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Meat from South Tyrol

Speck (Speck Alto Adige PGI and Tiroler Speck PGI)Speck

Speck is a boned pork leg that is dry-salted with spices, cold-smoked at no more than 20 °C and then air-dried for at least 20 weeks until it has lost at least 35 % of its weight. A natural cover of moulds grows on it while it dries. The Italian and Austrian versions are separate EU protected names with slightly different rules.

Fully documentedMeat4.6 months – 7.4 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specifications fix the leg weights, temperatures and drying times, but not the amounts of salt and spice.
Pork hind legAt least 10.5 kg before boning; at least 5.2 kg boned and trimmedThe boned leg is called a baffa in Italian; delivered at 0–7 °C at the core[eu-speck-aa-2016]
SaltRubbed on dry; the finished speck holds at most 5 % sodium chloride[eu-speck-aa-2016]
SpicesRubbed on dry with the salt. The Tiroler Speck blend must contain at least juniper, black pepper and garlic (2019 single document)[eu-speck-aa-2016][eu-tiroler-1997][eu-reg-2019-1027]
Nitrite and nitrateAllowed up to set limits (sodium nitrite below 50 mg/kg and potassium nitrate below 150 mg/kg in Speck Alto Adige)[eu-speck-aa-2016]
Beech and ash woodFor the smoke (named in the Tiroler Speck file)[eu-tiroler-1997]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.6 months – 7.4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
0–7 °C

What changes: The pork leg is boned, opened out flat and trimmed

Step 1 of 4
Bone, open and trim the legs
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–7 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Penicillium

The leg is trimmed in the traditional way, with or without the rump. Salting must start within four days of the start of production. Output: trimmed, boned leg (baffa) of at least 5.2 kg.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
boned leg opened out flat
Colour
raw red pork

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Speck is a boned pork leg that is dry-salted with spices, cold-smoked at no more than 20 °C and then air-dried for at least 20 weeks until it has lost at least 35 % of its weight. A natural cover of moulds grows on it while it dries. The Italian and Austrian versions are separate EU protected names with slightly different rules. Made in 4 steps over 4.6 months – 7.4 months. The longest step, air-dry and age, takes 4.6–7.4 months (European Commission 2016) and runs at 10–16 °C (European Commission 2016). Salt is up to 5 % (European Commission 2016). Surface moulds, chiefly Eurotium rubrum and Penicillium solitum and Other Penicillium species do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4.6–7.4 monthsSet[eu-speck-aa-2016]Air-dry and age
Temperature10–16 °CSet[eu-speck-aa-2016][eu-tiroler-1997]Air-dry and age
Saltup to 5 %Set[eu-speck-aa-2016][eu-tiroler-1997]Dry-salt and spice

What makes this one different

Speck joins the north's smoking with the south's slow air-drying. Unlike Parma-style hams it is boned and opened out before salting, it is cold-smoked, and its minimum drying time is 20 to 32 weeks, set by the weight of the piece.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tiroler Speck PGI (Austria)Made in the Austrian state of Tyrol from leg, loin, shoulder, belly or neck. The 1997 application gives smoking at 18–20 °C with beech and ash wood, ageing at 10–15 °C and 60–80 % humidity, and salt at most 5 %. Its 2019 single document adds a spice blend of at least juniper, black pepper and garlic and smoke from at least 50 % beech or ash wood.
  • Farm-made speckIn the mould study, species diversity was higher in speck from butcheries and farmers than in industrial speck.
  • Mountain productSpeck Alto Adige made at least 600 m above sea level may add "prodotto di montagna" to the label.

Safety

The specifications cap salt at 5 % and sodium nitrite at 50 mg/kg; Speck Alto Adige also caps lactic bacteria at 1 × 10^8 CFU/g. Some moulds typical of speck (Penicillium verrucosum, P. canescens, P. commune) are known as potentially mycotoxin-forming.

Hazards the sources name: Potentially mycotoxin-forming moulds among the typical flora (Penicillium verrucosum, P. canescens, P. commune).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Tiroler Speck file cites a price set for a pound of speck in Tyrol on 23 July 1573. Speck dell'Alto Adige was registered as an EU PGI by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; Regulation (EC) No 1065/97 of 12 June 1997 added its German names, Südtiroler Markenspeck and Südtiroler Speck, and registered Tiroler Speck. The Speck Alto Adige specification was amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/119 of 13 January 2017 and the Tiroler Speck specification by Regulation (EU) 2019/1027 of 21 June 2019.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [eu-speck-aa-2016] European Commission 2016, Publication of an amendment application, Speck Alto Adige / Südtiroler Markenspeck / Südtiroler Speck PGI (PGI-IT-02125), with single document, Official Journal C 334, 10.9.2016 (CELEX 52016XC0910(03)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  2. [eu-speck-aa-1996] Application for registration, Speck dell'Alto Adige PGI, EN/06/95/94700000 (summary sheet in the eAmbrosia register, file PGI-IT-0327)spec
  3. [eu-tiroler-1997] Application for registration, Tiroler Speck PGI, EN/06/97/15600000 (summary sheet in the eAmbrosia register, file PGI-AT-1395)spec
  4. [peintner2000] Peintner U., Geiger J., Pöder R. 2000, The mycobiota of Speck, a traditional Tyrolean smoked and cured ham, Journal of Food Protection 63(10):1399–1403 (abstract via Europe PMC)paper
  5. [eu-reg-1107-1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin, Official Journal L 148, 21.6.1996 (Annex, Speck dell'Alto Adige (PGI)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  6. [eu-reg-1065-1997] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1065/97 of 12 June 1997 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 (Tiroler Speck (PGI); German names of Speck dell'Alto Adige), Official Journal L 156, 13.6.1997, pp. 5-6, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  7. [eu-reg-2017-119] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/119 of 13 January 2017 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for Speck Alto Adige/Südtiroler Markenspeck/Südtiroler Speck (PGI), Official Journal L 19, 25.1.2017, p. 26, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  8. [eu-reg-2019-1027] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1027 of 21 June 2019 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for Tiroler Speck (PGI), with the consolidated single document, Official Journal L 167, 24.6.2019, p. 18, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec