What Even Is Chipped Chopped Ham?

You may have heard of chipped beef, and you may have heard of chopped ham. But have you ever heard of chipped chopped ham? Sometimes it seems like there are more varieties of ham products out there than there are trees in the forest. There's country ham and spiral ham; there's Taylor Ham pork roll and Spam; and who could forget about scrapple? But surprisingly enough, scrapple isn't the only pork scrap product to come out of Pennsylvania (via S. Clyde Weaver). Scrapple is a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty, but Pittsburgh is the home of ham barbecue, which is made with chipped chopped ham (via Good Food Pittsburgh).

So what the heck is chipped chopped ham, anyway? The first clue to deciphering this pork product comes in the "chopped ham" part. If you've ever had canned ham, you've probably had chopped ham. Chopped ham was invented as a way to economically use up ham scraps, which can be chopped and turned into loaves, explains Allrecipes. It's also sometimes sold as an inexpensive deli meat (via Hormel). It's still ham, but it's in a different shape ... a shape ripe for the chipping, depending on your deli.

Once you have a loaf of chopped ham, you have to decide what to do with it. And one of the most appealing ways to eat chopped ham is in a BBQ ham sandwich. The sandwich may have been invented in Pittsburgh, but according to Allrecipes, chipped chopped ham is popular in parts of West Virginia and Ohio, too. Basically, chipped ham is chopped ham that's been cut into very thin slices. You can also ask for very thinly shaved ham if your deli doesn't know what you're talking about when you ask for it chipped.

To make a chipped chopped ham barbecue sandwich, you'll need some chipped chopped ham or shaved chopped ham. Then, you'll need barbecue sauce — try Isaly's BBQ sauce, which is tomato-based, for the most authentic flavor. You'll need 16 ounces of barbecue sauce for every 1 ⅓ pound of chipped chopped ham, and the sauced meat should be served on a bun with pickles, relish, and shredded cheese (per the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company). Just don't have too many chipped chopped ham sandwiches if you're watching your salt — a quarter pound of the stuff contains 29% of the recommended daily sodium intake (via Hormel).