Today's production process is similar to how it was 100 years ago. Nowadays, manufacturers use significantly less salt, making the ham taste milder overall than it used to. The ham develops its typical aromas through curing and smoking with fir and spruce wood. The composition and origin of the wood significantly influence the flavor of the ham. Every producer also uses their own strictly guarded recipe for the curing spices.

Spruce and fir wood provide typical aromas

Producers manually dry-cure select pork legs with salt and spices such as coriander, pepper, and garlic for two weeks. The salt draws moisture out of the meat. After resting for a week, the salt spreads from the outside to the inside of the ham. Smoking usually takes place in high towers. There, the hams hang and are smoked over spruce and fir wood for up to three weeks. This gives Black Forest ham its typical flavor and characteristic black-brown color. The specialty must then mature in the open air for another 8 to 12 weeks. Black Forest ham is traditionally eaten with a hearty snack.

Producers are only permitted to manufacture Black Forest ham within the precisely defined geographical region of the Black Forest.