Homemade Spiced Ham (SPAM)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork shoulder
- 8 ounces ham roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp sea salt I used Baleine
- 1 tbsp white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup potato starch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300º F.
- Cube the pork into 2-inch chunks. Place in a freezer-safe container or bag. Leave in the freezer for about 20 minutes so that it firms up a bit. This will make it much easier for the pork to move through the grinder.
- Grind the pork using a meat grinder into a large bowl.
- In a food processor, pulse to finely mince the ham and garlic. Add mixture to the pork.
- Add salt, sugar, and potato starch. Get your hands in there and mix thoroughly.
- You will need (2) 9x5x3 loaf pans. Pack one pan with the pork mixture. Cover with foil.
- Center the loaf pan in a 13x9 baking pan. To create a water bath, fill the large pan three-quarters of the way with water.
- Bake for 2 hours or until the internal temperature reaches at least 155º F when finished.
- The loaf will be swimming in a lot of fat. Discard the accumulated fat.
- Cover the pan with foil again. Nest the empty loaf pan on top of the loaf. Place weights in the pan. I used my 3-pound dumbbells. Best use of those of those weights since I bought them last year. The weights will press the loaf.
- Refrigerate the loaf overnight...with the weights.
- Unwrap and store in an air-tight bag or container for a few days in the refrigerator. Unlike the canned version, it does have a shelf-life. :-) You can also freeze the ham loaf to enjoy later - wrap the loaf tightly with plastic wrap, zip into a Ziploc-like freezer bag, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Notes
You can substitute 2 pounds of ground pork for the pork shoulder to save time (thanks to a tip by an Instagram follower) or if you don't have a meat grinder. If you're using ground pork, you can skip steps 2 and 3.