- Season
- Available all year; whole hams and larger cuts are most in demand at Easter and Christmas and for celebrations
- Price
- Medium
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 147 kcal
- 18.5 g protein
- 7.7 g fat
- 0.7 g carbs
Bone-in ham
Meat
Bone-in ham
Šunka od kosti ("ham from the bone") is the Czech premium cooked ham made from a whole pork leg (vepřová kýta). It is cured, usually lightly smoked over beech wood, cooked, and then carved or sliced so that it keeps the grain of the whole muscle and its natural rim of fat.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Do not keep it at room temperature. Put it out for no more than about 1–2 hours for serving, then refrigerate it again.
- In the fridge
Keep chilled at the temperature on the label (Czech cooked hams are typically labelled for storage at about 0–5 °C). Freshly cut deli slices are best eaten within 2–3 days. Wrap them in paper or put them in a closed container. Keep unopened packs in modified atmosphere until the use-by date (datum použitelnosti), and eat opened packs within about 2–3 days. A larger piece or a ham on the bone keeps somewhat longer than slices if wrapped well. Treat use-by dates strictly, because ready-to-eat cooked meats can carry Listeria, which grows slowly even when refrigerated.
- In the freezer
You can freeze it at −18 °C for about 1–2 months, ideally in a piece or in portions with sheets between the slices. Thaw it in the fridge. After thawing the texture becomes slightly wetter and looser, so use frozen ham for cooking rather than for serving as cold cuts.
How to choose
Read the label or ask at the deli counter. Under Czech law (vyhláška 69/2016 Sb.), pork ham must be made only from pork leg or leg meat and is sold in classes. Šunka nejvyšší jakosti (highest quality) must contain at least 16 % pure muscle protein. It must be whole-muscle and may not contain starch, fibre, colourings, or plant or other added proteins. Šunka výběrová (premium) must also be whole-muscle and contain at least 13 % muscle protein. Standard-class ham (šunka standardní) may be made from minced meat and is not what Czech shoppers mean by šunka od kosti. Look for a high meat percentage (around 95 % or more), a short ingredient list and visible muscle grain with a natural fat edge. The colour should be even and pink, not grey. The cut surface should look moist but not slimy, and any liquid in the pack should be clear. At the counter, ask for the ham to be cut fresh and as thin or thick as you need. Thin slices suit sandwiches and chlebíčky; thicker slices suit cooking.
What to swap in
Best swap
Pražská šunka (Prague ham) or another whole-muscle cooked ham of the highest-quality class, which is very close in method and flavour.
In a pinch
A good-quality premium-class (výběrová) cooked ham, or a cooked smoked pork neck or leg (uzené maso). Formed standard-class ham works in cooked dishes but has a softer, uniform texture.
Preparation
It is fully cooked and ready to eat. Serve slices cold at fridge temperature or let them stand briefly so the flavour opens up. Trim the fat rim if you like, but it carries much of the flavour. If you buy a ham on the bone, carve thin slices across the grain with a long sharp knife, working towards the bone. Store the cut face covered.
Don't toss it
Use offcuts and the ends of the piece in ham rolls, šunkofleky (ham and pasta bake), omelettes, pea or potato soup, or a filling for palačinky. If you buy a ham on the bone, simmer the bone with split peas, lentils or cabbage to make a smoky soup base.
In the kitchen
Cooking
In Czech homes it is most often eaten cold: on buttered bread or rohlík, on festive chlebíčky (open sandwiches), on cold-meat platters (studená mísa) with gherkins, horseradish and mustard, and in ham rolls filled with whipped horseradish cream (šunková rolka). It is also used in cooking, for example in šunkofleky, toasted sandwiches, omelettes and scrambled eggs, and as a filling for baked pastries. A large piece or a whole ham on the bone can be warmed in the oven and glazed for a festive table. Because it is already cooked, heating only needs to warm it through. Avoid long, high heat, which dries the lean meat.
Goes well with
- Fresh Rye Bread
- Rohlík
- Butter
- Plnotučná Hořčice (Czech Mustard)
- Fresh Grated Horseradish
- Gherkins (Okurky)
- Eggs
- Potato Salad
- Hard Cheese (Eidam)
- Pickled Vegetables
- Tomatoes
- Chives
What it is
Šunka od kosti ("ham from the bone") is the Czech premium cooked ham made from a whole pork leg (vepřová kýta). It is cured, usually lightly smoked over beech wood, cooked, and then carved or sliced so that it keeps the grain of the whole muscle and its natural rim of fat. The name comes from the old way of making it, the style of Prague ham. The whole leg was cured and cooked on the bone, and the ham was then carved off the bone at the counter. Today some butchers still sell hams on the bone or with the knee bone left on. Most packaged and deli-counter šunka od kosti, however, is made from whole leg meat that is deboned without breaking up the muscle. Either way it is a whole-muscle product. It is not pressed or formed from minced or chopped meat, which sets it apart from cheaper standard-class hams. Labels usually state a meat content of about 92–98 %, and many products are sold in the top Czech legal class, šunka nejvyšší jakosti (ham of the highest quality).
How it tastes
It tastes clean and porky with gentle saltiness. Smoked versions have a light beech-smoke note and often a faint sweetness from the sugar in the cure. The texture is firm but juicy, and you can see the muscle fibres and grain. A thin white rim of fat adds richness. Because it is cut from whole muscle, slices vary in shape and show natural marbling, unlike the even pink oval of formed ham.
Common questions
Is šunka od kosti actually sold with the bone?
How does it differ from ordinary sliced ham?
Is it raw or cooked?
How long does it keep once opened or freshly sliced?
Is it gluten-free?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
Šunka od kosti nejvyšší jakosti (highest quality)
– the most common premium label. It is whole-muscle, has at least 16 % muscle protein, and contains no starch, fibre or added proteins. It is usually lightly smoked.
Šunka od kosti výběrová (premium class)
– also whole-muscle, with at least 13 % muscle protein.
Zauzená šunka od kosti (lightly smoked)
– smoked over beech wood before cooking. This is the typical style at butchers' counters.
Dušená šunka od kosti (braised/steamed, unsmoked)
– cured and gently cooked without smoke, so the flavour is milder.
Farmářská and "poctivá" versions
– retailer and producer lines that stress a very high meat content (around 96–98 %) and a short ingredient list. Some use no phosphates.
Šunka na kosti (ham on the bone)
– whole legs or large pieces still on the bone, sold by butchers mainly for festive occasions and carved at home or at the counter.
Pražská šunka (Prague ham)
– the historic parent product: a whole leg cured on the bone, lightly smoked and cooked. Šunka od kosti is widely described as its modified form.
Relatives, not the same product
– dry-cured raw hams such as Spanish jamón, Italian prosciutto or the Czech sušená šunka are air-dried, not cooked, and are a different category. Formed or pressed cooked hams made from chopped meat are also different products.
History
Czech sources trace šunka od kosti to Prague ham. According to commonly cited accounts, the Prague butcher and smoked-meat maker František Zvěřina began making it in 1857 after experimenting with curing the leg whole, bone included. It became a luxury product sold beyond Prague, and other makers across the Habsburg monarchy copied it. From 1879 the businessman and sausage maker Antonín Chmel produced it on an industrial scale in Prague. After the 1948 nationalisation, ham on the bone largely disappeared from production. It was replaced by braised ham covered in aspic, sold in the familiar oval tins. Whole-muscle bone-style ham returned to Czech deli counters in later decades, and today many butchers, meat processors and retailers' own brands make it.
Science
Brine containing salt and sodium nitrite (dusitanová solicí směs) is injected into the leg, and the leg is left to cure. Nitrite gives cured ham its stable pink colour and characteristic cured flavour, and helps protect against Clostridium botulinum. Ascorbate (E301) is often added to stabilise the colour. Some recipes use phosphates (E451) to help the meat hold water. Tumbling or massaging spreads the brine through the muscle. The ham is then usually smoked over beech wood and cooked gently in water or steam until the core is fully cooked. This firms the muscle proteins while keeping the meat juicy.
The Czech quality classes are based on pure muscle protein because added water and fillers lower it. A higher class therefore means a higher share of real leg meat.
Sourcing and ethics
Many hams sold in Czechia are made from imported pork legs, so the label's country of origin of the meat is worth checking. Since 2015, EU law has required country-of-rearing and slaughter labelling on fresh and frozen pork, but not on processed meat products, so origin may only appear when a producer chooses to state it. The "Klasa" and "Regionální potravina" marks highlight Czech products. Buying a whole ham on the bone from a local butcher, and using the bone and offcuts, makes full use of the leg. Standard EU pig-welfare rules apply; producers who claim higher welfare should be able to show certification.