Chicken Spam (Sous-Vide)

What in the world would possess me to make chicken Spam? If you've been following me for a while, you know I don't eat Pork or Shellfish. I've been thinking about this for about a year and decided to use my sausage and salami making skills to make it a Kosher Reality. 

I stopped eating Pork and Shellfish about 21-years ago, and I've been on a mission to replicate what I ate in the past but using alternative proteins. I've made it all... Sausages, Pancetta, Bacon, Guanciale, Gabagool, Proscuitto, etc. 

So what is Spam? The Hormel Foods Corp once said that it meant "Shoulder of Pork and Ham" In some dictionaries, "Spiced Ham" Members of the staff at the SPAM Museum say it stands for "Specially Produce Amerian Meat" In 2019, Spam began making advertisements containing the definition "Sizzle Pork And Mmmm" So with that, I will say that my version stands for Sizzle-Poultry-And-Mmmmm."  

I have to give accolades to my buddy Vincent; we are both Mods Sous-Vide-Dummies. Based on Hormel's commercial, he thought "SCAM" would be a cool name. "Sizzle-Chicken-And-Mmm" In a way, he's not wrong because if I didn't tell you that you were eating chicken, you would easily assume it was pork. 

I would have favored using Turkey for the SPAM, but sourcing outside of Thanksgiving forces me to use Chicken. I am not opposed to Chicken, but I love Turkey, and I think it's better. If you ever hear of Chicken Bacon? Nope!

Let's begin by discussing the recipe. I've used 30% and 35% Fat; I preferred 35%. How do you calculate the Fat %? Click on this Link!! Calculating Fat % is not as easy as one would think. 

Cure #1- Pink Curing Salt #1 contains 6.25% Sodium Nitrite and 93.75% table salt. Used in preservation, smoking, and curing. If you are cold- smoking or creating a hospitable environment for Botulism Cure #1 will inhibit the Bacteria's growth. C #1 is also used for color and flavor development, so I am adding it here. 

Dextrose- It serves as a nutrient for lactic acid organisms that help fermentation, giving your sausages and other processed meats a tangy flavor. It's about 70% as sweet as sugar and works better than table sugar in cured meats. 

Sodium Phosphates- They are found in fast food, deli meat, processed meat, canned tuna, baked goods, and other manufactured foods. It serves a variety of functions:

• It thickens food. It stabilizes the texture of processed foods, such as mashed potato mixes.
• It cures meat and meat products. It helps to keep deli meats and bacon moist, avoiding spoilage.
• It’s a leavening agent. It helps dough rise in commercially prepared cakes and breads and in cake mixes.
• It’s an emulsifying agent. It acts as a stabilizer to keep oil and water mixed together in certain types of food, such as processed cheese.
• It balances pH levels in processed food. It stabilizes the balance between acidity and alkalinity, extending shelf life and improving taste.

Non-Fat-Milk- It helps mostly as a binder and helps with moisture retention. For those that keep strict Kosher, you can use Soy, Carrot Fiber Binder, and Potato Starch. 

Corn Syrup Solids- Also adds enhanced binding qualities and aids in sweetening and holding the color of cured meats. 

Sodium Erythorbate- In meat curing, it controls and accelerates the nitrite curing reaction and maintains the color brightness. It is used in frankfurters, bologna, and cured meats. Sodium Erythorbate should always be added when using curing salt (nitrites/nitrates). This is because, when used in sausages, the processing time can be cut down (up to one-third), as the erythorbate accelerates the rate of curing by breakdown the nitrite and speeding up the setting of the pink color pigment.

Meat Glue- Transglutaminase Binds proteins together. For an in-depth view, Click HERE.  There are many types of Meat Glues, and I prefer the RM version. For those who keep strict Kosher, you can use the TI version, OU, and parve. Also, Vegan gelatin will work too. 

Yeast Extract- It's a flavor enhancer much like MSG and is found in most foods. More in-depth view CLick HERE. But in NO way is this MSG. Autolyzed yeast, Yeast Extracts, and hydrolyzed proteins, among other ingredients, are entirely natural ingredients that happen to have substantial amounts of glutamates but nowhere near the concentration found in MSG. 

Umami (See pic)- This is a product that contains both Disodium inosinate and Disodium guanylate. This product can be found in many commercial foods, including potato chips, instant noodles, pizza, ice-cream, and many snacks. When combined with Yeast Extract and MSG, it's an UMAMI boost to the 10 power. 

Liquid Smoke- Yea, we all know what this stuff is, and it's awesome if used judiciously. Is Liquid smoke in the store-bought version? Nope but this tiny bit adds that Pièce de résistance. You cannot even detect it's there, but it put this spam over the top. 

Sourcing- I get the Yeast Extract HiMedia RM027-100G Yeast Extract Powder, 100 g and Sodium Inosinate, Guanylate - I+G (100 gram) Meat Glue RM from Amazon. The other stuff I get from Sausagemaker or from Waltons.

Like I said, I use chicken thighs for the spam. The skin will be used to determine the fat percentage. If you are like me, you might have some extra chicken fat lying around. If you buy whole chickens, there's always extra fat tucked in the corners to increase the weight....$$$. Having extra fat available will increase your net. 

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty. I purchased 25lbs (11.34 Kg) of Chicken Thighs. I separated the skin and chicken from the bone (bones will be used for Stock). Use caution because there is a lot of cartilage in the chicken. The skin weighed 1521 grams, and I used my Fat Ratio Calculator to calculate the thigh meat amounted needed to achieve 35%. Normally you plug in the lean and desired fat percentage, and it calculates the needed Fat needed. In this case, I plugged in the fat percentage (35%) I wanted and tossed in some lean numbers until I hit 1521 grams of Fat.  As you can see from the chart above, the yield is 4346 grams of Spam, or roughly 10 lbs. I am going to use the bones and the leftover chicken for other dishes. 

 

After you get done calculating Lean and Fat%, begin setting up bowls and weighing out the ingredients. To weigh some of the smaller percentages like C#1, you will need a gram scale that measures down o 0.01 or 0.001 of a gram, i.e., The Fuzion Pocket Scale 0.01/200g, Gram Scale. Using a large scale will result in erroneous measurements. I.e. Total weight of Fat and Thigh is 4346 grams x 0.25% (0.0025) = 10.865 grams of Cure #1 needed.

After you have it all mixed up, everything was placed in the freezer to give it a quick chill and to start the cleaning process. Oh yes, clean as you work. Two-thirds of this project is the cleaning and putting things back where they were. 

Working with very cold meat is better all around. No fat smearing, and it keeps it chilled for safety reasons. It's worth repeating, but I made half a dozen visits to the freezer during the whole process. After deboning and skinning the thighs, it all went back into the freezer. Partially frozen (about 20%) meat prevents fat smearing. 

Now I had to choose how I was going to present the Spam. I decided on Salumi, Sausage-Casings, and a Loaf Pan for a more traditional look. 

Note: This is very important, so pay heed. No matter what you use to stuff or shove your spam into, it needs to be refrigerated for 48-Hours. Meat-Glue needs 24-Hours to set the proteins, and to Cure, it needs 48-Hours. 

Everything was processed using the cooking method know as Sous-Vide. The Delta-T method (and also know as Hotter Than Core Approach) was also used to process the Spam. Using this method shaves off many, many hours. I placed the Spam in a bath set at 146f and pulled at 138f. Times were adjusted to ensure pasteurization. 

I'll admit the loaf pan was my favorite shape. Make sure to use parchment paper, or it will stick. Here a helpful trick. Use cooking spray as the glue for the parchment paper.  Although there is no picture, I also used foam tape and a probe to process the loaf pan.

Freaking Amazing!!!! I will do this again and incorporate this method into other recipes.

 

Review from my long time Buddy Roul C.  "Loved “Never have been a huge pork fan my entire life. When I was young and my mother made it,  I ate it....Spam. This stuff you created is way better than the original and it should be a staple at any hunting camp as well as any breakfast table anywhere in the world, especially where pork is a proscribed product. You have outdone yourself this time BigBoy and that is a high bar to exceed.”

Spam Musubi Roll