Tools for a Jamón/ham lover

Enjoying a good Jamón/ham is easy, just buy a sliced pata sachet, open it and let it go; but if you are one of the lovers of the world of Jamón/ham, you will surely always prefer to buy a whole ham and cut it to taste at home. Well, for that you need some basic tools, the ham stand and of course the knife.

Jamón7Ham knives have long, narrow and flexible blades. Most knives are made of stainless steel, a good quality, flexible and non-corrosive material. They can end in a round or sharp point and, although the round one is less dangerous, it is more common to find them with a pointed end. Remember that only with a properly prepared and well sharpened ham knife will you obtain slices with the perfect thickness.

Ham cut with a knife

It must be taken into account that the slicing of ham is as important as any other moment in the elaboration process of an Iberian ham, because if it is not done properly, it could end up with the nuances of our star product. "Slicing by hand has, unlike machine cutting, a certain liturgy that makes it more enjoyable... It has, like all handcrafted or manual activities, a human connotation, a feeling, an energy, a "thing" that machines do not have, however precise they may be". This is the explanation that Enrique Tomás himself offers us in the book Jamón para Dummies.

What is ham and how is it made?

A Jamón/ ham is the result of curing a pig's hind leg in salt. Depending on the type of pig and its diet, the months of curing vary substantially and so will its taste. Due to the large amount of meat in the same ham, we will find different flavours: the "maza" is the softest part, the "counter-maza" the tastiest and as we get closer to the bone we find more intensity.

Once we have the leg of the pig ready, the first thing we have to do is to prepare it for salting. The cook makes a v-cut on the pork rind and decides how much external fat he wants to leave. The more fat it has, the less salt it will absorb and the sweeter it will be. Once the previous operation has been carried out, the leg is buried in salt for an average of two weeks. If the cook decides to extend this period, the ham will be more tasty. From that moment on, depending on the type of ham we are going to make, the characteristics of the leg and the taste we want to obtain, the leg will be hung in the drying room until it is optimum for consumption.