Herr Doktor, was passiert mit meinem iberischen Schinken?

Today we review some of the most frequent conditions that can take place in Iberian hams that do not enjoy good health and we will also help you understand why they occur.

• Shortened Hams: Shortened hams are those seem to be fully cured until they are opened and they are actually not. As we slice, fresh areas will come out. This occurs when the first phases of drying have not been done correctly, either due to low humidity levels or just to the opposite.

• Strange flavors: The flavor of our ham will be given by the feeding of pigs. Fat and meat are very receptive to aromatic substances. That is why it is recommended for farmers to take special care with feed rich in fishmeal. Special attention should also be given to the oxidation process, as we will see in the next section.

• Ham fat defect: Sometimes our ham can become too oily, being subjected to an over-oxidation that will give it orange color and make its fat acquire an old taste. This defect may be caused by the following reasons:

1. What we know as lipolysis has been produced in the piece, due to a previous freezing.
2. The piece has a high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids because the raw material is not of very good quality.
3. During the manufacturing process, the pieces have been subjected to temperatures higher than those recommended.

• White dots in ham or Tyrosine: Well, this is not a disease although it might seem so, especially if we are not familiar with these whitish dots, which are nothing more than deposits of crystals that contain the amino acid tyrosine. They usually appear as the healing process progresses, they are given by the aging of our Iberian ham.

And if these are the most common ailments of internal cause, we cannot leave behind those caused externally by insects. The best known are:

• Mites: Mites surround us. Either you are immune to their presence or you are part of the increasingly large group that develops an allergic reaction to them. Iberian ham doesn't like mites either. Its appearance usually takes place during the maturing period and will result in an alteration of the smell and taste, reducing the quality of the ham and preventing its commercialization.

• Coquera: This is the name of a series of perforations that appear in the hip joint. Although the cause of its appearance is physical, once the piece is exposed it will not take long to be inedible for a simple reason: the cavity usually becomes a refuge for mites or even some types of fungus, which will result to a putrefaction process.

• Bicheras: In this case, the cause of the disease are the diptera such as Phiophila Casei, also called "salton" or the Calliphora Entrocephala. We will find larvae with a rounded and whitish shape that will eat the ham, leaving holes as a trail. But they will not be the only ones, the Iberian ham can also be attacked by the ham beetle, the red-legged beetle or the weevil.

• Coleoptera: The most frequent are the larvae of Dermestes Lardarius, they are characterized by having great voracity. They are able to invade many pieces in a few days. Without a doubt, the most feared for dryers and warehouses.

We hope we solved your questions!