Very Comprehensive Video Guide https://youtu.be/e23njOfpKCU
Pemmican is the ultimate food storage and preservation method. It historically doesn’t need refrigeration
Equal Parts (by weight):
- Fully dehydrated zero fat meat
- Rendered fat
1lb pemmican has 1636.8 calories
Any lean meat can be used, from any animal.
The key to its longevity is zero moisture! Some people add small berries, nuts, and salt… but the more things you add the shorter the shelf life
If you prefer more of a story time video
- Tasting History - https://youtu.be/DUAayg3D0XA
- Townsends - https://youtu.be/AYDuOKI8maQ
- Emmymade - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GoyoO4G5Y8
- First Nations People - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqyJ-cc-Www
Make your own at the gas station by taking Slim Jims, trail mix, and fruit roll-ups then smash it all up into a big ball to munch on.
Ah yes, the 2am truck stop “Food Ball”, the hall-mark of any good road trip
The real adventurers are the ones that continue eating it after it fell on the floor and got covered in hair.
i really would love to be able to just buy pemmican instead of having to make it on my own. its a complete meal
The earliest records of pemmican have it as a first nations (American Natives) invention.
I have found a supplier of 5kg lots of beef suet pretty cheap, and will be having a go at making pemmican in the next few weeks, which should make ~3.8kg of tallow, which (along with 12.65kg of fresh beef) should make 7.6kg of pemmican – enough for 10 to 20 days (all numbers are fuzzy until the tallow is made and measured)
I have made tallow before so I know that part of the process well
Do you happen to know a good lean cut to use?
The USDA says these are the leanest cuts:
- Eye of round roast and steak.
- Round tip roast and steak.
- Top round roast and steak.
- Bottom round roast and steak.
- Top sirloin steak.
- Top loin steak.
- Chuck shoulder and arm roasts.
But you should cut off all the fat as your slicing the small slices, you can make any cut work you just might have to spend more time removing fat. Grass fed beef will be better here, grain fed beef gets the intramuscular fat (marbling)
I would recommend only making a tiny bit of pemmican the first time, trying the taste, then deciding if you want to add salt, spices, etc. People say its a very acquired taste.
Thanks, luckily my local butcher only sells grass finished beef, I’ll start with half a kilo - maybe I’ll start with whatever will fit in my dehydrator (which is capable of working under 60°C, I bought it for working with brewers yeast)