How to Identify Spanish Ham By Their Cuts and Grades

Spanish Hams are determined by many factors. These combinations of factors are protected and guaranteed by certificates that are given by the Denominacion de Origin or the Consorcio del Jamon Serrano Espanol. This will ensure that the hams that bear this seal are of the highest quality and the flavours correspond to their name and type.

All pigs are raised on a diet of grains and the milk from their mothers during their infancy. White pigs generally eat grains or cereals after weaning while the Iberico pigs are raised on a variety of special diets. The second most important aspect that influences that quality of the ham is the diet, specifically for the Iberico ham where their grades are based on the kind of diet that they consume.

The nutty taste of each slice of ham is made up of 60% of oleic acid which is also found in olive oil. Iberico Pigs spend the last three to four months of their lives foraging on oily and rich acorns that drop to the ground from holm, cork, and oak trees found in very abundant dehesas or pastures. These regions called dehesas are highly valued portions of land filled with oak trees and other vegetation that help sustain the iberico pigs and other animals. This grazing period in the open range is called "montanera" and the pigs gain about half of their weight during this time.

These pigs produce the highly prized iberico hams that are exceptional. The slices of ham taste so nutty and 60% of their fats are filled with healthy monounsaturated fats such as oleic acid that is also found in olive oil. Because of this melt in your mouth texture, the Jamon Iberico de Bellota is sometimes called the Kobe Beef of cured hams.

This grazing period in the open range is called "montanera" and the pigs gain about half of their weight during this time. The Iberico ham comes from iberico pigs that were cross bred with white pigs and are raised in farms where they are fed with grains and penned in unlike the pigs that make the bellota ham.

The nutty taste of each slice of ham is made up of 60% of oleic acid which is also found in olive oil. The Oro or Plata Serrano ham are raised in farms anywhere in Spain and then cured for less than fourteen months. Cured ham are made from white pigs that were raised outside Spain, they are fed grains and then cured for less than 8 months.

The cuts of ham that are sold in the market are the whole ham, whole ham with the foot included, paletas or shoulders, lomos or pork loins, chorizos, and salchichones or sausages.

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