Price?
$19.99!
Wow! Iâd buy a whole box of those if they had that at a similar price at my Costco.
Can you also make a photo of the rear label next time? Thatâs where the more interesting info is disclosed (origin, name of producer etc)
Iâve stayed in jamĂłn iberico producing heartland Sierra de Aracena area (specifically Alajar, Jabugo, Aracena) to do walks and eat jamĂłn and locally grown tomatoes in the form of tomates aliñados. The jamĂłn iberico from this part of Spain is considered to be the very best. A plate of hand-cut jamĂłn and local tomatoes drenched in delicious olive oil every single day. Wonderful walking-jamĂłn-tomato eating holiday.
Only worth it if it is preservative free, not counting salt, of course.
Can you share examples of brands available in North America that are as such?
Joselito is one of them https://littlebarcelona.ca/collections/spanish-ham-sausages.
Redondo Iglesias ia another. https://www.redondousa.com/products/iberico-ham-grain-fed-36-months-aged-2-oz-sliced-copy
You really have to read ingredients to find the ones without preservatives other than salt, but they are out there and are definitely more than $19.99.
Estrella de Castilla has trisodium citrate, sodium ascorbate, potassium nitrate, sugar and dextrose, which is often derived from corn.
Iâm not saying it doesnât taste good, I just like to avoid chemical preservatives whenever possible.
Itâs like finding good prosciutto: there is a lot of product out there, but you have to search for the good ones. Luckily, Costco does carry nitrate free versions of that.
If youâre willing to go with volume, prices goes down quite a bitâŠand you get a stand and knife. Not sure about 15 lbs. LINK
Ingredients include sugar, trisodium citrate, sodium nitrite, potassium nitrate, sodium ascorbate
It looks good, but you have to read the fine print.
Iâm not buyingâŠbut man that stand and knife look SWEET.
I too try avoiding preserved meats with nitritesâŠ..except for the occasional â pickled Ox-Tongue â!
However, for this â once in a blue moon â treat, Iâm fine with eating a bit of preservatives that goes with it! Moreover, I follow a strict daily health supplement regimen of Vitamin D3 + K2, Resveratrol and Co-Q-10 Ubiquinol antioxidants!âŠ..so hopefully should give me a bit of protection against certain carcinogenic stuff?!
BTW, the Jamon is really delectable, nice and sweet, not salty at all ( reflecting the 50+ months aging ) and oh so oily! âŠ.healthy mono-unsaturated fatty acid!âŠ.similar to EVOO!
Well worth the money!
So what?
Itâs part of the curing process.
Do you also complain when the wine label says the bottle contains, for example, sulfites?
If theyâre added sulphites I donât complain about them, I simply avoid them.
You may enjoy reading about curing processes. Theyâre quite interesting. Nitrates and sulphites are not needed for many cured foods. Why ingest them if you donât have to?
I have a sulfite sensitivity, confirmed by an allergist MD. I appreciate knowing which cured meats have more sulfites and nitrates.
Better quality bacon doesnât give me hives. Cheap pizza made with cheap pepperoni gives me hives. If I eat more than 1 or 2 pepperoni sticks, I usually get hives . If I eat a lot of Genoa salami at once, I usually get hives.
A lot of take-out Thai food, take-out Korean food, some take-out Middle Eastern food, some take-out Italian food, some take-out salads, sometimes uncooked tomato (preservative residue not washed off I guess) on restaurant sandwiches, often give me hives.
Every time I get the arugula and warm mushroom salad at Terroni, I get hives. I havenât figured out which ingredient or additive is causing me to develop hives, because I do not have a reaction at home using the same ingredients. (arugula, mushrooms, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parmesan, pepper ). Maybe itâs a vegetable wash they apply to their arugula or mushrooms , or maybe they have a spice blend that adds some sort of sulfite or nitrate. I can eat their pastas and pizzas without developing hives.
I keep a list of when I get hives and what and where I ate that day, and continue to limit what I eat. In 2019, I was getting hives around 3 times a month. By limiting my exposure to sulfites, nitrates, and raw veg that arenât washed enough to remove preservatives or pesticides, I am down to hives 2 or 3 times a year.
Every time you eat (most) vegetables you ingest nitrates. As long as you donât eat âconstantlyâ cured meats I donât think the nitrate levels are of significant concern. (and they help food safety)
Quite right. In responding to Charlesâs post, I was voicing the opinion that $20 for 90g of sliced deli meat was only a great deal if it was traditionally prepared, using only salt.
Some people are unaware that you donât always need chemical preservatives to cure meat or preserve other items. Being aware of your options when you buy food is a good thing, especially when research is showing various preservatives have links to things like cancer and dementia.
Most charcuterie (bacon, salami etc) wouldnât be safe to sell and eat if they were just preserved with salt. Nitrites and nitrates have their place when making charcuterie in a safe way.
