Wild Venison Butchery and Cookery Course

Join us in our woodland kitchen for a day spent learning how to source, butcher, prepare and cook wild venison.

Course Details

Wild venison is at the heart of many of our feasts and courses. An incredible wild meat available in abundance, it is not only nutritious and flavourful, but also the most sustainable meat we can source here in the UK.

 

We will start our day with an introduction to the day, as our team rustles up a hearty breakfast to keep you going throughout the morning.

 

We will then turn our attention to the main business of the day; skinning and butchering either a fallow or roe deer carcass. As a group, we will spend the morning skinning and butchering our deer. Everyone will have the opportunity to have a go at skinning and get a close up look at how each stage of the process works.

 

During our butchery demo, we will break down our carcass into primal cuts and use seam butchery to further process the deer. Using the whole deer from nose to tail and showing you how to reduce waste getting the most from the animal, we will talk through multiple ways of preparing each cut, stocks and sauces and the best ways to store your meat.

 

From here, we will demonstrate how to split the primals further, using different knife holds and cutting techniques, for example showing you how to bone out a shoulder and haunch, how to tie a butcher’s knot so that you are able to tie up a roast and how to seam out the final haunch into its muscle groups for either smaller roasts or steaks.

 

Pushing aside the more traditional methods of cooking wild game, we will spend the afternoon creating a myriad of exciting new dishes over the fire, drawing inspiration from around the world to inject new flavours into your wild game cookery.

How We Teach

Covering a myriad of fire cookery methods, dishes may include techniques such as grilling, hot smoking or roasting in our Big Green Egg, using our Gozney Roccbox pizza oven, chapa or skillet work.

 

Whether you’re flying solo or joining us with friends and family, the focus on our wild venison butchery and cookery course is showing you the incredible potential seasonal and local ingredients have in your outdoor kitchen, as well as how to incorporate new techniques into your everyday cooking. 

 

To round off the day we will finish with our very own homemade seasonal marshmallows, toasted over our burning embers as a little pick me up before heading home, full of food and inspiration (and our Fire Cookery Guide and Recipe Pack).

Hands-On Learning

All tuition is hands-on, you'll get stuck in making multiple dishes to enjoy.

Small Groups

Keeping it intimate, with a maximum of 12 guests per course.

Expert Equipment

Our courses are all taught on the FireMade UK Hanging Frames.

Experienced Tutors

Led by our Head Chef and Co-Founder, Christian.

Seasonally Inspired

Championing seasonal, local and wild ingredients.

Further Details

Festive Fire Cookery Course

What do we cook on?

Our woodland kitchen is fired by FireMade UK pits and hanging frames, fuelled with charcoal from Green Olive Firewood and a mix of locally seasoned hardwood logs.

We may also feature a wide selection of fire equipment, which may include Big Green Egg ceramic cookers, Gozney Roccbox pizza ovens, Kadai fire bowls, spit roast machines and more.

All Good In The Woods Tee

Our Woodland Classroom

You’ll find us on the Priory Farm Estate in the village of South Nutfield in Surrey. Our woodland classroom is a 5 minute walk from our barn, where we gather before our day in the woods begins.

Beneath the trees, you’ll find our tipi and wooden shelter, which houses our kitchen and dining area. Throughout the seasons, we embrace the great outdoors in all its glory!

Cooking on a Big Green Egg MiniMax

Who is it suitable for?

Our wild venison butchery and cookery day is for those of you who want to gain a deeper understanding of how to turn a wild deer into delicious dishes. Allowing you to buy direct from your local shoot, stalker or butcher and have the confidence to process an entire deer yourself back at home.

Suitable for food or fire novices or the more experienced cook, with our passionate and professional tutors guiding you every step of the way. This course is not suitable for vegetarians.

Customer Testimonials

“The wild venison butchery day was excellent. Totally absorbing and fascinating. Learning where your meat comes from is so important and makes you appreciate whats involved in all the preparation. Friendly atmosphere and lovely setting for the day - full belly by end of the day too with all the cooked venison! Just brilliant."
James S.
“Hugely enjoyable. Great team. Very professional, engaging, entertaining and knowledgeable. Lovely location. Wonderful food. Very well balanced day of learning. And a lovely group of foodie fellow clients. Will be back!"
David M.
“My son and I attended the venison butchery and cookery course, although it had been postponed several times due to the pandemic, it was well worth the wait!! Interesting and engaging from start to finish. There's a great sense of satisfaction in taking something from carcass to finished dish. Christian, Becki ably assisted by Flori covered everything from butchery, preparation, seasonings, fire preparation and cooking over fire. Fabulous day."
Gavin V.

Join us in the woods

Can’t make any of these dates? Register your interest and we’ll keep you up to date on any further dates that go live for this event.