Why You Probably Shouldn't Use The Lid To Slice Up Canned Spam

Have you ever wondered if you should use the lid from a can as a makeshift knife? Well, probably not if you're actually in your kitchen with a drawer or block full of utensils purpose-built for chopping, slicing, and dicing. If you're somehow forced to improvise — for example, you went on a camping trip and brought plenty of Spam but forgot to pack any kind of cutting tool — you'll certainly be able to use the lid to chop it up. After all, folded and flattened can lids are a go-to tool for making prison food since correction center housing pods (for obvious reasons) are meant to be knife-free environments.

Still, would-be Spam chefs who are not incarcerated may want to think twice before using the can's lid to chop up this potted meat product. There is a possibility that the outside of the can may be dirty, at least if you're not in the habit of washing the outside of your canned foods before you open them. There's also some risk of metal shavings contaminating the food, which exists even if you don't use the can opener as a knife, but would certainly be exacerbated by doing so. Finally, if your can opener isn't the smoothest operator, your can lid could have some jagged edges that might injure your hand and unless you're a vampire you probably don't want blood on your Spam.

If you really are stuck in the woods with nothing but Spam to ensure your survival, you'd best be darn grateful for that ring pull since opening that can without a can opener might involve pounding it with a rock. Reducing the Spam into bite-sized pieces, though ... not so tough. Spam, after all, is like the chicken nugget of the pork product world, minus the bread coating, since it's formed of ground meat and requires no tenderizing to break down. A plastic utensil would do it, assuming you have any fast food trash in the car. If not, you can go primitive with a sharp stone, rip the meat into bits with your hands, or simply pick up the block and gnaw on it.

It could be that you're home in the kitchen and have misplaced your knives, though, or you want to enlist small kids with your Spam recipe prep but would rather not let them get their hands on anything too sharp and pointy. In this case, you have a few other Spam-chopping options at your disposal. One is to cut it up with kitchen scissors, although even blunt kiddie scissors would do the trick, if clean. Another is to use a pizza cutter, while a third would be to employ a hand chopper. All of these, unlike a can lid, are meant for cutting things up and are unlikely to have any jagged edges.