FAQs

Typically our products have a 2-3 month shelf life. The exceptions to this are our Smoked Streaky Bacon which has approximately 4 weeks shelf life and our Sunday Roast/Christmas Cooks Box which includes bacon and therefore also has approximately 4 weeks shelf life on this product.

We use 100% British mature, rare breed pigs. The pigs are free range meaning they are free to roam outside year-round and have shelter provided. We don’t rear our own pigs but work closely with a small group of selected farmers guaranteeing a high level of animal husbandry and welfare.

Nitrates and nitrites (preservatives that suppress harmful bacteria) have had a very bad press in recent years. We think sensationalism has driven this and given an unfair view of their purpose. It is a huge subject and I would encourage anyone with concerns to do their own research, however, having looked at this from all angles and coming from the stance that I want to make a product as pure and honest as possible I believe nitrates (and in some cases nitrites) to be an essential part of our craft from a quality and safety perspective.

In the case of salamis specifically (as these are minced products, meaning the outside – where potential harmful bacteria can live- will become the inside) I can’t satisfy myself that without them you can irradicate the possibility of causing botulism (a deadly disease caused by the bacteria clostridium botulinum). Whilst this is not the case for whole muscle products such as hams we believe that without a curing agent such as nitrate your product would resemble a salted pork product not a cured meat that you would recognise as a ‘Salumi’ style product.

It's important to understand that nitrate exist in many foods and in far higher numbers than in a salami. Green vegetables are very high in nitrate for example. It’s also important to know that it occurs naturally in impure salts and is the reason that some hams don’t contain any added nitrate, instead allowing those in the salts to work their magic over the long time a ham will age. Another point of note and a personal bugbear is the ‘Nitrate Free’ products you may find on a supermarket shelf which simply uses celery powder to get the nitrate into the product whilst not legally having to declare it as such.

There is far more to say on this subject than I can reasonably fit here so again I encourage you to look into this yourself and have included a link to a BBC article below which may be a good starting point.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190311-what-are-nitrates-in-food-side-effects#:~:text=In%20nitrates%20the%20nitrogen%20is,protect%20us%20from%20food%20poisoning

All products, except our Smoked Streaky Bacon and Cooking Chorizo can be stored in a cool, dry place until opened. After they are opened we recommend keeping them in the fridge. Although our packaging states consuming the products within three days of opening we are keen to encourage our customers to use sight and smell to make a judgment on consuming our products beyond the three days. We hate waste and trust our customers to use their judgement.

Our Smoked Streaky Bacon and Cooking Chorizo are cured and semi dried so they are able to withstand ambient temperatures for long periods. We recommend however refrigerating upon receipt to ensure their full shelf life.

Regarding all our fully dried products, deterioration may affect the quality of the product rather than the safety. Once our products are opened and exposed to the air this will result in some drying out. This is a slower process with our whole pieces compared to our sliced packs.

We recommended keeping our sliced products in their packaging once opened to reduce their exposure to the air. For our whole pieces we recommend storing them in an air tight container not much bigger than the product itself.

If a product does dry out too much for your liking you can always chop it up to use in cooking – try adding it to a pasta sauce.

The only one of our products that contains any of the major allergens is our SaltPig Sobrasada. This contains a trace amount of gluten which comes from the beer we add to flavour it.

We use Royal Mail Tracked 24 next day service for our deliveries at a cost of £5.95 per delivery. We endeavour to send out all orders placed before 12pm Monday to Friday on the same day. Orders received after 12pm on a Friday and at the weekend orders will be shipped on the following Monday (excluding bank holidays).

During the busy Christmas period we may require an extra day or two to get your order dispatched. Please also note that Royal Mail can experience delays in their deliveries at this time. If you require a delivery on a specific date, we recommend ordering a few days in advance and requesting
a specific delivery date in the Special Instructions section at shopping cart page.  

Yes, all orders can be requested to a different delivery address to the billing address. Simply add the details when checking out

If you wish to choose a specific delivery day (Tue - Sat) please leave a comment in the Special Instructions section of the shopping cart page. We are unable to deliver on days following a bank holiday.

During the busy Christmas period we may require an extra day or two to get your order dispatched. Please also note that Royal Mail can experience delays in their deliveries at this time. If you require a delivery on a specific date, we recommend ordering a few days in advance and requesting
a specific delivery date in the Special Instructions section at shopping cart page. 

Yes, for gift items please leave a message on the product page itself, for all others please leave a message in the Special Instructions section of the cart.