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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Spain and Portugal

Chorizo (Spain) and chouriço (Portugal)chorizo

Chilled pork and fat are minced, seasoned with salt, pimentón (paprika) and garlic, and rested cold before they are stuffed into natural pork casing. The sausages then cure for three to six weeks or more in cool, ventilated rooms, where lactic bacteria and cocci grow, the pH barely drops and the chorizo loses a quarter or more of its weight. Made in 6 steps over 35 days – 36 days. The longest step, dry in curing rooms, takes at least 21 days (Single document 'Chorizo de Cantimpalos' 2007) and runs at 6–16 °C (Single document 'Chorizo de Cantimpalos' 2007). Salt is 2 % (Gonzalez-Fandos E 2021). Lactic acid bacteria and Micrococcaceae do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[cantimpalos][gonzalez2021]Dry in curing rooms
Temperature6–16 °CSet[cantimpalos][gonzalez2021]Dry in curing rooms
Salt2 %Reported[gonzalez2021]Season with salt, pimentón and garlic
AciditypH 5.9Measured[gonzalez2021]Mature cold
Fully documentedMeat35 days – 36 daysMore meatMore from SpainMore from Portugal

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts are the Chorizo Riojano recipe used in a 2021 University of La Rioja study, based on a survey of 10 traditional PGI makers. Chorizo Riojano allows no additives and no sugar; Chorizo de Cantimpalos allows oregano and permitted additives.
700 gGround pork lean[gonzalez2021]
300 gPork fat[gonzalez2021]
20 g per kg of meatSalt[gonzalez2021]
3 g per kg of meatPimentón (paprika)[gonzalez2021]
5 g per kg of meatGarlic, raw and peeled[gonzalez2021][riojano]
Natural pork casing, about 40 mm across[gonzalez2021][riojano]
Starterspontaneous (no starter culture in the protected styles studied)

Total time across the recorded steps: 35 days – 36 days

Start
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0–2 °C

What changes: Cold pork and fat are cut through the mincer plate

Step 1 of 6
Mince the chilled pork and fat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–2 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Chorizo Riojano requires meat with a pH below 6.3, not frozen, and a handling area no warmer than 12 °C. Output: minced lean and fat.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Chorizo gets its colour and flavour from pimentón rather than pepper and wine, and the protected styles cure cold, at 6–16 °C, often with no starter, sugar or added nitrite. The pH stays near 5–6, so drying, not acid, carries most of the preservation.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Chorizo Riojano IGPLa Rioja; sarta form, no additives, made cold; see its entry.
  • Chorizo de Cantimpalos IGPSegovia highlands above 900 m; sarta, achorizado and cular formats with a white mould on the larger ones; see its entry.
  • Chorizo de PamplonaThick and finely minced.
  • Portuguese chouriçoUsually smoked slowly as it dries.
  • Mexican chorizo (boundary)Fresh, with chilli and vinegar, not fermented; must be cooked.
  • Goan chouriçoPork in vinegar, chilli and spices; raw, smoked or salt-cured and air-dried.

Safety

Chorizo is eaten raw. EU rules treat a ready-to-eat food as unable to support Listeria when its water activity is 0.92 or less, or its pH is 5.0 or less with water activity 0.94 or less; in the Riojano study water activity fell below 0.92 by day 13 and to 0.86 by day 21, and inoculated Listeria fell by 1.28 log during drying. Chorizo Riojano caps nitrate at 100 ppm and nitrite at 20 ppm; EU law caps added nitrite in other cured sausages at 80 mg/kg since October 2025.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (no growth at 4 °C in the first 6 days, then a 1.28 log fall during drying); Salmonella.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Chorizo Riojano was registered as an EU protected geographical indication in 2010 and Chorizo de Cantimpalos in 2011.

  1. [cantimpalos] Single document 'Chorizo de Cantimpalos', EC No ES-PGI-0005-0632-17.07.2007, Official Journal of the European Union C 265, 30.9.2010, p. 23 (registered by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 533/2011)spec
  2. [riojano] Single document 'Chorizo Riojano', EC No ES-PGI-0005-0654-16.10.2007, Official Journal of the European Union C 186, 8.8.2009, p. 14 (registered by Regulation (EU) No 249/2010)spec
  3. [gonzalez2021] Gonzalez-Fandos E., Vazquez de Castro M., Martinez-Laorden A. 2021, Behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes and natural microflora during the manufacture of Riojano chorizo (Spanish dry cured sausage), Microorganisms 9(9):1963paper
  4. [rossi2023] Rossi F. et al. 2023, Autochthonous cultures to improve safety and standardize quality of traditional dry fermented meats, Microorganisms 11(5):1306paper
  5. [eu2023-2108] Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2108 of 6 October 2023 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 as regards nitrites and nitratesspec
  6. [eu2073] Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs (as amended)spec
  7. [wp] Wikipedia, Chorizo (variant outline only)wiki