Most whole dry-cured hams age well and can be kept, unrefrigerated and uncut, for many years without any risk of spoilage. Keep uncut hams in a cool dry place, wrapped in cheesecloth or brown paper to prevent bugs from harming the meat. It’s best to rub the cut surface of the ham with some lard or olive oil to seal it, or, in the case of a whole leg of Jamón Serrano, you can use a piece of the rind or fat that you have removed from the ham before slicing to cover the cut surface. You can also simply cover the cut surface (but not the entire ham) with a piece of cling wrap.

In order to obtain thin slices from a whole ham it’s essential that you have a sharp knife—if you aren’t certain that you can successfully slice the ham consider buying slices from your deli when/as you need them, or bring a whole ham to a deli where it can be sliced for you. If you choose to do the latter, you may need to bring the original packaging from the ham to show the person at the deli—they will need confirmation that the ham came from an FDA-inspected facility before they are legally allowed to slice it for you.

Slices of ham will dry out if kept for too long—it’s best to only buy as much as you can eat within one week. If you do need to keep sliced ham longer, you can wrap the package in cling wrap and then in aluminum foil and freeze it, though it will lose some of the freshness and moisture in the process.

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