The short answer is no, not if you’re strict carnivore.
Spam is meat, which, of course, is carnivore. But there’s more to it. And there are more ingredients in the can than just meat.
What Is Spam?
Spam is prepared meat which you can eat directly from the can.
Spam, also written SPAM, is prepared in an interesting way. Instead of cooking the meat first and then transferring it to cans, it’s prepared inside the can. Hormel Foods Corporation, who makes it, adds ground meat (pork shoulder and ham), spices and other stuff to the can.
Raw.
Then they vacuum-seal it and cook the meal inside the can. The problem for you, if you’re on a carnivore diet, is not this process.
It’s the ingredients.
What Ingredients Will You Find In Spam?
You’ll find real meat, which is definitely better than fake vegan meat products.
Spam’s main meaty ingredients are pork shoulder and ham. It also contains salt and water. So far so good.
Now it gets criminal.
(Carnivore-wise.) Because Spam also contains modified potato starch, sugar and sodium nitrite.
If you ever run into a severe case of cyanide poisoning, sodium nitrite is your friend.
As a side, sodium nitrite can be used to kill pigs and wild boars in a “humane” manner. And like salt, it’s not exactly carnivore, since it’s not organic. But we need salt in our food.
How Do People Eat Spam?
After Spam was invented, World War II broke out.
Since it was almost impossible to get fresh food to the soldiers, Spam became their go-to food. And with that, all sorts of jokes. Spam became popular because of the war.
I’m guessing that the soldiers ate it straight from the can.
But nowadays, people will often prepare it first. They will fry it and thanks to the sugar added (which makes them addicted), the meat gets a caramelized coating.
They can add vegetables, buns… all sorts of things we carnivores stay away from.
If I Like Spam and I like Easy… What Can I Eat Instead of Spam?
A Spam alternative?
In two words: Slow cooker. It doesn’t get healthier or easier than this.
I have a Crock-Pot myself.
Sadly not the same model as this one with a transparent lid. It’s not good to open a slow cooker while cooking, so a transparent glass lid like this one is much better.
It’s super easy to create a Spam alternative, a carnivore safe alternative, with a slow cooker.
It won’t be the same consistence as Spam. For that you need to spend more time in the kitchen, cooking it in hot water and then in the oven and stuff. I don’t have the patience for that.
But this alternative is super-tasty if you eat pork.
(And since you’re here about Spam, I’m guessing you do.) For this recipe you need only pork shoulder (bone-in delivers the best taste), a little water and salt.
Just chop the pork shoulder into pieces that fits your slow cooker.
Add salt.
For every person you plan to serve, add 3/4 to 1 tea spoon salt. I use Himalayan salt.
If the meat is lean add a little water.
If you’re not at home while it’s cooking, you should add enough water so that the meat won’t burn. But I wouldn’t add more than up until it covers the meat.
If you’re at home and can survey the cooking, add as little as possible. The meat and fat will create enough juice in most cases.
Let it cook for around 8 hours on low to high heat. Or 10-12 on low heat.
The meat needs to be so tender that it falls apart.
But That Takes Hours!
You don’t need to be there while it’s cooking.
Spend a minute or two putting pork shoulder or ham in a slow cooker, add salt and water and start.
It will be ready to eat when you come back from work.
