News flash:

      Exciting new fish smoking courses will be held in cornwall in April.

Seafish and the Seafood Training Academy will be running a new fish smoking training course at Duchy College in Callington, Cornwall, at the end of April 2014. Utilising the revolutionary AFOS Micro Kiln, specially developed by AFOS at the request of Seafish and the Seafood Training Academy, the Introductory Fish Smoking Course will be held on Tuesday 29th April, and a more involved Basic Fish Smoking Course will be held on the Wednesday and Thursday of the same week. The courses are of interest to people working in the foodservice, processing and fishmonger sectors, who wish to learn more about the processes involved in fish smoking.

The one-day Introductory Course, which is ideal for individuals wanting to see for themselves what is involved in producing smoked fish using a mechanical kiln, looks at the theory behind brines, kiln operations, salt, safety, sawdust selection and packaging, and the practical element of the course will involve brining whitefish and mackerel, quality and tasting, kiln loading and lighting, hot smoking profile, whitefish smoking, and mackerel hot smoking.

The more involved Basic Fish Smoking Course, which provides additional opportunities for practical activity and time to explore issues around quality and food safety, will cover the theory behind brines, kiln operations, salt, safety, pellicle formation, hot smoking, salmon salting, colours, sawdust types and sources, other styles of smoking, food safety and packaging – while the practical aspect of this two day course will involve brining, pellicle comparison, salmon salting and rinsing, gravlax preparation, quality and tasting, packing salmon, kiln loading and lighting, kiln controls, hot smoking profile, salmon smoking, whitefish smoking, and mackerel hot smoking.

These courses will benefit individuals who are interested in fish smoking or are considering getting involved in the production of smoked fish – and the knowledge and understanding acquired during both courses can easily be applied to other smoked products and other types of smoking kiln.

It is planned that these courses will be rolled out to other parts of the UK, and with an AFOS kiln also already in place at Grimsby Institute and a second kiln destined for Lakes College, West Cumbria, it is envisaged that both these locations will become permanent centres for smoking training in the near future.

Further information about the courses at Duchy College can be obtained from Duchy College (Christopher Wright T: 012096 17739) or the Seafood Training Academy (Lee Cooper T: 01482 486482) and:http://www.seafoodacademy.org/zzsmoking%20taught%20courses.htm