Mercadona sells a shoulder of Iberian bait of 50% Iberian breed of about 4.5 kilos for €65designed for those who want to have a whole piece at home to cut before Christmas meals. The price remains at just over €14 per kilo raw, a significant figure if you are considering which Iberian piece to buy this year for your table.
The piece is sold whole and ready to assemble in the ham maker at home, no sliced envelopes: here we are talking about a complete piece to cut slices as you wish. It must be differentiated from a ham, because it is not: as it comes from the front legs of the pig, it is a shoulder and weighs less than a traditional hind piece, although both go through a salting and curing process. The animal has been fed with cereal-based feed, hence it is called bait, and the 50% Iberian breed indicates that it comes from a cross, a frequent option in supermarkets compared to pure Iberian.
The Mercadona shoulder and its differences with acorn-fed ham
The difference is mainly in the animal’s diet and in the result you notice on the plate. The Iberian bait offers meat with reddish tones with streaks of infiltrated fat between the muscle fibers, a creamy texture that makes the slices juicy, although with a generally less intense aroma and flavor than those of a piece of acorn.
This lower intensity is not a defect, it is a matter of taste: the profile of the bait is more subtle and accessible, perfect if you prefer less powerful flavors or if the ham is going to share the table with other sausages without taking over all the limelight. The shoulder, coming from the front of the animal, is also usually a little more manageable when cutting due to its size, although it requires the same patience as any whole piece to get the most out of it with the ham knife. It is a common option for everyday use, not just for specific occasions, thanks to that smoother profile which allows it to be easily combined with other products during the aperitif.
The price of the Mercadona shoulder compared to other Christmas hams
The calculation is simple: €65 between 4.5 kilos leave the price in about €14.44 per kilo raw, a competitive figure if we compare it with what other complete Iberian pieces usually cost at this time. Of course, it must be taken into account that hams tend to be heavier and that there are important differences in quality, nutrition and curing between some categories and others.
This price per kilo is calculated on the gross weight of the piece: as with any whole ham or shoulder, part of those 4.5 kilos corresponds to the bone, skin and hoof, so the weight of ready-to-eat meat is below that initial figure. Even so, the entire format can be cheaper than sliced alternatives which we are going to see below, although it is worth keeping in mind that these are different categories within the Iberian and that the performance of the piece influences the real cost.
Sliced alternatives to Mercadona’s Iberian shoulder for Christmas
If you prefer the convenience of the already cut envelope, the catalog of sliced Iberians offers very different options in price and category. Sliced Iberian ham Sánchez Romero Carvajalin a 70 gram format, is sold on Amazon for €11.29, while La Nevera Española sells another sliced option for €31.20.
On the highest step, 5J Five Jacks offers its 100% acorn-fed Iberian from Jabugo also in sliced format, for €15.50 on Amazon. They are reduced formats, not whole pieces, but their price per kilo is significantly higher than the gross price of this bait palette. The difference in category, bait versus acorn and 50% cross versus pure Iberian, explains a good part of that gap. If what you are looking for is acorn flavor without committing to a whole piece, these sliced formats are an alternative, although the cost per kilo is much higher than that of the shoulder of Mercadona.
The Christmas ham campaign is already underway in supermarkets. Aldi will launch on November 21 a lot that includes a 6 kilo shoulder along with chorizo and salchichón for less than €40, although it is an offer with different characteristics. The Iberian bait shoulder Mercadonawith its price of €65 for 4.5 kilosthus arrives in the midst of offers for the holidays.
