Capitelli: excellence in cooked ham

“Excellence” is best way to describe the cooked ham from Capitelli, the latest of the already superlative list of suppliers that Sirio represents.

Capitelli, since 1976

Capitelli is located in Tidone, Piacenza’s province. It was 13 years ago that Capitelli reinvented the way to make cooked ham as old times with their branded cooked ham San Giovanni ”fuori stampo” (no mould),  but again Capitelli is not only cooked ham!

Cooked ham San Giovanni is synonymous of excellence

Cooked ham Capitelli made as old times

“San Giovanni” is the name chosen for the “out of mold” cooked ham produced “in the old style”.

First stage: The salting process

The first stage of ham prodution is the salting, the salt mixture is directly injected in the femoral vein as, with this process, the muscolar fibers do not breaks and the salt mixture flows in all area of the leg trought the capillars. The salt mixture is made by combining to the salt, natural spices and this  to add particular and unique flavors to the meat.

Second stage: the wrapping

After the salt mixure injection the ham isnt place in metal mould to be cooked but its wrapped in 3 layer of jute cloths and then tied up, this is to help preserve the natural aromas as was done in “old times”.

Third stage: the cooking

The cooking process as well is what make the difference to a traditional ham, the Capitelli cooking is way longer to up to 24 hours which allow to loose more water, this is why the final product will be of less yield. The jute cloths serve for a double purpose: while it allow water to be released from the leg it also retain the precious marination created from the meat juice and the proteins during the cooking process; this marination, in form of gelatine, will remain for 24 hours between the leg and the jute cloths layers, thank to this special marination the final product will be softer and tastier of any cooked ham you can find on the market.

“San Giovanni” ham awards

In year 2020 the top product of Capitelli was awarded by the prestigeous cold cuts guide of “L’Espresso” with a certificate of excellence and it has been mentioned as best Italian cooked ham within the 11 competitors.

The  “pancetta” pork belly  “Giovanna”

This outstanding product is made by going trought three differents preparation and cooking, first the less noble parts of the fat are removed, the it is rolled up and aged; after that the pacnetta is cooked and cool down in three times at three different temperatures and then finally smoked.

Cooked shoulder ham “Proibita”

“Proibita” mean forbidden and the name was created as this product offer what nowdays is consider “forbidden” which is a healthy amount of fat. Generally the shoulder has more fat content than the leg but this product caracteristic is the presence of fat within the muscles well as externally that give to the final product a very distintive taste.

Other Capitelli’s products

Capitelli produce several types of very high quality hams and salami. We encourage you to visit our website cottocapitelli.com for more informations.

Additional informations that you may not know about cooked ham

Cooked ham quality differenciate from the quantity of water in the raw product:

• Superior quality cooked ham: it must contain at least 3 of the 4 muscles of the pork leg, the humidity level must not be higher than 76.5%;
• High quality cooked ham: it must contain at least 3 of the 4 muscles of the pork leg, the humidity level must not be higher than 78.5%;
• Cooked ham: from pork leg and with the humidity level above 78.5%.