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Castanoble — Maestros del jamón

The curing house · Castilla y León

Time
is the ingredient

At our curing house we let the climate do its work: natural drying rooms, time and craftsmanship. Technology plays a supporting role; it does not replace them.

From salting to the cellar

The six stages of our ham

We start with the best raw materials from selected, certified Iberico-breed pigs, backed by more than fifty years of expertise.

  1. A Castanoble technician checking the pieces hanging on the racks
    The curing house's goods-in dock, clean and empty before unloading
    01Stage 1 of 6

    Arrival and checks

    We are extremely thorough with our checks so that every raw material arrives in impeccable hygienic and sanitary condition, with a HACCP system (hazard analysis and critical control points) and the cold chain guaranteed from the very first minute.

  2. Hams stacked and buried in salt in the salting room
    02Stage 2 of 6

    Just the right salting

    Hams and shoulders are buried in salt for just the right time — not a day longer. We aim for a final product with just the right amount of salt, one that lets the Iberico speak for itself.

  3. Freshly washed hams draining on their racks inside the chamber
    03Stage 3 of 6

    Washing and shaping, piece by piece

    Each piece is washed and brushed one by one to remove the salt clinging to it, drained and shaped by hand, so that it cures as evenly as possible.

  4. Aisle of the resting chamber with hams hanging on both sides
    Castanoble staff checking the pieces in the chamber
    04Stage 4 of 6

    Resting

    In the resting chambers, the temperature rises gradually while the humidity falls: the piece evens out inside and gets ready for the drying room.

  5. Natural drying room with a translucent roof and hams curing in daylight
    General view of the drying room racks full of pieces
    05Stage 5 of 6

    Natural drying rooms

    The longest stage. When conditions in the chambers match those of the natural drying room, the pieces move on to rest for long months. The summer heat melts the fat into the lean and, naturally, brings out the aroma, colour and flavour of each piece.

  6. Ageing cellar with racks of hams in the half-light
    Close-up of hams with their tag and seal in the cellar
    06Stage 6 of 6

    Ageing cellar

    The final rest, in the maturing cellar, rounds off the texture and flavour to exactly the right point. Only then is a piece ready to be called Castanoble.

A curing house chamber with racks of hanging hams

Facilities designed to make the most of the climate

The curing house's 5,000 m² — salting and resting chambers, natural drying rooms with a translucent roof, and the cellar — are designed so that the natural conditions of the surroundings set the pace of the curing. That traditional touch, with the guarantees of today's quality control, is what sets our pieces apart.

See hams and shouldersQuality, certified