Right. It’s time we confronted the big unspoken question looming over us. The elephant in the room. We’re called Sussex Smokehouse. We smoke stuff. Bacon and smoked salmon are literally the most famous smoked foods in existence.
So why are we making nuts and not a delicious side of wild, line-caught salmon?
Well, there are a few quite simple reasons, actually. These include regulations, safety, and common sense.
The Kitchen
Sussex Smokehouse operates from a domestic kitchen that’s been registered with our local authority for low-risk food production. That registration allows us to make specific products under specific conditions.
What it doesn’t allow is the production of raw or cured meat and fish products for commercial sale.
High and Low Risk Foods
This shouldn’t be news to anyone who is able to prepare their own meals; meat and fish are considered ‘high-risk foods’ when it comes to food safety. Nuts, seeds, and seasonings are low-risk. Yes, they are allergens and some people are unable to consume them without experiencing a reaction, but when smoked and roasted properly, nuts are shelf-stable, unlikely to harbour dangerous bacteria, and don’t require refrigeration.
Meat and fish are the opposite. They’re high-risk foods that can support the growth of pathogens like Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and Clostridium botulinum.
Even when cured and smoked properly, these products require:
- Temperature-controlled storage throughout production
- Strict hygiene protocols
- Regular testing for pathogens
- Proper refrigerated transport and storage
- Accurate record-keeping and traceability
- HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) plans specific to meat/fish
Unless you are absolutely minted, a domestic kitchen- even one registered for food production- isn’t set up for that level of control.
Cold Smoking Meat Is Particularly Risky
Cold smoking (which is what we do, remember) is ideally done at temperatures below 30°C. That’s the whole point; we add smoke flavour without cooking.
For nuts and seasonings, that’s perfect. For raw meat and fish, it’s a problem.
Cold smoking doesn’t kill bacteria. The preservation is through curing (using salt and nitrites) and drying, but the process itself doesn’t make the product safe. If you start with contaminated meat, don’t cure it properly or handle it with dirty equipment or unwashed hands, cold smoking won’t fix that.
Hot smoking (which cooks the food) is safer because the heat kills pathogens. But even hot smoking meat commercially requires proper facilities, equipment, and oversight.
To cure and cold smoke bacon or salmon safely for commercial sale, you need:
- A dedicated, inspected facility (not a home kitchen)
- Separate areas for raw and cured products
- Temperature-controlled curing rooms
- Proper drainage and sanitation
- Commercial-grade refrigeration
- Environmental health officer approval
- Regular inspections
We don’t have the space or budget for all that. And honestly, we’re not trying to build that right now either.
From a legal point of view
In the UK, producing meat or fish products for sale- even from a small business- requires approval from your local authority under specific regulations (EC 853/2004 if you must know, which covers the safe handling of animal products for consumption- I have done a bit of research).
That approval process involves:
- Detailed plans of the premises were you prepare your product
- Proof of appropriate equipment and facilities
- HACCP documentation
- Demonstration of proper hygiene controls
- Regular inspections
A domestic kitchen registered for low-risk food production (which is what we have) does not meet those requirements. To make bacon or smoked salmon legally, we’d need a separate, purpose-built facility or commercial kitchen space that’s been approved for meat/fish processing.
That’s a significant investment in both money and time- at the time of writing, we’ve been trading for just over a month… Let me get started, eh?!
Practicality
Even if we ignored the regulations (which we won’t, Mid Sussex Council… hi…), there are practical problems with making meat and fish products at home:
- Cross-contamination risk: You can’t safely produce raw meat in a kitchen that’s also used for domestic purposes. The risk of cross-contamination is too high.
- Storage limitations: Domestic fridges and freezers aren’t sufficient for commercial meat production. You need separate, temperature-monitored cold storage.
Volume constraints: Making small batches of bacon or salmon isn’t economically viable. You need scale to make it work, and that requires commercial equipment.
Waste management: Meat production generates waste that needs proper disposal. A home kitchen isn’t set up for that.
Insurance: Most home insurance policies don’t cover commercial meat production. You’d need specialist cover, which is expensive and often unavailable for home-based operations.
But You Smoke Nuts in Chicken Fat!
Well remembered. Yes, we do. And that’s fine because:
- The chicken fat is a purchased ingredient (we’re not rendering it from raw chicken parts on the stove)
- The nuts are roasted at 160°C, which kills any potential pathogens
- The final product is shelf-stable and low-risk
- It falls within the scope of our registered food business
Using chicken fat as an ingredient is very different from curing and smoking raw meat or fish.
And In the Future?
Now, we’re not ruling out bacon, smoked salmon, or charcuterie forever. But it would require:
- A proper commercial facility (rented kitchen space or purpose-built unit)
- Significant investment in equipment and training
- Approval from environmental health for meat/fish production
- Time to develop recipes, perfect the process, and ensure safety
Let’s get Sussex Smokehouse established as it is first, eh?
So for now, we’re focusing on what we can do safely, legally, and well from where we are. And that is making cold smoked nuts, seeds, and seasonings with the occasional limited edition flavour or surprise.
The Responsible Choice
Running a food business means balancing what you want to make with what you can make safely and legally. Could we bodge together a bacon-curing setup in the garage and hope no one notices? Probably. Would that be stupid, dangerous, and illegal? Absolutely.
Food safety regulations exist for good reasons. People trust us to sell them safe products. That trust matters more than expanding the range prematurely for greed’s sake.
So for now, Sussex Smokehouse makes nuts and seasonings. When we’re ready- and when we have the right facilities- we’ll look at meat and fish.
Want a TL;DR?
We’re not making bacon and smoked salmon because:
- It’s not legal to produce them commercially from a domestic kitchen
- Meat and fish are high-risk foods that require specialist facilities
- We don’t have the equipment, space, or approvals needed
- We’re focused on doing what we can do safely and well
- One day? Maybe. But not today.
And honestly, there is already a wealth of excellent producers making bacon and smoked salmon. We’d rather focus on making the best chicken fat roasted smoked nuts in the country- because nobody else is doing that.
Want to try what we are making?
What we are watching: Hate-watching (or am I? Not sure) Ben Fogle’s New Lives in the Wild
What we are listening to: The Frog Chorus by Paul McCartney. Still goes hard.
