Bradley honey cure ham thickness question?

[Dano]

Hi everone,

I picked up some of the maple and honey Bradley cures, the pre-mixed stuff, and so far the maple is fantastic.  I was looking at curing and smoking out a ham and since Bradley's cold smoked bacon recipe is solid I figure I'd try the honey cures.  My question is, they say a week for inch of thickness but is that correct for a leg or Christmas ham?  http://www.north-america.bradleysmoker.com/recipe/honey-cure-ham/  It works for bacon but the ham is usually pretty thick at the one end or do they mean more 'ham steaks' with the bone in?  I haven't been able to find any clarification or if anyone has used the Bradley honey cure this way.  I know others use Mortons TQ or their own(Habs provided one to me awhile ago) but wasn't sure if the same would apply to the pre-mix.

Thanks,

Dano

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't like using a dry cure on meats thicker then 4-inches, with only a cure with sodium nitrite. I'm not familiar with the Bradley cures. I've never used them, I don't know the salt content or the percentages of sodium nitrite, and both would have a factor in curing times. Using a cure mixture with only sodium nitrite for over 10 day is not considered a safe method of curing; unless you divide the amount of cure mixture needed, apply 1/2 the mix the first 7 days, then apply the other half to cure for another week.

You can't compare curing times of belly (side) bacon to meats that are much leaner, such as hams. The reason you will see curing times of 7 days for a 1 - 1.5-inch of belly bacon and only 6 days for a pork loin that is around 3-inches; is that it takes salt and nitrites a longer time to cure through fats and skin.

I read the instructions and it looks like they are either going by thickness to the center, or more likely ham steaks. Have you downloaded theirBradley Cure Recipe Book? There may be more information in that book.

If you are planning to cure a ham, I would use a wet brine, and inject 10% brine of the green weight of the ham. But using the Bradley cures in a wet brine can get expensive.

There are a couple of recipes on the Recipe Site:
Hams & "Hams"

[Dano]

Thanks Habs.  They have a 'wet' measurement on the side of the cure container for wet brines also.  I think it's 6.25% sodium nitrite, then the rest salt and some flavour for the dry cures by Bradley.  I just checked the curing recipe book and it does in fact say... any lean cut of meat, not more than 2 inches thickness:  sirloin, shoulder, loin or rear leg(fresh ham).  I guess it's only for loins and very small legs as 2 inches thickness isn't much for hams.  I'll try carving up a ham to 1.5-2 inches thick and curing it that way first.... will see how it goes.  :)

Thanks!

Dan

[Habanero Smoker]

Going by the rate of application, I would guess it is closer between 1% to 2% sodium nitrite.

If you don't have a bone saw or just don't want to cut through bone, the below recipe may be helpful for you in deboning the ham:
Hamzilla

You should purchase some Cure #1 (in Canada it will be called Prague Powder #1 or Surecure). That way you can make your own cure mixtures. If you search the internet you will find plenty of sources for specialty items like maple sugar powder, or honey powder. But if you use a wet brine to cure, you use maple syrup or honey for those flavors.

[Dano]

Thanks!  For some reason(thinking of an older post) I thought the NaNO2 was a bit higher but not to worry.  I'll check out some prague powder #1 and use that instead.