Air Dry Time for Hams

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Good Morning - I believe I may have gotten ahead of myself prepping for easter with a ham.  I have a 14lb fresh ham that I wet cured in Hab's recipe brine for eight days.  I took it out yesterday to begin air drying in the fridge.  I had read to air dry at least 7 days and a lot of competition hams are air dried for 6 months to 1 year.  Now, I see a lot of recipes call for air drying only 24 hours. 

Will it be OK to air dry this for about 12days?  I had planned on smoking it Thursday before Easter and then baking/glazing that Saturday for dinner.

Thanks!

[Habanero Smoker]

For those hams that are air dried for 6 months or more, are for hams such as country hams; Prosciutto etc. which are fully air dried and not cooked. They require cure #2 (and/or a lot of salt), not cure #1 that is used in my recipe. For my recipe, you are basically curing a ham similar to what you can purchase in your local supermarket for Easter.

You are pushing the envelope by air drying for 12 days after it has been in the brine for 8 days. A safer alternative, if you have the freezer space; would be to freeze it for a few days, then take it out of the freezer Sunday and thaw it in the refrigerator, so it will be ready to go on Thursday.

The 12 - 24 hours that I suggest in my recipe, if for two reasons; first to allow the cure the equally distribute throughout the ham, and for the development of the pellicle, which plays an important role in improving smoke flavor, and helps produce a mahogany color. There is an additional 8 hours of drying at 130°F inside the Bradley, this is mainly to further develop color. 

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Sounds good, looks like she's going in the freezer tonight.

Thanks for the help!