Jamón Jamón

We drove to Seron a couple of days ago to finish the deal for the Jamones that were offered on Berserker Day. I just got the labels approved by the USDA and so they are good to go.
Serón is in the province of Almeria, about 1 1/2 hours inland from the coast. It is really close to an area called Macael. Macael is know for its marble.
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I have been in that area of Almería years ago but it was interesting to see the quarries again!
We arrived to the jamón processing plant and were received with a great feeling of excitement and anticipation on the pending joint venture! Francisco (owner) took me on a personal tour and asked me to share my adventure with the first US customers of his Jamones.
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These are the enormous aging coolers where the jamones will age for 10 months (Jamón Bodega) 12 months (Jamón Reserva) or15 months (Jamón Gran Reserva). All Jamones produced for sale intended for the US is tagged with the correct tag and separated.
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Each one of these bins is filled with Jamones aging in salt. Afterwards it gets rinsed and prepared to hang in the aging coolers above.

He will be shipping the Jamones within the next two weeks as soon as I receive them and they are released by FDA and USDA I will be shipping them out!

Very cool! Still searching for a good excuse to order one.

Any recommendations for a jamon stand for slicing? I don’t need a work of art, but something functional and hopefully reasonably economical because I’m not sure how much use it will see beyond this one time. But, I also want it to be solid enough to do the job well. No clue what to look for or makers.

I have this one and it does the job: Wooden jamon holder and knife: hamlovers.com

I’ve gone through about three legs and still don’t see the point in dropping more money than that on the holder. I’d rather spend the money on jamon.

Have that same one.

Thanks Betty and Jorge! I was looking at a very similar one, but didn’t want to just throw money away if it was junk and I needed to spend more.

BTW, that site has shipping at somewhere around $20. This similar one through Amazon comes out to be a better deal for me and is generally well reviewed there:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FMX8WTA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=GFD0THSTZZ6K&coliid=I2AV4HRYHTT3QT

I am importing some that are in the pinza style (like the picture but they will be all black iron including the base) They work for both bone-in and boneless jamons. I’m not sure of the final price as I’m still calculating customs and duty but it is a nice holder and should be around $49.
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What knives do you veterans use for slicing?

What does it mean by producto U.S.A. ?

Means “going to” los USA.

a thin flexible ham knife like this
https://www.amazon.com/Arcos-12-Inch-Slicing-Spanish-Flexible/dp/B005LR6VBO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1490903725&sr=8-2&keywords=ham+knife

What are looking at in terms of pricing for the iberico?

These are the knives I am working on, my target is under $20.
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On Iberico? I know my producer makes it, I am not sure on the approval time though. Most Ibéricos, Jabugos and Pata Negras are aged for around 22+ months, so we have a while to wait.

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I wanted one. Wife outvoted me. Hard to sneak one into the fridge or on counter. I have a year to lobby her!

I have a different model from Arco and I’m quite pleased with it. For the first cut I use a chef’s knife, and a paring knife is good for other trimming and cutting around bone.

muchas gracias

I’ll probably be bringing in blocks of boneless jamones too.

+1…

any update on ETA, Nola