How to Store Your Serrano Ham
Serrano ham is usually eaten over a long period of time in small amounts, as a daily snack or for a treat, so a single ham can last many months. That means that if you're to get the most out of it, you need to know how to store your Serrano ham so that each slice delivers the full flavor and aroma.
First, you must carefully follow the cutting directions, the most important of which is that you should only cut the ham you plan to eat immediately. Cut ham is far harder to store and preserve, so if you want to know how to store your Serrano ham, that's the first step to take. Once you've begun cutting into your ham, you need to treat the area where the cuts were made slightly differently,and there are things you can do to preserve leftover slices too.
One effective method is to keep the first layer of skin and fat that you removed to get to the flesh of the Spanish ham, and replace it over the cutting area. It was once popular to impregnate the exposed surface with oil and paprika, but while this preserves the ham it alters the flavor, aroma and texture so it's less popular now than it was. The ham's own fat keeps the meat and the flavor.
Another option is to cover the Spanish ham with a cloth or a woven sack and hang with the hoof facing upwards. For convenience, many people store their hams horizontally on ham holders or even shelves, but it's far better to let the fats flow with gravity if you can (this is the reason behind the little upside-down plastic umbrellas you sometimes see underneath hams).
Covered in this way, and hung in a cool, dry atmosphere where the temperature is between 10 and 18 degrees Celsius (the ideal environment in a winery, incidentally), your Spanish ham will be in the best possible condition for you to enjoy its flavor. It's very important that you don't use plastic to wrap your ham, since it needs to be able to breathe or it will molder. If it's a long time between making cuts you should cut away the surface layer of your ham, which will tend to spoil if it's left too long, with the meat becoming hard while the fat acquires a rancid flavor.
As we mentioned above, you should cut only the number of slices that you plan to eat that day. It's better to cut a few short and have to cut more than to have leftovers. Once cut away from the ham, slices will tend to harden in just a few days and go stale. There are ways to preserve leftover slices so that, while they will never have the flavor and mouth feel of fresh-cut ham they will remain in a more or less acceptable condition. If you have too many slices, you will need to store them on a refrigerator (though not without a plate).
You should cover the Spanish ham in plastic wrap, making sure there is no air inside the plastic. You're trying to get as close to a vacuum as possible, to stop the molecules that give the ham its flavor from oxidizing. In fact, many people prefer to buy ham ready-sliced in vacuum packaging for convenience. In either case, it's important to remember that before eating them they should be exposed to the air at room temperature to recover as fully as possible their original organoleptic properties. Remember: store your Serrano ham in good condition to enjoy its unique flavor!
Todo sobre el jamón
Contenido
- 1 Tipos de jamón ibérico
- 2 Cómo consumir jamón ibérico
- 3 Cortar jamón ibérico
- 4 Cómo conservar el jamón ibérico
- 5 Maridaje del jamón ibérico
- 6 Ley de calidad del jamón ibérico
- 7 La Dehesa
- 8 Denominaciones de origen del jamón ibérico
- 9 Propiedades nutricionales del jamón ibérico de bellota
- 10 Recetas con jamón
- 11 Diferencias entre jamón ibérico y jamón serrano
- 12 Diferencias entre paletilla y jamón ibérico
- 13 Diferencias entre jamón ibérico y jamón serrano
- 14 Jamón ibérico y sus competidores en el mundo
- 15 Propiedades nutricionales del jamón ibérico
- 16 Denominación de origen del jamón ibérico
- 17 Zonas de elaboración del jamón y del jamón pata negra
- 18 Jamón cortado a mano o a máquina
- 19 Museos del jamón ibérico en el mundo
- 20 Cata de jamón ibérico: todos los secretos
- 21 Ruta del jamón ibérico
- 22 El jamón ibérico de bellota y su maridaje ideal
- 23 Proceso de elaboración de los embutidos ibéricos
- 24 Historia de los embutidos ibéricos
- 25 IVA para el jamón: preguntas y respuestas
- 26 El jamón en la literatura
- 27 Curiosidades del jamón ibérico
- 28 Cómo conservar el jamón serrano
- 29 Normativa de calidad del jamón serrano
- 30 Elaboración del jamón serrano
- 31 Denominaciones de origen del jamón serrano
- 32 Propiedades nutricionales del jamón serrano
- 33 Recetas con jamón serrano
- 34 Tipos de jamón serrano
- 35 Maridaje del jamón serrano
- 36 Cómo consumir jamón serrano
- 37 Cortar jamón serrano
- 38 Todos los secretos sobre la cata de jamón pata negra
- 39 Cómo elegir un buen soporte jamonero
- 40 Cuál es el mejor jamón pata negra?
- 41 Es correcto el término jamón pata negra?
- 42 Jamón pata negra y dehesa
- 43 Los secretos del maridaje del jamón pata negra
- 44 ¿Cómo saber qué jamón comprar?
- 45 ¿Por qué el buen jamón es tan caro?
- 46 ¿Cómo comprar jamón en tiendas online?
- 47 Mitos y realidades, beneficios y prejuicios del jamón
- 48 ¿El jamón ibérico engorda?
- 49 ¿Qué hacemos con el hueso del jamón?
- 50 ¿Por qué solemos colgar el jamón?
- 51 Jamón y embarazo: ¿Se puede incluir el jamón ibérico en la dieta de las embarazadas?
- 52 El rol del jamón en el crecimiento y desarrollo de los niños
- 53 Consejos para conservar el jamón
- 54 ¿Qué es el perfilado del jamón y por qué se hace?
- 55 Nuevas tecnologías y jamón - Resonancia magnética en la cata del jamón - Imágenes espectrales
- 56 El cerdo ibérico comienza a emigrar
- 57 Embutidos: Origen, composición y clasificación
- 58 Elaboración de jamones y paletas
- 59 Guía de Cata del Jamón Ibérico
- 60 Elementos diferenciales de calidad en jamón y embutidos “ibéricos”
- 61 El mapa del jamón en España
- 62 Propiedades de la grasa del jamón ibérico
- 63 Cómo transportar jamón ibérico y otros alimentos en vuelos internacionales
- 64 Prevalencia de patógenos y beneficios de los ácidos orgánicos en la producción de cerdos