PearBlossom t1_je2r0a4 wrote on March 28, 2023 at 11:58 PM

Reply to comment by Substantial_Name595 in Is bbq chipped chopped ham a thing? My grandma says it is. Where in the city can I find this so I can satisfy ol’ grandma? by IMicrowaveSteak

Ive worked at Shop n Save deli for a while, I can’t even begin to tell you the hundreds of pounds of this stuff that I have chipped. The official Islay’s brand. There is an absolute clear difference between this type of lunchmeat and your standard actual hunk of whole meat. No pig is marbled in such a way that Islay’s ham looks like. Its all ground up and made into a loaf. The only ham I found worse was Bar S and it is mostly white and very light pink due to all the fat. Its the reason they are so much cheaper per pound.

A_lunch_lady t1_je2s1lj wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:06 AM

Former GE deli worker and I agree Isaly’s is gross and all the deli workers hate it because it makes such a mess when you have to chip it!

PearBlossom t1_je2sibq wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:09 AM

yes! It flies everywhere. Fat smeared all over the slicer. We chip multiple pounds of it and put it in containers to sell throughout the day because it makes such a mess. When I have to clean the trays and containers I have to soak them in the hottest soapy water I can to melt all the residual fat because there’s no just wiping it off.

sonofcrack t1_je2wxr5 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 12:42 AM

That’s the good stuff lmao the fat makes it fry up real nice

PearBlossom t1_je37mo9 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 2:03 AM

Don’t get me wrong, fat has its time and place. I cant eat meat any longer but I long for the days of a nice fatty rib eye or thick hunk of fatty prime rib cooked medium rare. Im a big believer in Philly cheesesteaks being fatty. Hell I picked the fatty parts off the roast hams my mom made for the holidays. But there is just something so off about the fat in lunchmeat like this. I also think their closely related cousins the dutch load, old fashioned loaf, pickle loaf etc are equally gross and they use similar methods.

1stCaptainSkrall t1_je3phlb wrote on March 29, 2023 at 4:39 AM

We just got done with a sale at my store, $2.99 a pound. Everything since last Wednesday has been coated in a thin veneer of grease and I've found pieces of the ham stuck in the grooves of my sneakers every day after work. People came and ordered anywhere from 2 pounds to some lunatic who ordered 14 pounds. I think today alone I chipped almost 40 pounds.

If that sale comes around again I'm going to work in the bakery or something for a week