Lets Talk Honey Ham

[vance hanna]

If it was me I'd be pitching it and starting over. Using cures has a strict protocol. Deviating can lead to serious consequences. Hopefully DaveOmak, Pops or Martin (Digging Dog Farms) will chime in.

The science is sound anyway, I had just enough cure to do 1 gallon of tender-quick, so it was an accurate amount of cure. Just got my Pink Salt Cure number 1 today so i have plenty of that and used the correct amount for the gallon of pops Brine, the only difference is i mixed the two together AFTER they were made up, i cant see how it should effect anything in a bad way, i mean i could see it if i used a second gallon of plain water and weakened the cure, but I didn't. I didnt Dilute Either cure so as far as worst case, I dont see how it could lead to Serious negative effects since Either one of the cures would have been fine to use alone. So if i am wrong in this logic please do tell me.

 

[woodcutter]

Nitrite starts breaking down at 135 degrees. So If you boiled it the brine, the nitrite will no longer be fully effective. If you try to further doctor the brine by adding more nitrite you will have no way to know how much effective nitrite still remains therefore it is impossible to know how to add any more. To be safe and so nobody gets sick you should start from scratch including the meat. I know it is not good news but it is the right thing to do.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I'll say it one more time, you are not supposed to mix two different cures together when curing meat. Use all TQ, or all Cure #1, or all Cure #2.

 

[vance hanna]

 
Nitrite starts breaking down at 135 degrees. So If you boiled it the brine, the nitrite will no longer be fully effective. If you try to further doctor the brine by adding more nitrite you will have no way to know how much effective nitrite still remains therefore it is impossible to know how to add any more. To be safe and so nobody gets sick you should start from scratch including the meat. I know it is not good news but it is the right thing to do.

I boiled the water,bay leaves,sugar source(honey) and peppercorns, i did not boil the cures, I added them when the water had cooled down and was warm but not hot, i could have easily stuck my whole arm in the water so i know it was cooler than 129(thats my bath water temp and i can not handle any hotter on my skin) If i had to guess i would say the water was about 110 when i added the cures. I will keep an eye on it tho and the second it starts to not look or smell good its gone.

 

[vance hanna]

I'll say it one more time, you are not supposed to mix two different cures together when curing meat. Use all TQ, or all Cure #1, or all Cure #2.

I understand that is what your saying, what I do not understand, at least from the Science Stand Point, is why it is a big deal. I dont understand how mixing up 2 gallons of Tender quick brine,doubling all ingredients for a 2 gallon batch is Safe but yet its not safe to do 1gal TQ and 1gal of Pops Brine, as long as BOTH are mixed correctly, one would think from a logical stand point that 2 gallons of brine is 2 gallons of brine.

Not trying to argue, I just want to understand WHY your not suppose to mix 2 brine's together. Salt is Salt, Sugar is Sugar, and Nitrite is Nitrite, as long as they are mixed properly i cant wrap my head around how it could be a problem?