{"id":1012,"date":"2019-06-03T13:48:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T12:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/?p=1012"},"modified":"2019-06-19T12:01:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T11:01:19","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-serrano-ham-and-iberian-ham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/en\/whats-the-difference-between-serrano-ham-and-iberian-ham\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the difference between Serrano Ham and Iberian ham?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"serrano-iberico-ham\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, we want to show you some of the basic differences between two products that, although they seem similar, have different characteristics. However, we do not want to go into this without first clearing up some basic aspects regarding the names we used in the title: Serrano and Iberian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nTo\nmake it really simple, we can narrow down the types of ham we usually\nfind in Spain to just two. However, to be more accurate, instead of\nusing the words Serrano and Iberian (referring to quality standards\nas we\u2019ll see later on), we should use white skin ham or black skin\nham. Why? It\u2019s simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serrano no longer always refers to being bred in the mountains.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Although the term Serrano has been traditionally used to name all hams made from white pigs (from races such as Large White, Landrace, Pietrain or Duroc), because they were generally cured in mountain climates, nowadays it refers to a specific quality standard. In other words. Only hams that meet a certain standard (TSG Serrano Ham to be exact), and that are certified, can use the word Serrano in their name. All other hams should be labelled cured ham. The exception lies in cases of PDO Teruel Ham<\/a><\/strong>, PGI Trev\u00e9lez Ham or the PGI Ser\u00f3n Ham, that are neither Serrano nor Cured but have their own name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs\nfar as characteristics are concerned, in this post we\u2019ll be\nreferring to the generic features of white pig ham, although among\nthe different rules and types, there are more than considerable\ndifferences both in its curing and its salt content or fat\ncomposition. These characteristics should be considered in their\nrespective organoleptic qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAll\nthat glitters is not (black) gold<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\nUse\nof the word Iberian deserves a special mention. Sticking closely to\nthe truth (or in this case to reality), this magic word that opens so\nmany doors can be used according to the Iberian Standard, regulated\nby RD 4\/2014, both to describe hams from  100% Iberian race\npigs – an endemic race to our mainland, the result of crossing\npigs brought over by the Phoenicians with local wild boar – and hams\nfrom pigs produced by crossing Iberian mothers and Duroc race\nfathers (white skin pig). However, the differences with the\nwhite pig that we will mention below, refer to what we believe is a\ntrue Iberian ham, meaning a ham obtained from 100% Iberian race pigs\n(with a black seal if they are also fed acorns during their time in\nthe mountains).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRearing\nthe pig<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Except for some honourable exceptions, the white pig is reared in intensive production meaning on farms where the animals are kept in pens. Its diet is based on different feed formulations (some of which are tightly regulated such as PDO Teruel Ham<\/a>) generally rich in cereals and legumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRegarding\nIberian pigs, it is important to distinguish between the different\nseals in the standard. Only black seals (100% Iberian acorn-fed) and\nred seals (50% or 75% Iberian, acorn-fed) are fed, at least in their\nfinal phase, in extensive production, meaning on farms with fewer\nanimals and open country featuring pasture, roots and acorns. Hams\nwith a green (dry-lot feeding) or white seal (fattening feed) are\nbred on farms in almost all cases, fed very similarly to white skin\npigs, although it is true that green-seal pigs must spend at least 60\ndays in extensive production (at the very least) or in intensive\noutdoor facilities in both cases with a minimum surface area of 100\nm\u00b2 per animal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe\nharsh reality of this situation is that 80% of hams sold as Iberian\nhave never visited a meadow and close to 90% come from crossed-race\npigs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nProduction\nprocess<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\nThere\nis no really substantial difference between making ham from a white\npig or an Iberian pig, at least not regarding the basic processes:\nsalting, washing, resting or post-salting, maturing and ageing.\nHowever, it is true that, given its greater lipid composition,\nIberian Ham requires a longer curing time. If we follow the rules,\nfor a ham to be called Serrano, it only needs a minimum of 7 months\u2019\ncuring compared to 24 for an Iberian ham. If we look at what\u2019s on\nthe market, we find white hams with up to 24 months\u2019 curing and\nIberian with 48 months or more. Nevertheless, the black skin pig has\nmore fat in general, both between and inside the muscles and on the\noutside, which means that it needs longer production time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOrganoleptic\ncharacteristics<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As we said before, the Iberian pig (pure race and crossed pigs) has greater intramuscular fat content. Sometimes this can be seen in the form of veins of fat or it can be perceived by its shine, its texture and its juiciness. The veining is not exclusive to Iberian pigs. In fact, the Duroc race provides very well-defined fat infiltration, as can be appreciated in the PDO Teruel Ham<\/a>, which has chosen this race for its paternal line. So then, Iberian ham has greater shine both on its fatty and lean meat. The\u00a0fat\u00a0is also more\u00a0fluid\u00a0than in a white pig, where we find more consistent and chewier bacon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOn\nthe other hand, the high myoglobin level (a muscular haemoprotein) in\nIberian Ham means that its colour is a more intense red compared to\nthe pinky-red of white ham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAs\nfor flavour and fragrance, in both cases they are stronger and\nmore persistent in Iberian ham. In addition to being pure race, if\npigs are fattened in the meadows, this gives a flavour and a\nfragrance with infinite nuances (nuts, acorns, fresh grass, etc.)\nthat are much rounder than a farm-bred white ham. However, even\nthough white ham is associated with greater sodium content, the\nquantity of salt will depend on the manufacturer. Saltier or sweeter\nhams can be found in both Serrano and Iberian ham. The advantage of\nthe latter is that, as it has more fat, it balances the salty flavour\nin the mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\u00a0La estrella del jam\u00f3n<\/a>\u00a0we believe that there is the perfect consumer, time and place for each ham. Lobster and langoustines belong to the same family and neither of them should be underestimated, regardless of personal taste. Consequently, we make different types of ham because we like variety and because we like our customers to be able to choose between a TSG Serrano, a PDO from Teruel or an Iberian ham, all made with the utmost care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we want to show you some of the basic differences between two products that, although they seem similar, have different characteristics. However, we do not want to go into this without first clearing up some basic aspects regarding the names we used in the title: Serrano and Iberian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[341,337],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1012"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1118,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1012\/revisions\/1118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laestrelladeljamon.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}