The Whole Hog Weekend

A two-day butchery course at Empire Farm teaching how to use every part of a pig, from sausages and chorizo to cured bacon and hand-raised pork pies.

This weekend course covers pork butchery from start to finish, beginning with identifying the cuts on the two carcass halves and learning to bone joints and prepare unusual cuts. Day one focuses on butchery and processing off-cuts into sausages and chorizo, while day two covers curing techniques to make bacon, pancetta, ham and coppa, finishing with hand-raised pork pies using gelatin made from boiled bones. Attendees take home the products they make, and the course is aimed at smallholders, farm shop owners and foodies.