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 BeeAnd
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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.
There’s something truly rewarding about understanding beef from carcass to cut.
From learning traditional butchery techniques to discovering the culinary potential of every part of the animal, working with quality British beef develops both practical skills and a deeper appreciation for sustainable meat production.
On this specialist two-day course, experienced butcher and meat expert Andrew Sharp will guide you through an in-depth exploration of beef butchery. Combining hands-on practical work, demonstrations, discussions and plenty of knife practice, the course is designed for anyone looking to develop introductory butchery skills or build on existing knowledge.
Working with high-quality native British beef, you’ll learn how to break down a carcass into primary and secondary cuts while exploring the uses, characteristics and value of each. You’ll also discover the importance of hanging and dry-ageing, and how these processes influence flavour, texture and quality.
What You’ll Learn
Through a combination of demonstrations and practical butchery, you will:
- Develop confidence using butchery tools and knives safely
- Learn how to break down a beef carcass into primary and secondary cuts
- Understand beef cut nomenclature and identification
- Explore the culinary uses of different cuts
- Learn about hanging and dry-ageing and their impact on meat quality
- Gain a greater understanding of whole-animal utilisation
- Develop practical skills that can be applied at home or in a professional setting
Topics Covered
During the course, you’ll explore:
- Whole-carcass beef butchery
- Traditional butchery techniques
- Primary and secondary beef cuts
- Beef cut identification and terminology
- Hanging and dry-ageing
- Maximising value and reducing waste
- Utilising the fifth quarter
Cuts and Products You May Prepare
During the course, you’ll work with a range of cuts, including:
- French-trimmed fore rib
- Forequarter steaks, including rib eye, Denver, flat iron, chuck and chuck tender
- Hindquarter steaks, including T-bone, sirloin, picanha, bavette and chateaubriand
- Short ribs
- Rolled brisket
- Roasting joints, including topside, silverside and thick flank
- Beef burgers with no added cereal
You’ll also learn how to make the most of the fifth quarter, including:
- Oxtail
- Ox cheeks
- Skirt
- Offal
- Bones for stocks and soups
Who Is This Course For?
This course is ideal for smallholders, chefs, keen cooks and anyone with a passion for high-quality British beef. It is also well suited to professional chefs, butchers and food producers looking to refine their knife skills and deepen their understanding of beef butchery.
Whether you’re new to butchery or looking to expand your existing knowledge, you’ll leave with practical skills, greater confidence and a deeper appreciation of whole-animal butchery.
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
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Andrew SharpAndrew ‘Farmer Sharp’ was brought up on a mixed farm in Cumbria.
At the age of 13 he went to work in a butchers’ shop, which had its own farm and abattoir. At that time they were one of the few butchers’ shops selling lambs and pigs from the local area and a full range of game; plucked, dressed and prepared in the shop. They were also hanging and maturing its beef, the old fashioned way, which has now become all the rage in the artisanal butchery sector.
For 15 years Andrew ran his own medium sized, British Retail Consortium approved cutting plant selling herdwick lamb, herdwick mutton, galloway beef, naturally reared pink veal and air dried mutton from Cumbria to all over the UK, to the EU and even Hong Kong.
He is a founding member of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign, inspired by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and run day to day by the Academy of Culinary Arts.
Andrew has made several media appearances including the Radio 4 Food program, Kill it Cook it Eat it to Turn Back Time The High Street and Hugh’s 3 Good Things, to name but a few.
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