Butchering: Before going to the butcher, pigs have to be fasting for a minimum period of 12 hours. Once at the butcher shop, they have to wait 12 hours before being butchered in order to eliminate muscular fatigue from traveling. It is also to guarantee the correct glycogen levels in the pig by feeding it with sugar water. The actual kill of the animal starts by dazing and later by bleeding.


Curing: During the curing process, the meat stays at a maximum temperature of 10 degrees Centigrade for a minimum of four hours and with 90% relative humidity during the first hour and 80% for the remaining time.

Once the meat has been quartered, the inside of the haunch must reach a temperature of two degrees and maintain this cool temperature until the curing starts.

At the butcher shop, those haunches that will be used in the production of Denomination of Origin ham are marked with an indelible stamp and numbered to identify the production farm and the product from the pig.

The curing and maturing of D.O. Ham: The processing of ham is done in the dryers over a minimum time period of 12 months.

The production process includes two phases: the curing, necessary for the proper preservation of the product and also includes the salting, cleaning, post-salting and curing; and curing, in which the ham acquires its flavor and aroma characteristics.