Schwarzwälder Schinken

Appearance & taste

Smoking makes the ham dark on the outside. When cut, the meat is deep red and smells typically of smoke. The ham has a white rim of fat; only in exceptional cases, such as end pieces of the round, is it missing.

The lean part has its own ham flavour, rounded off by the fat. The fat must have a nutty, spiced aroma. Hams from which the fat has been removed may not be sold as Schwarzwälder Schinken, even if they are cut from Schwarzwälder Schinken.

Production

Hind legs of pigs bred for meat are processed, whose husbandry, feeding and type are intended to ensure the desired quality. The raw hams are trimmed, boned and dry-cured, that is, without injecting brine into the muscle. Salting and seasoning follow the producers’ own recipes.

The ham is then cold-smoked over softwoods from the Black Forest. Afterwards it ripens for several weeks in climate-controlled rooms. The entire production, from checking the uncured hind legs to the product ready for sale, takes place in the Black Forest.

Origin & history

The area extends in the west to federal road B 3 between Basel and Karlsruhe, in the north to Pforzheim, in the south via Lörrach and Schopfheim to Waldshut, and in the east via the Wutach valley, Donaueschingen, Schwenningen, Rottweil, Nagold and Calw. The upland climate favours the growth of the softwoods needed for smoking and is suitable for cold smoking.

According to the specification, the specific flavour comes mainly from smoking with softwood from the Black Forest; air and climate play an important role in ripening after smoking. The ham has been made in the Black Forest for a long time to old, traditional recipes. This allowed this particular kind of smoking to develop there.