It is usually baked, fried or grilled and often accompanies other dishes, sometimes as part of tapas.

The final cured product tends to be thinner than traditional chorizo or sausage, with a diameter of approximately 25 mm.

The sausages average 40 cm (16 in) in length, though there are cases when they reach up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) long.

Today it is sold fresh, but is increasingly found vacuum-packed in Spanish supermarkets.

Chistorra is traditionally served on the feast day of Thomas the Apostle (December 21) in San Sebastián.