The Tuscan Prociutto is a Protected Origin Designation (DOP) on the national list approved by the Ministry of Agriculture And Forestry, whose requirements are regulated by the production discipline of the Tuscany Region.

Features

Toscano ham is derived from the fresh thighs of heavy pigs.
Pigs must belong to breeds in purity or derived from the traditional basic breeds, Large White and Landrace. Other races are allowed but have no incompatibility with the purposes of the family history book.
In the salting process, a mixture of salt, pepper and natural aromas from berries and vegetable essences typical of the processing territory is used.

At the time of the introduction to consumption, the Tuscan ham has the following characteristics:
– Shape: round with the presence of a fleshy frame that does not protrude more than 8 cm beyond the head of the femur.
– Weight: normally around 8 – 9 kg and still never less than 7.5 kg.
– Appearance at the cut: flesh color from bright red to light red with little presence of inframuscular fat.
– Fat: pure white color with light pink veins, compact, free of lines of cleavage between layers and well-fitting to the underlying muscle surface.

Production

Immediately after slaughter, the thighs isolated from the carcass are refrigerated for at least 24 hours at a temperature between -2 and 2 degrees Celsius.
Then the trimming is carried out, with an arched cut that leaves a fleshy frame that, when seasoned, does not protrude more than 8 cm beyond the head of the femur, the removal of the foot, the rind and the subcutaneous fat inside the thigh ( V-cut with a vertex at the beginning of the stem.
The weight of the fresh lysa trimmed should not be less than 11.8 kg

Before the start of processing, the manufacturer nexts to each thigh a metal seal consisting of a circular stainless steel plate.
On this, the acronym P.T. and the start date expressed with the month (indicated in Roman numerals) and the year (indicated with the last two digits in Arabic numerals) are embossed.
The seal is conformed in such a way that, applied with suitable sealing, it is immovable.

The processing of the thighs begins with salting that must take place within 120 hours of slaughter.
For salting operations, the internal temperature of the thighs must be between 0 and 3 degrees Celsius.
Salting is done with the “dry” method with the use of salt, pepper and natural aromas of plant origin.
The use of additives and preservatives is not permitted.

After salting the thighs are laid to rest for a sufficient period to ensure a good and uniform dehydration before washing that must be carried out by warm water free of disinfectant substances.
Subsequently the thighs are dried in special rooms and must be subjected to controlled temperature and humidity.

In the last phase of the processing, the operation is carried out.
It consists of the surface coating of the discovered part of the pulp with dough consisting exclusively of sugna, wheat flour or rice, salt and pepper and natural aromas of plant origin.

The seasoning phase takes place in rooms specially equipped to allow adequate air exchange at a temperature between 12 and 25 degrees Celsius. These rooms can be equipped with equipment suitable to maintain a proper balance in the thermometric characteristics of the environment. During this period, ventilation, exposure to light and natural humidity are permitted, taking into account the climatic factors present in the production area.

The seasoning period, from salting to marketing, should not be less than 10 months for hams with a final weight of between 7.5 and 8.5 kg, and 12 months for hams weighing more than 8.5 kg.
In each ham to be allocated to the slicing must be kept intact and perfectly adherent the portion of rind bearing the mark on focus imprinted at the end of the seasoning phase.