prociutto and serrano

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Brad Bellomo

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I bought a relatively cheap whole serrano at Costco which came with a thin slicing knife that worked ok but probably cost $1 to make. I just got back from Friuli, and having enjoyed lots of really great prosciutto (all you can eat with breakfast included in Hotel room!) I picked up some at my local deli back in Ohio. The cost is reasonable, but the prosciutto itself is too salty, and the kid cutting it took 20 minutes for a half pound on the deli slicer. So I am tempted to either buy or make my own and cut it with a knife. I can use my $1 serrano slicer or a chef's knife, but thought it was worth asking if this was a good excuse to purchase a Sujihiki, or I want a different knife. I really want advice on prociutto knives on this forum, but if anyone knows a good source to mail order a quality prosciutto, I'd appreciate it as well.
 
If you find yourself in Sevilla…

Ps, bellota means acorns
IMG_1657.jpeg
 
MarcelNL said:
considering the prices that must have been a while ago ;-)
Nowadays I see 18 euro per 100g for Bellota
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Nah, I was there in February 2023. Jamon, and lots of other things are a bargain in that city. Great lifestyle too, seems like there’s four cafes on every corner

Worth flying there, but wait till the weather cools down.

Here’s a bonus shot of a butchers case

IMG_1705.jpeg
 
Any opinions on bone-in vs boneless? Is boneless just for deli slicers and bone-in higher quality? Because bone-in seems more expensive, especially considering the weight of the bone.
 
Brad Bellomo said:
Any opinions on bone-in vs boneless? Is boneless just for deli slicers and bone-in higher quality? Because bone-in seems more expensive, especially considering the weight of the bone.
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If you’re slicing by hand and you have the holder, bone in seems easier to deal with. Tough to slice the boneless ones. Plus the bone in ones are usually better quality methinks
 
Consider storage time too. Bone-in can be stored outside a fridge and (generally speaking) for longer times (the external fat is used as natural protection). Boneless are vacuum sealed and preserve within fridge, consequently it has lower shelf time.
 
Another thread suggested that keeping the edge near the handle sharp is important. If so, either that ham or salmon Wustoff is going to be a pain to sharpen, although the video Corradobrit1 posted shows about a half inch between what is being used to cut and the handle.
 
amastronardi said:
Consider storage time too. Bone-in can be stored outside a fridge and (generally speaking) for longer times (the external fat is used as natural protection). Boneless are vacuum sealed and preserve within fridge, consequently it has lower shelf time.
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What is shelf life? In and out of the fridge? My house is 68F in winter and 78F in summer.
 
Ham knives are ham knives for a reason. If you’re buying a whole ham get a knife to go with. Also consider getting a stand.

Seville is awesome, I’m still making my way through the jamon I brought back on my last trip

Whole, bone in, acorn fed, black hoof is fantastic but a lot to get through unless you host a few gatherings.

Vintage cava, good ham, what else do you need
 
If you're going to be buying a whole Spanish ham, or buying a whole American country ham and slicing it uncooked, a ham stand is essential. It costs less than the hospital bill you get when the ham rolls and the edge hits all your knuckles simultaneously.

I don't know whether there is a good version of a ham knife, but a suji is not that.

Mine does not have good steel, but the dimensions and geometry matter more for this purpose. Here are the dimensions of mine:

Length: 290mm
Height: 17mm at the heel, 14mm where the blade starts to curve.
Spine: 2mm at the heel, tapering to 1mm

If anyone knows of an actually good knife made for this purpose, with these sorts of dimensions, I'm all ears.
 
Rangen said:
If you're going to be buying a whole Spanish ham, or buying a whole American country ham and slicing it uncooked, a ham stand is essential. It costs less than the hospital bill you get when the ham rolls and the edge hits all your knuckles simultaneously.

I don't know whether there is a good version of a ham knife, but a suji is not that.

Mine does not have good steel, but the dimensions and geometry matter more for this purpose. Here are the dimensions of mine:

Length: 290mm
Height: 17mm at the heel, 14mm where the blade starts to curve.
Spine: 2mm at the heel, tapering to 1mm

If anyone knows of an actually good knife made for this purpose, with these sorts of dimensions, I'm all ears.
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@Rangen ive never handled one of these, but at least it’s expensive

https://www.tienda.com/products/forged-steel-ham-knife-cuchillerias-simon-cy-06.html
 
Rangen said:
If anyone knows of an actually good knife made for this purpose, with these sorts of dimensions, I'm all ears.
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I'm not certain they really exist, at least not that I've seen used in Spain. Italy may be different.

Tail end of last year I was in Malaga with a friend and we spent a couple of evenings in one of the world's great bars, owned and run by a guy who I understand is fairly well-respected in the jamon game. Goes to Extremadura and wins prestigious slicing competitions type thing. Unfortunately I can't now find the picture I took, but he had about 5 knives he used for the ham, and one chef's knife for everything else. The ham knives were:

A couple of small, cheap, paring knives / pettys, which he used for trimming and prepping the leg as and when needed.

Then three or four slicers of various lengths, which were kinda boning knife shaped, but longer, thinner and more flexible. When you order a racion he gives you several different cuts from the same leg, and each of the slicing knives was used for a different part. I don't know the brand but they had white plastic, Sab style (i.e. riveted) handles.

The slicers looked marginally posher than the trimming knives, but by no means fancy. And he's someone who takes Jamon Iberico slicing very seriously indeed!
 
cotedupy said:
The slicers looked marginally posher than the trimming knives, but by no means fancy. And he's someone who takes Jamon Iberico slicing very seriously indeed!
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That's very interesting information. Upon self-examination, it turns out that what I really want is not a posh ham knife, but a carbon steel ham knife, with the same general idea, very flexible, not at all tall. I don't really understand why you'd want stainless for a knife that's only touching meat and fat.
 
Rangen said:
That's very interesting information. Upon self-examination, it turns out that what I really want is not a posh ham knife, but a carbon steel ham knife, with the same general idea, very flexible, not at all tall. I don't really understand why you'd want stainless for a knife that's only touching meat and fat.
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Oh wait here we go... I've found the pics I took, and looks like he actually has more ham knives than I remember. These were all used only for the jamon, the smaller ones for trimming and prep, the longer ones for slicing.

(But yeah - I don't think any are massively fancy by the look of it. And as you say - probably all stainless I imagine.)

IMG-3496.JPG


IMG-3495.JPG
 
cotedupy said:
Oh wait here we go... I've found the pics I took, and looks like he actually has more ham knives than I remember. These were all used only for the jamon, the smaller ones for trimming and prep, the longer ones for slicing.

(But yeah - I don't think any are massively fancy by the look of it. And as you say - probably all stainless I imagine.)

View attachment 257086

View attachment 257087
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Very cool pictures. Thank you for that. Half of them look like your basic Dexter butcher knives, but they're probably thinner than those.
 
Rangen said:
Very cool pictures. Thank you for that. Half of them look like your basic Dexter butcher knives, but they're probably thinner than those.
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The thing that springs to mind if you want a nice carbon steel knife for this kind of thing would be an old Sab slicer / carving knife. They're usually quite thin + monosteel = flexy. And they've often been over-steeled so can be picked up cheaply, but that same over-steeling kinda makes them the same shape as a lot of those slicers in my pics.

In fact watch this space... about 8 months ago a friend of mine gave me an old Sab slicer in exactly that condition that belonged to his mum, and asked if I could restore for him. And he had exactly that idea, to turn it into a boning-knife-shaped slicer. I've been somewhat slow in getting round to it, but this thread has reminded me. I'll post some pics later this week.
 
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