Are you kidding? Risk your life or someone else's life? Trust me, If you open a bottle that has turned you will know right away not to eat whats inside. You will notice the lid is puffy before you even pop the cover. If you opened a can of meat from the store that didn't smell right would you eat it?

My Grandparents used this method, so did my parents and so do I. Everything from meat, Jam, vegetables, relish, you name it. Every so often you do happen across one that dosent seal properly and goes bad but I have never known anyone to get sick yet. It is a very viable and cost effective method of preserving meats or other food for long term storage. It may not be the best, but it will work if you do not have the proper materials for canning.

I would take my chances with bottled Moose meat over cold, MSG filled, Ground up Ahole/beaks/feet/feathers,greasy turkey spam anyday of the week.

To each his own. I will survive diaster my way, you do it your way.

The first week in my food science college education we learned that botulism is oderless and tastless and that a bulging can or lid is not required for botulism (or other bacteria) to be present. I spent over a decade in the food industry educating people on the safe handling, preparation and storage of food. And although I am not a PHD in this field, my extensive education and hands on experience makes me more then qualified to say that water bath methods is NOT recommended nor safe. Have you ever seen a person slowly die from water bath canning botulism poisoning? It will very quickly change your outlook on the use of a pressure canner.

I don't wish to hijack the rest of this thread on this debate, but feel free to PM me if you wish to civily discuss further.

Theres no debate.

I have seen this method used my whole life. Every one of my neibours uses it, everyone I know who hunts uses it. It is almost traditional. I am not educated in this manner, I believe my own experiences though and I have never heard of anyone getting sick by using this method. I really can't say I plan to change anytime soon due to what I have read here but I respect you opinion on the matter all the same. Let's just agree to disagree.

Back on topic

You can't really say you field tested the new spam till you test it under field conditions.

Freeze it, thaw it, freeze it, thaw it. Let it sit for a while then do it again. Open the can outside in the rain when its dark and cold. Eat it with your fingers. Now you have field tested it.

Wonder how it will taste now?

You forgot the most important part of the test conditions Mac.
You need to be really hungry.
As long as that condition is met it will taste great.

> The disdain for canned food

Well, my disdain for Spam has nothing to do with the can that surrounds it, and I don't disdain canned food generally. Louise and I have a month of canned food in our van while we await the coming earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I can't find it, but I'm sure someone here knows the URL - there is a Web site somewhere that discusses menu planning for children and the elderly. One of the significant points is that if the menu doesn't vary significantly, children and the elderly stop eating out of boredom.

> Being a picky eater is not a favored survival trait.

And the children and the elderly die.

Mac, like many situations discussed here, luck is always a common factor. Sometimes it's good luck, sometimes it's bad luck.

You and yours have been lucky.

Fact: Botulism is only killed by temperatures over 240ºF (116ºC). Foods preserved by the water bath method only reach 212ºF (100ºC).

"Because we've always done it that way" is not a rational explanation of why something shouldn't be changed for a good reason. Exposing yourself and your family and friends to a paralytic poisoning that has a 70% death rate if untreated (think: during a disaster) doesn't make sense when you know better.

Anything that involves the term "mechanical ventilation" should be avoided, IMO.

Sue

FWIW, I tried Spam Lite the other day. Pretty bad. I say stick with regular Spam.


Oh, and an often overlooked canned meat is Sardines. Usually packed in olive oil, thats a lot of calories in a tiny package, and probably healthier than most canned meats too.

Yeah. Being hungry don't make it taste good it just means you will complain less.

We have spam here, and we have a knock off called "click" I don't know if its common anywhere else. We also have something simply called "potted meat" which I believe is made by Mapleleaf brand. The ingredients are funny to read, mechanically separated beef and or pork and or chicken.....

You think spam is bad.....

This is about 5 steps down from cat food. I actually tried the cats food to be sure. I was right.

The fact that generations of people I know have done this as a way of life for hundreds of years without any incidents is exactly why I will do it. I have gotten food poisoning from an IMP before. Those are supposed to be perfectly safe. Silly me but I trust food I prepare far more that stuff squeezed into a can from some factory most times. Hell, My neibors cat died a few years back from tainted cat food. Guess I am putting my life at risk every time I eat something out of a can as well.

I can look up stuff on wiki all day long and provide you with a bunch of percentages about this and that but it means nothing. Some people learn from books and some people learn thru generations of experience.