Chum

“	Plankton had pieced together his own creation using memory and science.	”
	— Karen Plankton, "Friend or Foe"

Object

Gallery

Appearances

Chum
Producer:	Chum Bucket The Slop Pail
Type:	Food
First appearance:	"Friend or Foe"

Chum is the signature ingredient in all of Plankton's menu items. In real life, chum is bait used by fishermen, made out of chopped fish.

Chum is incredibly unappealing to the fish population of Bikini Bottom, which prevents the Chum Bucket from having customers. Organs, eyeballs, and bones have been seen in Plankton's chum, but it is unknown where he gets them. Although mentioned in previous episodes, chum first appears in the episode "Friend or Foe."

Description

Plankton holding a plate of chum nuggets.

Most of the time, the chum bears a reddish-brownish color. According to "My Two Krabses," chum contains the organs of living beings, giving it its color. "Chum Bucket List" states that chum contains "countless strains of parasitical bacteria," leading to its consumption being poisonous.

Notably, not even Plankton himself likes the taste of chum. In "Karen for Spot," SpongeBob and Karen both turn down eating it.

There are very few instances in the series where characters are able to eat chum safely. This is most frequently seen with Patrick, who enjoys the taste of it in "Free Samples," "Chum Caverns," and "Chum Bucket List." In "The Inmates of Summer," SpongeBob eats a giant vat of chum with Patrick. In "FUN-Believable," Bubble Bass is seen eating chum and suffering no ill effects from it. Mr. Krabs had a temporary addiction to chum brought on by tasting it in his navy days, which he was cured of after eating an enormous amount of it.

The preparation and presentation of chum can change how it tastes. In "The Krusty Bucket," PlanKrab adds a pinch of chum to the recipe to the delight of the customers, suggesting that chum can be somewhat palatable in very small quantities. Squidward is also able to make Chum Fricassee that turns the Chum Bucket into an overnight success. In "Greasy Buffoons," Plankton sells Chummy Patties that are popular at his restaurant; however, they appear to be made entirely from grease, with no chum involved.

As revealed in "Jailbreak!," chum can actually be used to help pull off crimes and as a result, the criminal community holds Plankton in high regards. In "End of Summer Daze," SpongeBob considers using chum bait to catch jellyfish, but is grossed out by it and puts it away.

History

During Plankton's childhood, he and his former best friend, Mr. Krabs, saw how their classmates' favorite burger joint gained "li-spect" and wealth.

Pursuing their own yet combined goals, they attempted to open their own restaurant with their own recipe and burger, which turns out to take no attention. Their burger poisoned Old Man Jenkins, resulting in an argument that sparked their hostile relationship.

Mr. Krabs made his own burger, the Krabby Patty, and Plankton used chum for his burger. Plankton's creation proved foul even to those who could eat anything. On the other hand, Mr. Krabs' tasted quite good.

The C.H.U.M.s.

Plankton disposes of his unsold chum by flushing it down the sewers. The toxicity of the chum combined with the sewer fumes has led to the creation of a race of underground chum creatures.

Role in series

SpongeBob SquarePants

Plankton continues to use chum in most of his products, despite its foulness and overall toxicity, as shown by many having vomited after eating it. In later seasons, his chum is still inedible but another quality in his restaurant, such as the Chum Caverns or a popular slogan, such as "Chum is Fum" will draw in customers.

"Friend or Foe"

Chum was originally in the burger recipe that Mr. Krabs and Plankton made as kids. However, the burger poisoned Old Man Jenkins when he ate it, causing Krabs and Plankton to accuse each other of tainting the burger. The two soon become foes and try to create their own burgers to outdo one another, with Plankton using chum in his burgers.

"Mermaid Man vs. SpongeBob"

Plankton walks into the Chum Bucket dining area with Chummy Joes, only to discover that the room is empty.

"The Inmates of Summer"

At Inferno Island, SpongeBob and Patrick are locked in a hole in the ground. A vat of chum is poured in, which they think is a bath.

"20,000 Patties Under the Sea"

Chum Patties appear in the scene with the giant abyss monster. The chum came from Chum Charges, which Plankton used to destroy the submarine. It punches holes through the wall and chum starts to go into the submarine. One of them lands on a bun. The monster, while still in anger for more food, takes a look inside for food. He then sees this food and asks about if he can try it. SpongeBob and Patrick then give it to him.

The monster likes it and he asks for more. They start to make more until the sea monster is stuffed.

"Spongicus"

Plankton offers a chumstick to Incidental 49, who later considers going to the Krusty Krab for a Krabby Patty instead after discovering that chumsticks cost 10 dollars. Plankton negotiates with her and Incidental 49 stubbornly agrees to purchase his food.

After taking a bite of the chumstick, she spits it out immediately upon its foul taste.

"Plankton's Regular"

After Plankton complains about the fact that he has no customers, Nat comes to the Chum Bucket and orders a chumstick. He then goes back the next day and the day after that, becoming Plankton's only regular customer, and the only person who actually likes his chum. However, in the end, it is revealed that he only ordered chumsticks because Karen paid him, and he actually hates the food, so much that he already had to go to the doctor twice.

"The Krabby Kronicle"

Plankton exits the Chum Bucket kitchen with "the chumstick that's finally gonna drive Krabs out of business." Andy Yellowtail, the health inspector, quickly shuts down the Chum Bucket due to one of SpongeBob's lies that Plankton uses fish in his chum. Plankton and Karen are left on the street as their restaurant is condemned.

"Komputer Overload"

Plankton is seen holding a hot pot of chum at the beginning to impress Karen, which proves to be so toxic it goes through the pan and floor and leaves a hole in both.

"Chum Bucket Supreme"

After Patrick changes the Chum Bucket slogan, this brings Plankton new customers who actually eat his food in spite of its horrible taste, which makes Mr. Krabs jealous as the Krusty Krab loses business in favor. Plankton feeds a chumstick to SpongeBob, which causes the disguise he and Mr. Krabs were hiding in to explode. SpongeBob is seen wiping his tongue with a kitchen sponge afterwards, obviously disliking the taste.

"Chum Caverns"

After Plankton moves the Chum Bucket underground into the eponymous location, he gets a lot more customers due to his fancy atmosphere. The customers agree to actually eat his food without regard to the horrible taste.

"It Came from Goo Lagoon"

Plankton sells chum from a cart at Goo Lagoon. However, the cart is crushed by Squidward's beach umbrella.

"Krabby Patty Creature Feature"

SpongeBob learns that the cure to the Secret Patty's side-effects is actually chum. He then uses it to return everyone back to normal after they mutated into Krabby Patty zombie monsters, which helps him save the day.

"The Krusty Slammer"

When Mr. Krabs is sent to jail at the Chum Bucket, Plankton shouts "Mealtime, prisoner!" and starts throwing chum at him.

"Plankton's Old Chum"

Plankton's chum gets rotten during this episode, and he has to find a way to hide his chum. After hiding all of it with the help of SpongeBob through tricking him, he ends up succeeding at his goal. However, when SpongeBob tries to push down the last piece of rotten chum into a sewer, he ends up spreading all the rotten chum all over town and causes it to rain down slowly like snowflakes. This results in SpongeBob realizing it is Chum Day and make the citizens realize that too, with Bikini Bottom's kids already having the spirit of Chum Day.

Despite all the happiness, a health inspector enforces the law against Plankton for chum dumping and spreading chum all over. Plankton cannot pay the fine, so the inspector gives him another option: to eat all the chum. Plankton does this over a long period of time and becomes extremely big in the process.

"The Hankering"

This episode reveals Mr. Krabs' love for chum as back when he was in the navy, he tasted chum and fell in love with it. Plankton finds out about this when Mr. Krabs is searching through a trash can and the latter admits his love for chum. Plankton tricks Mr. Krabs into giving the formula by offering him a life-time supply of chum, which ends up being a hoax. Mr. Krabs tries to get the formula back but drops it into the chum, making Plankton swim in the chum to find the formula and Mr. Krabs eats all the chum so he could get to the formula quicker.

Mr. Krabs loses his appetite for chum from eating the entire supply of it and also ends up eating Plankton and receiving the formula in the process too.

"A Place for Pets"

When Mr. Krabs decides to make the Krusty Krab solely a place where pets can eat, the rest of Bikini Bottom is forced to go to the Chum Bucket and eat chum.

"Karen for Spot"

When SpongeBob is over at the Chum Bucket, Karen serves them both some chum. SpongeBob is hesitant to eat it, to which Karen agrees and swats hers off the table.

"FUN-Believable"

Bubble Bass is seen eating a giant bucket of chum while handing money to Squidward, who complains about it.

Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years

"The Perfect Camper"

Electrified chum balls are lobbed at the campers in an athletics challenge in the Kamp Koral Summer Games.

The Patrick Star Show

"Late for Breakfast"

Plankton features chum in a commercial for the Chum Bucket. He spreads it on toast, uses it as a jacket, and shows off different flavors.

"The Patrick Show Sells Out"

In a Pat the Hapless segment, Plankton uses chum as a "power-up food" to give Pat the power to beat up a monster holding him captive. Pat is initially repulsed by the smell, but after eating it, becomes stronger from chum's "scientifically proven nutrition."

"The Starry Awards"

Slappy dips a carrot in chum, eats it, and passes out.

"Chum Bucket List"

Chum spraying out of Patrick's teeth.

Patrick orders a massive amount of chum from the Chum Bucket and devours it. However, when going to ask Plankton about a part of the order he forgot, he sees what he believes to be Plankton pouring poison into the chum. Fearing for his life, Patrick wants to accomplish his bucket list with SpongeBob's help. In the end, Squidina finds that he got all the chum stuck in his teeth, and he was never in danger. Patrick is left hungry and consumes another bucket of chum, falling ill.

At the hospital, a doctor tells SpongeBob that while the chum was not poisoned, the food is so naturally disgusting and full of dangerous parasites that it is harmful to consume anyways. Patrick is fitted with a cone in an attempt to prevent him from eating any more chum, but he just goes to Plankton and has him fill the cone with chum from a hose.

Products

The Chum Bucket contains a variety of products that are mostly made out of chum:

• Chum Burger
• Chumstick
• Chum nuggets
• Chum balls
• Chum Bucket Supreme
• Chummy Joes
• Free Sample Krabby Patty
• Chum Pot Pie
• Chum Fricassee
• Chumbalaya
• Chum Patties
• Salsa Imbecilicus
• Chum Krabs
• Raw chum
• Chum dogs

Recipe

Plankton adds various other ingredients to his chum. In "Spongicus," he adds:

• Jellyfish squeezings
• Seahorse snout
• Whale blubber
• Sprinkle of anchor rust

In "Jailbreak!," he adds different ingredients:

• Cultural fungus growth medium (an old sock)
• Subtropical vegetal matter (a banana peel)
• Organic filler (a bucket of trash)
• Live bacterial culture (a recently used napkin)

Plankton puts these ingredients in a prison toilet, closes the seat, and flushes it, causing them to mix together.

Trivia

• In real life, chum is inedible for people, which means it is not suitable for eating.
• Coincidentally, two chum-themed episodes in season 12 ("Plankton's Old Chum" and "The Hankering") premiered together.
• Chummy Patties are the only food that Plankton serves that is not actually made of chum, despite still having "chum" in the name. It is basically a pure grease sandwich.
• "Krabby Patty Creature Feature" is the only time in which Plankton's chum actually cures people.
• Although chum is usually referred to as chopped meat of fish, it is also a term for vegetable matter.