Hourly Schedule
Time
- 9:00
- Arrival & welcome
- Tea, coffee and warm pastries from the kitchen.
- 09:30
- Course Start
- 13:00
- Lunch
- Seasonal lunch prepared by our catering team.
- 16.30
- Course End
- Course ID AdvChSW
-
What’s included
- Learn from expert tutors and technicians with demonstrations, guidance, and support throughout the day.
- Enjoy a seasonal artisan buffet lunch showcasing ingredients sourced from the Welbeck Estate and the surrounding local food community.
- Access our state-of-the-art facilities, with all ingredients and specialist equipment provided.
- Help yourself to unlimited refreshments, including tea, coffee, and cordials throughout the day.
- Wear a School of Artisan Food apron in class, with the option to purchase one to take home after your course.
Led by renowned charcutier and salami expert Steve Williams, this intensive three-day course provides an in-depth exploration of British charcuterie production.
Combining hands-on practical sessions with classroom-based learning, you’ll develop both the technical skills and scientific understanding needed to produce a wide range of cured and fermented meat products.
Working with half a side of pork throughout the course, you’ll learn how to break down the carcass, prepare whole muscle cures, produce fermented sausages and explore the principles behind curing, smoking and air-drying. Alongside practical production methods, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence safety, flavour and quality in charcuterie.
What You’ll Learn
Through a combination of demonstrations, practical production and technical discussion, you will:
- Develop advanced charcuterie production skills
- Learn the science behind curing, fermentation and air-drying
- Understand the principles of food safety in charcuterie production
- Gain confidence breaking down pork for charcuterie applications
- Explore the use of different curing methods and recipes
- Learn the theory and practice of cold smoking
- Understand how environmental conditions influence finished products
- Develop knowledge of specialist equipment and production processes
Practical Charcuterie Production
Working with half a side of pork, you’ll gain hands-on experience producing a range of products, including:
- Salami
- Chorizo
- Air-dried hams such as coppa, lomo and culatello
- Pancetta
- Guanciale
- Salt beef
- Pastrami
Topics Covered
Throughout the course, you’ll explore:
- The history of charcuterie, pigs and curing
- Animal selection
- Nitrates versus nitrate-free curing
- Equipment used in charcuterie production
- Breaking down pork into primal cuts
- Curing theory and cure formulations
- Preparing and setting whole muscle cures
- Tying and netting techniques
- Hanging and air-drying whole muscles
- Using a salumeria
- Salami production
- Fermentation and drying processes
- Drying cycles
- Hot smoking
- Cold smoking
Who Is This Course For?
This course is designed for butchers and chefs looking to expand and refine their charcuterie skills, food industry professionals with a basic understanding of charcuterie production, and enthusiastic home producers looking to take their knowledge to the next level.
It is particularly well suited to those who have previously completed butchery, curing or smoking courses and are ready to deepen their understanding of the technical and scientific principles behind successful charcuterie production.
Some prior knowledge or experience of butchery, meat processing or charcuterie is recommended. You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of the craft, greater technical confidence and the skills needed to produce a diverse range of high-quality charcuterie products.
Please Note:
Whilst we make every effort to adhere to best practices regarding allergen control and cross-contamination at The School of Artisan Food, we sincerely regret that we are unable to cater for severe food allergies or coeliac disease. This is due to the continuous and varied use of our teaching spaces, common areas and food preparation areas.
If in any doubt, please contact us to discuss your individual circumstances prior to making a booking, as this will then enable us to produce a personalised Risk Assessment based on your own specific circumstances and better judge if we can safely accommodate you on site.
Your Tutors
Tutor
-
Steve WilliamsSteve Williams is a true artisan producer. His mission is to make the best-tasting game and cured meats, using his expert knowledge to produce outstanding artisan products.
Steve Williams started his working life poring over spreadsheets in the corporate world. He became increasingly interested in hunting, cooking and wild game and less and less interested in the office grind. This led to his return from a job in the Middle East and the establishment of Good Game, a charcuterie business in Devon. This quickly became very successful and branched out into a well-known restaurant specialising in barbecue and rare breed meats.
The COVID epidemic allowed Steve the space to rediscover his love of small scale production and to discover a passion for teaching, allowing him to share his knowledge with future generations of charcutiers.
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