Do not attempt this experiment yourself. It involves exposed hazardous voltage and also quite a lot of meat-based smoke. (Really stinky!)
Let me do the dangerous stuff so you don't have to.
This was a test to see how much electrical current the classic Spam processed meat would pass. It turns out that it's very conductive, but not ideal for electro-cooking, with a lot of very unpleasant smoke.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
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#ElectronicsCreators

Spam in its original form, before it became a sort of name for junk mail. I'm putting the gloves on for this experiment because it involves exposed electrical connections and a set of gloves dry gloves will provide an extra barrier against the risk of electric shock because i'm about to pass current through the spam. Now i've already opened a can of this and laid it out. So let me see, i don't know where to put the forks down long ways or sideways.

Let's do it long ways, so i'm going to uh stuff this fork in there and i'm going to stuff this fork in there. They're not powered yet for obvious reasons, and let's see what the power is going to be. So i'm going to zoom down this. So we can get maximum spam.

Hey hold on. I'm gon na have to take the gloves off for this going to have to take my gloves off to zoom zoom in zoom in uh, and then i fit the gloves back on again. So we've got 246 volts. I reckon the current's going to be ridiculous.

I reckon it's going to be so high. It may actually blow the fuse. Let's find out you ready, 2 kilowatts. Oh, it's uh lots of smoke.

Oh dear lots and lots of smoke uh. The fork has just basically sliced its way through, so it's powered off again, let's try and get it back in here deeper this time. This is not a good idea. Push that one in deeper as well uh, maybe the fat when it gets out the way, because it is quite high fat.

It's just going to uh break the connection here, powering up again, uh four kilowatts, that's quite high right, tons and tons of smoke. I mean it's good for a smoke effect uh. This is proving somewhat difficult. Uh.

The fat is literally just uh splitting away the powers off here and uh as soon as the fat splits away the uh. It starts arcane burning, so i'll, try i'll, try it once more. I shall stuff it down at this corner and uh this one was more or less in position. I managed over four kilowatts through the span there, i'm powering up again.

Oh, it's just uh burning and smoking out. It's also blowing fat all over the surroundings. So that's what happens when you pass electrical current through spam. It uh it passes quite a lot of current, but then uh.

It seems to just basically the fat seems to burn the vicinity yeah because it is quite high five. I guess and uh right tell you what i'm just gon na pause and i'm gon na grab a knife, we're gon na slice this and see if it did heat it much in the middle. Oh, the place is full of smoke. You can see it hovering in clouds it's meaty smoke, so the power is off here.

I'll. Just reiterate that i shall remove the forks from the spam and we'll slice it down in the middle. Let's slice a trunk out here and we'll see yeah. How, even is it heated, is it hot enough to eat? Actually it is.

That was very quick, mm-hmm too hot. Well, that's a fast way of grilling it, but take a look in here. It has literally just burnt uh away at the edge, and this might be a little contamination metal. Let's have we never burned bitter, doesn't taste, nice there's another hand.
It's fine, let's open the other bit that i cremated here. Oh yeah, that is so hot. I'm not really surprised, given i just passed over four kilowatts through uh, but yeah, i'm just getting more of this. This is delicious and electro hot.

So there's the answer spam versus 240 volts. It creates lots of smoke and it doesn't cook in a very controlled manner.

11 thoughts on “Spam versus 240V (the place was stinking for days)”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Owen Crawford says:

    I'm glad you heat shrinked the wires on the forks. I was worried about the joints being exposed which could pose a potential hazard.

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars David says:

    DONT EAT THAT. Passing Electricity through food changes it's chemistry!

    I enjoy your videos, but you should tell people to not do this at home.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars dekay_san says:

    Try it again with an adjustable isolating transformer…
    i wonder why you don't use such a device an those experiments at all 😏

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Gardner says:

    Good fun. I always enjoy the cooking with mains electricity related vids. Perhaps consider using a variac and/or current limiting ballasts to identify an optimal power throughput that cooks efficiently without excessive arcing.

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars James Brown says:

    I never used to eat the stuff before the current… difficulties made getting groceries something of a challenge. Now, I stock up on (wannabe) spam any time it's on sale. I have friends who give me disgusted looks and ask, "How do you eat that stuff?"
    I tell them, "I stick in in my mouth and make my jaw go up and down… It's real easy."

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ken Bakker says:

    The Spam must be produced for the American market (120V). In the UK (240V) you will have to connect two Spams in series. Power is equal to voltage squared, divided by Spam.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Steffen Lindemann says:

    I would guess it was the salt and water that made it so conductive, not the fat? But fun to have seen it done with other food items, I have done only sausages loooong time ago.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Subgunman says:

    Spam is 90% salt, an excellent conductor, thus the excellent conductor at 4 Kw power usage.
    Just think what happens in the electric chair……

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars pmailkeey says:

    "It should be burning out quite nicely." A quote from 'GJ' back in 1957 at Windscale – 64 years ago to the day – of this video !

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Werewolf Inlondon says:

    Strangely compelling viewing. I love it!

    Some other things that could be fun to stick forks into and connect to the mains (in the interests of science, naturally):

    Corned beef – should give similar results to spam but you never know….
    Melton Mowbray pork pie
    Cornish pasty
    A large baking potato
    Pot noodles
    Half pound of butter
    A cooking apple (bramley or similar)
    Penguin (the McVities kind, obviously)
    Jar of peanut butter, or maybe Branston pickle
    Ambrosia rice pudding

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Charlie Dobbie says:

    "It's good for a smoke effect" Oh, aye, thanks Clive – next time I need a bit of ambience I'll just electrocute a pig.

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