Coldsmoking Digital Cookery School

Nitrites Nitrites in the form of either Sodium Nitrite or Potassium Nitrite are a types of salt that are commonly used in meat processing to cure meats such as ham, bacon, and sausages. These curing agents come in many different forms but one popular curing salt is Prague Powder. If you want to know more about these cures and their application there is a blog covering that subject here .   The curing process involves adding nitrites to the meat, which helps preserve it by inhibiting the growth of bacteria that can cause spoilage and food poisoning. Nitrites also give cured meats their characteristic pink colour and distinct flavour. When nitrites are added to meat, they react with certain proteins in the meat to form nitric oxide. This process is known as reducing. Nitric oxide then reacts with myoglobin, a protein in meat that gives it its red colour, to form nitrosomyoglobin. This compound is what gives cured meats their pink colour. In addition to adding colour and fl...

 Butterflied and smoked lamb This is such a flavoursome piece of cooking and so easy to recreate for yourself at home. All you need is an half leg of lamb, some wild garlic, rosemary, salt pepper and a little oil and you’r almost there.  If you can’t get hold of any wild garlic, you can of course use a clove of shop bought instead but as I’m doing this for easter I thought it would be nice to forage some wild garlic leaves for this one. Remember if you are going to use wild garlic, just take what you need, only take leaves or a few flowers and never dig up the bulbs. Always check that you are actually picking wild garlic and not Lilly of the valley which is poisonous They both look similar to each other but wild garlic does have that unmistakable aroma of garlic.  Take the bone out of the lamb using a small sharp paring knife initially making a cut along the length of the bone and working around with the knife until the bone is released. Lay the meat flat on a board and d...

A delicious treat for friends and family to enjoy. Hurry though, they don't last too long!! Here's a link to the video https://youtu.be/70LdPqeDvjo This has to be one of the tastiest, simplest and pleasing smoking projects out there. Hot Smoked Nuts. I'm using an inexpensive brand of mixed nuts from the supermarket (Lidl) costing 78 pence for 200g here but the results are anything but inexpensive.      The taste from the blend of natural Oak smoke, sweetness from the honey and salt, coupled with the complexity of roasted nuts will blow your socks off (if you're wearing socks that is).    Here i', using a stovetop smoker from Camerons. these are really useful pieces of kit and are suitable for electric, gas and induction stoves. Disheasher safe and altogether a great piece of kit to have in the kitchen cupboard I'm using a fine oak chip here but you can of course use any variety of hard or fruit wood if you have it to hand. We do sell this wood on our website ...

A step by step guide to making your own sausages at home.  https://youtu.be/pcngHLsm644 The video looks at all aspects of the sausage making process from grinding the meat to linking the sausages and everything in between.  We're very lucky to have an online shop where we sell a small range of sausage casings, seasonings and other food smoking, curing & drying equipment.  You can find this here. https://www.coldsmoking.co.uk/collections  https://youtu.be/pcngHLsm644  

Low and slow is one of those cooking methods that is employed to make meat tender and fall apart delicious. Low as in low temperature and slow as in slow cooking. Cooking temperatures are typically low and lasts for many hours. I sometimes wonder why it's not called long and low but hey ho! low and slow it is. Low and slow cooking is particularly suited to cuts of meat that are tough or have lots of connective tissue like pork ribs and beef brisket. The long cooking time slowly breaks down these connective tissues making the meat tender and easy to eat. Tough meat usually has lots of collegen and sinew which is affected in a good way by heat. When collegen is heated for extended periods above 75C it will break down into gelatine which has a much softer making the meat tender and fall off the bone. A brisket flat cured and smoked to make pastrami One of the main fears people associate with low and slow cooking is the food drying out and becoming unpalatable. Especially true for r...

Wood is wood isnt it??  well, in a way yes, but the way wood behaves when it burns largely depends on the size of the pieces. There are a few other factors which influence the way the wood behaves when it's burning like the moisture content and the species of wood. I'll cover these other factors in another blog post. Wood burns when it is heated beyond a point known as the fire point which is normally around 300 celcius. However this can change depending on the size of the pieces and moisture content. When wood is in a fine dust form it can be explosive and there are examples of wood mills exploding due to the dust being ignited by a spark resulting in a dust explosion . Now, were not looking to put our smoked food into orbit but it's nice to know that we are dealing with something that has a lot of stored energy which we can employed to flavour and enhance our food. The only time we really need to take account of the form the wood takes is when we want it t...

Coldsmoking Cookery School in Milton Keynes  Are offering a whole day immersive porky experience with Ben Aveling from Radmore farm and Turan from Coldsmoking cookery school.  We start the day by getting to grips with the carcass where we will demonstrate how to divide it into the primary cuts.  We will show you the basic tools for this process and you’ll learn some interesting recipes that can be made from some of the offal. Next you’ll learn how to cut delicious pork chops and make and tie mouth watering pork roasting joints. After that we will turn our attention to curing your own bacon and pancetta using belly and loin.  We’ll break for lunch where you can enjoy some delicious locally reared pulled pork in a brioche bun served with a selection of coleslaw, apple and locally made BBQ sauce together with a selection of pork charcuterie. After lunch we will focus on sausages and Chorizo finishing the day off by looking at some of...

Have you ever wondered how food ferments? I'm constantly enthralled by the action of bacteria, yeast and moulds. While some of these organisms can give us problems by causing food to spoil, some can benefit us in surprising ways.  I was recently hosting a sausage making workshop at coldsmoking HQ and I met up with a guy called Kevan who had a keen interest in fermenting, bushcraft and outdoor cooking. One thing led to another and he is now hosting a fermenting food workshop at the cookery school.  On this hands-on workshop led by a former pathology graduate Kevan Palmer, you'll learn the fascinating art of lacto-fermentation. He has years of experience with fermented food and bush craft. He will teach you the theory behind this process and the importance and benefits from maintaining a healthy gut. You'll learn how to create Sauerkraut, making a batch to take home and ferment for yourself. You'll be taught how to make Kim chi, making Pa Kim chi, a punchy blend...

Food smoking has for many aficionados focussed heavily on MEAT. Whilst there's nothing inherently wrong with that, there's a lot more to food smoking than just meat! Over the past ten years I've experienced a wide variety of vegetables that have benefited from a dose of smoke.  So, if the idea of smoking a vast array of different vegetables, nuts and cheese we are hosting our first Vegetarian Food Smoking Course here at Coldsmoking HQ. If you'd like to know more check out the course detail on our website . 

Have you ever wanted to make your own salami and fermented sausage? Well, using a starter culture can be the answer to achieving a realistic, tasty and importantly, safe product.   We make an authentic chorizo sausage that can either be eaten raw or cooked. When I say raw, I do of course mean once fermented and air dried. The fermenting process is an important safety step as the culture which is introduced into the sausage mix starts to work immediately by feeding on the added glucose, multiplying tp out-compete other harmful bacterial that could cause food poisoning or spoilage. One advantage of using a starter culture is this sausage has a really authentic tangy flavour and develops a deep red colour. If you'd like to know more about fermented sausage or starter cultures why not get in touch .

Turan has been smoking and preserving foods for many years. his ethos is to make these artisan subjects accessible to everyone. He hosts bespoke one day food smoking courses and Meat Curing & Charcuterie courses with the theme of low impact living.  The golden thread running through all his work is accessibility, simplification and safety. Turan's easy teaching style and his ability to simplify and communicate these subjects in an understandable and relaxed way has lead to many excellent reviews from previous guests. Turan has written many food articles for magazines and has also written two books on food smoking. Curing, Smoking and Drying food the latest was published in May 2015. Turan's previous career saw him serving as a senior officer in the London Fire Brigade. Turan retired in May 2014 after serving as an operational officer for more than 30 years. He served in all ranks up to temporary borough commander with over 200 staf...

 Coldsmoking The artisan Cookery School in Great Linford will be hosting a series of Summer holiday activity sausage making workshops for kids this year. If you are stuck for something to keep your children busy this summer holiday then look no further. Our fun sausage making workshops are just the thing.  If you would like your children to take part in a summer holiday activity that is hands-on, creative, fun, engaging and if that wasn't enough, educational. All this packed into two hours of fun with food.  This is a rare opportunity for your kids to get involved in the artisan production of one of Britain's most popular foods. We only use locally sourced meats and fresh produce to make our sausages. A great Sausage starts with fresh top quality ingredients and your kids will learn where all our ingredients comes from and how it all goes together. We like to focus on some of the key elements of maths and science when teaching this craft. Your kids will...

For years I have had the pleasure of making my own salami and Chorizo and very tasty they are too. I just love that process of making stuff - Can't really explain it other than to say I get a buzz from it. It's exciting to be able to recreate these wonderful air dried charcuterie and a delight to sample them when they are eventually ready to try. On a recent trip to Turkey I was enjoying a breakfast of warmed black olives, fried eggs, bread and an air dried sausage called Sucuk (pronounced Soojook). Which is a bit of a staple over there. It got me thinking. Could I recreate this back home. Having done a little research I came up with an ingredient list. Now having a list of ingredients is one thing, getting the ratios right is another. The ingredients I researched are - minced Beef, minced lamb, Ground Cumin, Paprika, Cayenne pepper, Black pepper, Garlic, Salt and Sumak. There is some curing salt in this too which contains Nitrite. As this was an air dried sausage I use...