. But probably that's just my perception.
 
Taffyboyslim said:
Trouble is you have to open a whole tin ?

Maybe chorizo or back bacon would be better ?
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You could slice it up into portion sizes and freeze it in bags or wrapped in some way.
I keep a few different types of cooked meat frozen to have them handy when needed. I defrost them in warm water.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Short answer - yes. Typically it's carb content is around 3+%, ie very low.

Value wise it's about the same as equivalent low cost processed or semi-processed meats; c. £1 per 100 gm. I buy ham from Aldi and mortadella from Tesco at about the same cost. But as you say a tin of spam is quite a lot and packets of sliced ham or mortadella can be a lot less quantity.

The big issue for me would be that any nutritional content from spam is very low, thanks to the amount of processing that goes into creating it. Low-cost ham slices from pre-formed ham are also fairly low nutrition; I think mortadella can be a better quality food. Ham carved from the bone can be far less processed and we look for offers at c. £1.60 per 100 gms, which for modest quantities make that fair value. Our local Morrisons does Wiltshire ham from the bone at that price. I guess gammon steaks would make a fair value alternative.

I'm wary about chorizo, the spices can conceal a certain amount of "stuff" within this heavily processed food. But probably that's just my perception.
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Chorizo is a bit too spicy for me

I will give mortadello and gammon steaks a try , thank you
 
Just finished my omelette, spam based as tescos didn't have any gammon or bacon loins

Half an onion
3 eggs
2 tomatoes
Grated cheese
Chopped cubed spam
4 or 5 small mushrooms
Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper
Dash of tabasco

I have to say it was lush
 
I think any of your options are fine, if you like Spam and can use the tin over a few days why not? Chorizo or bacon are also ok, we just use regular cooked ham over here.
 
Price of Spam is riddiculous, once a cheap processed meat used by those on low budgets is now out of many people's reach.

Tell you what's cheaper & tastier & goes well in a omelette is bacon lardons, twin pack in Aldi is about £1.80. They go well in soups also, just fry them off & stir in before serving.
 
nonethewiser said:
Price of Spam is riddiculous, once a cheap processed meat used by those on low budgets is now out of many people's reach.

Tell you what's cheaper & tastier & goes well in a omelette is bacon lardons, twin pack in Aldi is about £1.80. They go well in soups also, just fry them off & stir in before serving.
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Bacon grill tins ?
 
nonethewiser said:
Price of Spam is riddiculous, once a cheap processed meat used by those on low budgets is now out of many people's reach.

Tell you what's cheaper & tastier & goes well in a omelette is bacon lardons, twin pack in Aldi is about £1.80. They go well in soups also, just fry them off & stir in before serving.
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This is a sort of luncheon meat ?

Of course none of this sort of processed tinned stuff is healthy but adding a few bits to an omelette to give it a bit of flavour is all I am after really
 
Well the price is favourable @ 68p / 100gms and a smaller tin than Spam in 360gm tins. I would think it is fine. But I see the carb content is now over 6%, so whatever they are adding in the processing is certainly not carb friendly; the ingredients don't make clear what form the added starch is. In rhe bigger scheme of things those extra carbs shouldn't make too much difference; I guess it depends if you have a tight daily carb limit.
 
Taffyboyslim said:

This is a sort of luncheon meat ?

Of course none of this sort of processed tinned stuff is healthy but adding a few bits to an omelette to give it a bit of flavour is all I am after really
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Back in the olden days my mother would sometimes get luncheon meat instead of Spam but it was never as good. I'd stick with the Spam if I were you, it's not that expensive. You can even get Spam light so you can tell yourself you've chosen the healthy option.
 
I love the idea that any version of Spam is healthy. Enjoyable - yes for some; reasonable cost - yes (sort of); but healthy? There is no hiding from the fact that this is a heavily processed food product with chemicals added to make it more palatable. I would strongly suspect Spam light is even more processed with even more chemicals added to keep it palatable along with the marketing "con" that it's light so even more healthy.

I'm not blatantly against processed food under any circumstances. It has a place in our diets and a convenience within our busy lifestyles. But I am under no illusion that processing somehow makes food healthier. We don't see the additives - if we did I suspect very few people would buy it.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Well the price is favourable @ 68p / 100gms and a smaller tin than Spam in 360gm tins. I would think it is fine. But I see the carb content is now over 6%, so whatever they are adding in the processing is certainly not carb friendly; the ingredients don't make clear what form the added starch is. In rhe bigger scheme of things those extra carbs shouldn't make too much difference; I guess it depends if you have a tight daily carb limit.
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I think I can use it if I am wise

Cheers
 
Proud to be erratic said:
I love the idea that any version of Spam is healthy. Enjoyable - yes for some; reasonable cost - yes (sort of); but healthy? There is no hiding from the fact that this is a heavily processed food product with chemicals added to make it more palatable. I would strongly suspect Spam light is even more processed with even more chemicals added to keep it palatable along with the marketing "con" that it's light so even more healthy.

I'm not blatantly against processed food under any circumstances. It has a place in our diets and a convenience within our busy lifestyles. But I am under no illusion that processing somehow makes food healthier. We don't see the additives - if we did I suspect very few people would buy it.
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I think as a flavouring compared to my regular visits to the chippy , Chinese, take away curry and crisps and chocolate it will be a welcome treat

But I take your wise words !
 
Can't help but reminisce about Spam fritters reading this. I used to get spam fritter, pineapple fritter and chips on the odd occasion I went to the chippy pre-diagnosis. Years since I had Spam now and I am shocked at how much it has gone up in price and corned beef too, even the supermarket own brand options for corned beef. They used to be cheap store cupboard alternatives to dip into when your fridge was getting low on fresh produce at the end of the week. Now it almost seems like fresh mince or ham is cheaper. Not sure you could persuade me about a "healthier" presumably lower fat version of Spam. In for a penny I say and go for the real stuff, but perhaps keep it as an occasional treat rather than a weekly menu option would be my way to approach it.
 
I think we were introduced to Spam during the 2nd WW by the USA, probably because it was in their military ration packs which were much coveted not least because they were different. Post WW2 we frittered away much of the US loan (Marshall Aid) on importing all sorts of things, including Spam; and that's why I remember it in my childhood: plentiful while rationing continued and I assume cheap.

I haven't rechecked this but I think corn beef first came from Australia. We had during the 1950s a thriving export business of sending our Aberdeen Angus cattle to Australia and South America, bringing a fair amount back in corned beef tins on the boat's return trips. Total further digression, but I think mildly Interesting, during the war our cattle were big and tall at the shoulder - Aberdeen Angus particularly. So by rapidly embarking on a breeding programme we pretty quickly altered these animals to be shorter and thus cattle shipping became more cost effective by getting the cattle double stacked within the space originally needed for single animals. There are newsreel pictures of a major Scottish breeder being shorter than his prize bull and a few years later towering over his cattle! Those same newsreels showed the arrival of dozens of harvesting machines from the US, proudly being driven in a very long convoy out of Southampton docks. All part of the Marshall Plan aid. Most of that machinery couldn't be used initially; our fields were too small, the machines way too big for our country lanes and although we grubbed out miles of hedges to create 100 acre fields, our farmers still couldn't afford the already subsidised machinery from the US. That problem prevailed into the 1960s in Staffordshire, where I grew up.
 
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