bacon curing - Smoking

It is with immense pride that we announce that Kate Mason has been awarded the Women in Agriculture Education and Training Woman of the Year award at the The National Women in Agriculture Awards 2026, and is the icing on the cake as she celebrates 40 years of working with and for Vale Training Services Ltd.

The event celebrated 13 exceptional women from across the UK farming sector during a ceremony held on 5 May at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms. Organised by Mark Allen Group and supported by sponsors including Nestlé UK & Ireland, Co-op, HSBC UK, NFU, Noble Foods, and Pig World where you can read the full report, the awards recognised outstanding contributions across the agricultural industry.

Winners were chosen from an extremely competitive shortlist, highlighting the growing strength, influence, and visibility of women throughout the sector.

For more information visit the NFU online page.

A one day course to enable the trainee to be able to carry out bacon curing and smoking techniques. The course will cover formulating cures and brines for specific products, understand the legal requirements of bacon curing and smoking, and understand the principals of Food Smoking. This is a very hands on course, and trainees will leave with bacon joints, which will be ready to eat a few weeks later. You will never want to eat shop cured bacon again. To be run in conjunction with Sausage Making

Course prerequisite: None

Certificating Body: Vale Training certification of attendance

Course Length: 1 day

Course Times: 9.30am to 4.00pm or to suit client.

Instructor: Various

Cost: £140 + VAT per delegate - Day rate on application to suit client

Venue: Marsh Hill Centre, Marsh, Aylesbury. HP17 8ST or to suit client

Maximum Trainees: 4

The course will cover the following:

Formulate cures and brine for profitability
Make sweet cure bacon
Make dry cure bacon
Look at the legal implications of curing meat for both home and local markets

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