In 2002 the Guijuelo company Pedro Nieto, S.L., was awarded second prize for the best food company for its research work on the drying process of Iberian ham. This prize was courtesy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food.

From 26 May 1995 to date, the company PEDRO NIETO S.L. has put its faith in technological research as a tool of modernisation that also allows the adaptation of its business work to the demands of new markets. Along these lines, and together with other companies in the sector, it has encouraged research in the field of Iberian ham, participating in and financing projects with the regional administrations and in close collaboration with the Higher Council for Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, CSIC).

The following project has been developed along these lines.

TECHNICAL STUDY ON THE DRYING PROCESS OF IBERIAN HAM

On 7 August 1995, the Minister for Agriculture and Stockbreeding of the Castilla-León Local Government, Isaías García Monge, and the Director of the Institute of Cold Studies, Jesús Espinosa, by delegation of the President of the Higher Council for Scientific Research, signed a collaboration agreement for the execution of the research project “TECHNICAL STUDY OF THE DRYING PROCESS OF IBERIAN HAM” directed by Dr Juan Atanasio Carrasco Manzano from the Institute of Cold Studies.
Before the signing of this agreement, on 26 May 1995, the Institute of Cold of the CSIC had signed another agreement with four Guijuelo industries in relation to which the aforementioned research project will be carried out. These industries include the company:

- PEDRO NIETO, S.L.
The objective of this study is the expansion of the knowledge on and optimisation of the elaboration process of Iberian ham, so as to achieve an important reduction of the total processing time without loss of quality.

This implies the following sub-objectives:

I – Obtaining the physical magnitudes that intervene in the traditional processing and standardisation of the same.
II – Determining the diffusivities of salt and water during the various elaboration phases of Iberian ham.
III –Streamlining of both mass transport (drying) and a controlled drying shed.
IV – Design and conditioning of an experimental drying shed, controlling its parameters, so as to validate the optimisation carried out and the obtaining of the bases of design for a controlled industrial drying shed.

In order to facilitate the planning, the Project was divided into various phases that could be overlapped over time and tackled separately.

These phases are:

a) Knowledge and standardisation of the natural drying process of Iberian ham.
b) Study of the phenomena of diffusion of salt and water during the drying process of Iberian ham.
c) Streamlining of the drying process of Iberian ham and the obtaining of the design bases or a controlled experimental industrial drying shed
d) Design and construction of an experimental controlled drying shed

RESULTS OBTAINED:

The results obtained during this project in each of the phases into which it has been divided are as follows: