Canned ham. What the heck?

Question

A friend (or so I'd thought) gave me a 5 lb canned ham. Armour. I have never run across one of these creatures and thought that I would slice it and freeze it in little portions for the odd sandwich or omelette or other ham-type candidate.
 
While slicing it, I also tasted it. This is not ham. This is a gooey, gelatinous, spongy, salty, tasteless kind of dense foam rubber. Is there anything that can be done with this that might render it edible? Anything at all? The texture is monumentally repulsive. The only thing I can think of at the moment is to nuke it to take away some of the water. That way it will take up less room in the garbage can.
 
The cats did ingest the odd pieces that came away. Maybe I have answered my own question.
 
Any ideas?

Answer

Its really not that bad...compared to most popular market hams. I suggest you put it on a very slow BBQ, preferably with wood chips. If you smoke it for 3-4 hours, it will dry it out some and be edible. I know they are fully cooked, but they need further slow cooking.

Answer

if it's anything like spam, offer it to any korean friends you might have. we all grew up eating it and have a wondrous tolerance (liking, even) for it, gelatinous muck and all. we chop it up and throw it into kimchi soups, roll it up into kimbab, fry it up dipped in egg, the options are endless...

Answer

You could try making a sandwich spread out of it, chop finely, mix with mayonaisse, green relish, chopped celery, pepper.

Answer

You could bake it and then put in soup. I don't suggest giving any more to your cats, it gives them the trots.

Answer

gosh when i was a kid i loved canned ham. in fact i never knew ham came any other way until i moved out of my parents. 
 
my dad would slow cook the ham in the oven for a while to drain off most of the gunk then he would fill it full of cloves, put tons of brown sugar on top, pineapple slices, and cherry halves inside of the pineapple rings. bake covered for a while and then uncovered for a while until the sides get all crispy (we used to stand by the oven with a knife cutting the glazed pieces of corner fat off and popping them in our mouths)
 
not bad...

Answer

Canned ham is part of my culture, so it's OK by me. Sort of. I even have a couple of 1-lb cans with my emergency food stash. 
 
A few months ago, I picked up a boneless ham in roll format in the meat dept. It was a screaming bargain, and I'm a sucker for that. I tried to use it but it consisted of a finely-ground pressed substance closer to bologna with no resemblance to ham, other than the artificial smokiness. I threw it away. The further a ham departs from something with a bone in the middle, a layer of fat around the outside, encased in a rind, the less I will like it.

Answer

Our favorite childhood campout food was canned ham/spam sliced thin, dredged in cornmeal and panfried in a little bacon grease (fry the bacon, drain most of the grease). It gets a nice crispy coating, cooks it, and the bacon grease returns a bit of real pork flavor to it. Then in what's left over, fry potatoes and onions, and toss in a few eggs that cook in the hot mixture. Not a dieter's dream, but we didn't care back then.

Answer

For those of you on this thread who are not impressed with deli ham (even the $10 lb fancy stuff), go first class and order a cooked boneless Virginia country ham from Smithfield (9 lb) ...on sale until the end of May for $39 plus $7 shipping. www.smithfieldcollection.com. It will spoil you forever, but what good eating.

Answer

yikes
if it really tastes that terrible i wouldn't bother even trying to do anything with it.
however, leftover ham is great in mac and cheese or in scalloped potatoes. bake either in the oven until nice and brown and crispy...
bon appetit!
ali

Answer

I wouldn't touch ham as a kid because this was the only thing I knew as ham (always at the relatives, never at home). Then one fateful day my dad bought a ham from the Deer Park WI meat locker and my life was changed as it relates to ham. Have one for Christmas every year, the only time it is available. Personally, I'd feed it to the cats, but then again I'm not much of a cat person.

Answer

Oooo...make ham salad...Yum yum and YUM...my mom would get all excited when we got a canned ham and made ham salad...delish on bread or crackers *joy*

Answer

Canned ham is what we had for Easter as a treat when I were a lad. My parents were of the Greatest Generation, USA variety. USAF, even my stepmom was USMC. 

So...here's the secret recipe, taught to me by Greatest Generation, who learn't it at the age of 20, and are passing it on.

Recipe: Stick some cloves in the top and baste witih 7-up or coke, if you have it.

Bake until it's brown, if you have access to an oven. Or fry. Anyone who complains is the cook next time.

It is really quite good that way. 

I looked for some in Vons today out of nostalgia, and was shocked that I could not find it. I think we are spoiled children now, and only honeybaked spiral cut are good enough for us.

Bon Appetit!

Answer

My generation grew up with canned ham, with pineapple rings, cloves, and brown sugar on top. 
We grew up with chipped beef on toast
Salmon patties from canned salmon
Ice cream and desserts were for special occasions, except for jello.
Canned vegetables mostly, and canned peaches.

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Canned ham. What the heck?

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