Why Jamon Legs Cheaper Per KG so much cheaper than Hand Sliced Jamon?

Often, you may be looking at some Jamon prices and notice that the legs per kg are much less expensive than the hand carved version. It may seem strange why you would buy a kg whole Jamon leg for less than you would buy 5kgs of hand carved Iberico Ham. Well, here are some reasons why.

Yield

Firstly, when you buy a whole Jamon leg, you are buying much more than the beautifully presented reddish meat that we all love. There is significantly more fat on the leg than you might expect. A whole shoulder is roughly 50:50 fat to muscle ratio, while the Jamon leg is usually roughly 60% fat which, you may think is very high. When you’re cutting away the fat, you will be thinking: ‘is this what I paid for?’ – and yes. You are. A huge chunk of that weight also comes from the bone. So basically, you get a hell of a lot more quality edible yield with hand sliced Jamon, compared to a whole leg. 

Cost of Cutting

Often, not only are you paying for the actual Jamon, you’re paying for the fact that it has been hand-sliced to perfection for you. This is a time consuming process which needs the attention of a skilled master cutter. The cost of this skilled labor adds to your overall cost. 

Quality of Meat

Finally, the quality of meat is much better when the Jamon has be hand carved. As discussed above, most of the weight of a whole leg goes into the bone and fat. When buying hand-carved Jamon you are getting perfectly sliced Jamon with a perfect ratio of fat and muscle. The master cutter will discard the off cuts to sell as ‘tacos’ or to be added to another product; what you are buying is the premium cut. 

Do you have something to add? 

If you have more knowledge to share, or just want to take part in the discussion please add your thoughts to the comments below! Also feel free to visit our Jamon store!