German Breakfast Meat (Homemade Spam) – Simple & Delicous

In this post, I’ll show you how to make “Frühstücksfleisch”. It’s easy and super quick to make. 

The literal translation is “breakfast meat” and is often eaten (you may have guessed it) for breakfast. It is also known as Spam.

Spam was first introduced to the market in Minnesota in 1937.

At that time it was called Hormel Spiced Ham, which was later changed to Spam (an artificial word from Spiced Ham).

Incidentally, this name then became synonymous with unsolicited commercial e-mail worldwide as a result of a sketch by the Monty Python group.

So the sausage existed before e-mail spam.

Breakfast meat is minced and cured meat which is cooked in its own juice. Besides the jarred variety I’m showing you today, it’s often canned and is also called “canned meat”.

I have a complete recipe for your homemade Spam for you. You can either watch the video or to read through.

Have fun and good luck making it! I would be happy if you leave me a comment if it worked out for you.

Make your own breakfast meat – what you need for it

Ingredients per 1 kg 

• 50 % pork shoulder (500g)
• 35 % pork belly (350g)
• 15 % aspic (150 ml) You can either make it yourself (I’ll show you how) or use gelatin according to package instructions

Spices per KG meat

• 17.5 g salt
• 2.5 g Cure #1
• 100 g raw onions  
• 3 g white pepper
• 0.5 g ginger
• 0.5 g marjoram
• 0.3 g cardamom
• 5.0 g honey

You will need this equipment:

Meat grinder

You will need the meat grinder to “grind” the meat.

Jars

To fill the sausage you need jars.

Making homemade spam – step-by-step instructions

1. Cut your meat into strips. The size varies depending on how big your meat grinder is. The bigger the grinder, the bigger your pieces of meat can be.

2. Put the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help later on with the grinding process and the temperature.

3. Now grind the meat together with the onion. Depending on how coarse you want your final sausage meat, you can use different perforated discs. 

I use the medium perforated disc (4.5 mm) and let ⅓ of the mass pass through twice. This way I have a nice mix of fine and coarser pieces. If you are used to a fine Spam then use the smallest plate and let it through twice.

4. Add the spices together with the honey and the aspic broth to the minced meat. 

Info: You can make the aspic yourself with a store bought gelatin or if you want to make the aspic broth without powder, then I have a tutorial for you below.

5.Now mix the mixture with your hands for a few minutes until a nice binding is formed.

6. You can fill the mixture into jars. Which you use for this, is up to you. Make sure that the insides are clean and that there is enough space. The mass will rise a bit during the cooking process.

7. Cook the breakfast meat at 100 °C / 212 °F for about 2 hours. Let the jars cool down slowly afterwards. At the beginning the aspic will still be liquid. However, as soon as the jars have cooled down properly, it will be firm to the touch.

8. Your breakfast meat is ready 😄. Enjoy your homemade Spam. 

What is the shelf life of the breakfast meat?

Unopened, the breakfast meat can be preserved in the jars for about 3-4 months. Once opened it needs to be stored in a cool place and will keep for about 4-5 days.

Make your own aspic

As mentioned above, you can make the broth using the package directions. 

For aspic powder with 220 bloom, it is about 30 to 40 g per 100 ml. You can also add a little broth to the aspic powder to add flavor.

The alternative? Make it yourself…

I will soon present a more detailed version with pigs and calves feet. But it is very time-consuming.

For the quick version, here’s what I do:

Ingredients for a quick aspic broth for breakfast meat:

• 1 l water
• 500 g pork rind
• 1 dash of vinegar
• 10 peppercorns
• 3 allspice berries
• 5 juniper berries
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves

1. Halve the onion and put it in a pot together with the pork rind and spices.

2. Add the water and cook it for 1-2 hours.

3. Once the rind is separable with a spoon, your broth is ready. You can now strain it and let it cool a bit and use it for breakfast meat.