Ammerländer Schinken

This is a smoked or dry-cured ham from the Ammerland region in Lower Saxony. To prepare this specialty, ham is dry-salted on the bone for weeks using sea salt and brown sugar, and it can also be flavored with pepper, pimento, and juniper. The higher the quality of the meat, the more the ham develops its own individual character without spices.

After the ham is salted, it is smoked for a few weeks over beech wood, and the total ripening period ranges from several months to more than two years for top-quality ham. The oldest Ammerländer ham smokehouse, founded in 1748 in Apen, is now home to the Ammerländer Schinken museum.