Pemmican - Healthy Snack and Longlife Food

[Ollie]

Last week I made pemmican from a whole leg of lamb, 2450g boned by the butcher. I used everything except for the skin. Cutting out the fat, and the majority of the connecting tissue left me with 1231g of ‘wet’ meat. The remaining I fried to render the fat and see what I could salvage to make pemmican, resulting in another 139g. A total of 1370g wet meat for dehydrating. The lamb dripping was drained off for future use and the remaining cooked meat formed the basis of lamb stew for a whole week. Lamb is naturally fatty an there is a lot of connective tissue in the leg, which meant that it took a total of 14 hours for all of it to dry to a ‘cracking’ state. I ended up with 379g of jerky. This was shredded and mixed with an equal amount of beef dripping, a few herbs, and allowed to cool, to make 12 meals, each one wrapped in foil.

Also, using Skyfarmr’s recipe for Hamburger Rocks, http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=21375.msg242524#msg242524

from 1100g of (ground) lamb mince I ended up with a similar amount of dried meat, 369g, , however only half the weight of beef dripping was used due to the different structure of the dried meat – granules v shreds – it would not distribute evenly through the structure and hold (floating to the top). Again, it made 12 bars for hiking purposes.

HowToBe, if you search the net you will find many different ways to make pemmican (jerky - the end of the drying part), smoke dried, dried by a lamp bulb, to name but two, as well as air-dried, that are sub-cooking temperature.

 

[nicklebleu]

Thanks for sharing! Odyssey also posted about pemmican in the "Preparedness" thread.

I found some online instructions for a cheap jerky maker.

_http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/JerkyDrierInstructions.pdf

Also very detailed instructions on making pemmican once you dry your meat.

_http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf

I've actually built this jerky drier and produced my own first batch of pemmican.

It sounds like a great thing to be able to do, and a fun project. I wonder about drying the meat at sub-cooking temperatures; I can definitely imagine how this would make the meat much more nutritious, but how risky is it, assuming one is using grass fed beef? Would it be a good idea to rub the slices with salt as a sanitation measure? What is the danger of Salmonella or E. Coli, and how healthy does a person need to be for that danger to be eliminated? Here is what I found through a quick search:

Here’s why probiotics are so important. Normal people generally have some cancer cells, Candida yeast, E. coli, staphylococcus, strep, and any number of other potentially bad organisms you can think of in their tract most of the time. But they don’t get any disease. Researchers know, for example, that 50% of men over age 75 actually have prostate cancer, found on autopsy, but only 2% die from it. Why? The body encapsulated the cancer: limited and controlled its growth, walled it off. The discoverer of the HIV virus himself, Dr. Luc Montagnier, said that HIV alone cannot cause AIDS. (The Coming Plague) Depressed immune environment is also necessary. Same with Candida or most other bacteria; normally they’ll be held in check by sufficient friendly bacteria. E. coli is actually a probiotic when held in check by normal friendly flora. It’s only when the friendly probiotic bacteria get killed off that the potentially bad organisms get a chance to get a foothold and take over. The bad bugs are then called opportunists.

At the moment I must get to bed. I appreciate help with this issue, as I really would like to try this project if I can determine that it is safe.

I prepare the meat to dry with a paste containing the following:
- Sea salt (cures the meat and wards off bacteria, so needs a substantial amount)
- Honey (a little bit, also antibacterial)
- Crushed garlic
- Turmeric
- Chilli flakes or powder (Cayenne pepper)
- Mustard powder
- Paprika
- other spices to your liking
- either lemon juice or apple cider to give it a bit of a tangy taste

I then dry this in the oven at approx. 45 - 50 deg C, which takes a bit less than 24 h until they are fairly dry. I tend to dry them more than the jerky beef that is commercially available, which might increase shelf life. Then I vacuum-pack that into smaller portions ... et voila!

In my opinion this shouldn't pose a problem with bacterial contamination, but again, I think it is crucial not to go too easy on the salt.
Anyway, that's just the way I do it ...

As to the E. coli ... there are different subtypes of E. coli, some are beneficial, some are unhealthy and some are nasty. So by just stating "E. coli" one doesn't really know what's going on.

 

[HowToBe]

As to the E. coli ... there are different subtypes of E. coli, some are beneficial, some are unhealthy and some are nasty. So by just stating "E. coli" one doesn't really know what's going on.

Ah, I was wondering about that.

I suppose beef brisket might produce some pretty tough jerky, because of the connective tissue, but maybe I'll try it. Thanks folks!

[EDIT: A quick search tells me that plenty of people make jerky from brisket. Alright!]

 

[Laurentien2]

I did my first pemmican today. Yesterday was rendering the fat, which I did outside on my camping stove because of the smell, got about 3 liter from five kilo of of suet. Today, I dried the meat and mixed and equal part of dried meat (300gr.) with fat, 50 gr. of dried blueberry and 50 gr. of dried almond floor that I made previously. I did add a teaspoon of salt and tablespoon of maple syrup for the taste and the result is not bad.

As a first try, I'm satisfy but will continue to improve the recipe as it 's a bit fad but he! it is not supposed to taste great anyway. My jerky is delicious and all the family snack on it but as we need to had more fat to the diet pemmican was the way to go.

 

[Mikey]

I made a larger batch of pemmican this week and another batch is currently in preparation.

I bought 2kg lean organic beef from the butcher. I put the meat into the freezer. When half frozen it's easier to cut it into strips. I built a dryer out of a conventional, medium sized carton and made small holes at the top. Heating elements are 3 x 60W candescent lightbulbs. The warm air is rising out of the carton and there's good circulation. The meat strips are lying on perforated plastic plates. After 48 hours at 35°C the meat strips were so dry that they snapped when bent. I've pulverized the dried meat strips in a robust blender (which also is suitable for crushing ice). I used ghee for the pemmican, since I didn't have access to beef tallow. It's nowhere to be found because apparently people aren't buying it. I added as much ghee as the meat could hold. I've added salt until I liked the taste. To sterilize it I've filled the pemmican in several sealed glass jars and kept it for 1h at 100°C. Now it should indeed keep for several years.

Because the lean organic meat was rather expensive (15 Euros a kilo currently), I've bought the cheapest part of the cow yesterday. It's from the ribs; still organic, for 5 Euros a kilo. There is a lot of fat (tallow) around the meat. This is drying right now and I'm going to see if it works out.

 

[realitybugll]

My jerky is delicious and all the family snack on it but as we need to had more fat to the diet pemmican was the way to go.

Or you could just dip the jerky in rendered fat :). thats my idea anyways.


This is something I came across concerning Pemmican FWIW. This guy makes--I think--about 200 pounds of it a year to send out as samples (not sure why he does this or exactly what it means) but he does not eat it himself.

Pemmican is probably good to make and store for the future, but while we can to eat some of the organ meats. that is my impression.

With your take on pemmican perhaps not being suited long term, I'd like to know why –

Hmmmmm, really no magic here. I consider pemmican an emergency food, a compact food for travel, and a food that can be stored for use during lean times like winter. This is how it was used by the Cree Indians who invented the stuff. I don’t think it was ever meant as a sole source of nutrition, but then that is just my opinion.

Further, I like to include some organ meats in my diet. Whether this is strictly necessary I have no idea, but it works well for me. Others that have tried a ZC diet without organ meats seem to fail. Since I don’t know all the circumstances for individual cases the best I can do is speculate that organ meats provide some necessary elements to the diet that is missing if only muscle meats are eaten. That said, organ meats don’t work well in pemmican. They cause the pemmican to spoil rapidly which defeats the primary purpose of pemmican and that is long term storage.

There are some that have tried a pemmican-only diet long term and they claim success (Delfeugo on ZIOH comes to mind), but, then again, I don’t know the specific circumstances. One person that I do know about is Danny Roddy. He ate a pemmican-only diet for two years. At first things seemed to improve, but over the long term he got strange rashes on his legs and I believe some cravings. I’ve never gotten any symptoms of any kind eating mostly raw meat with organ meats included through the pet food in my mix. Is it the small amount of organ meats I eat that make everything work? I have no idea, but I’ll continue eating them. Why mess with success?

 

[Don Diego]

Hi pemmican lovers

Last week at my closest organic farm I've ordered a 8kgs meat loaf in order to make it dry at the slaughterhouse in their deshydratation room without extra price as suggested by the farmer.The process will last 3 months so I'll get the meat next fall.It's a lot of money because the piece of meat has to be absolutely lean therefore expensive,to be dried they said,but I'll insist to get a big piece of dried brisket(6€/kg)next time.

How,you guys,would proceed to reintroduce enough fat (duckfat we much prefer) and salt/spices?Should we slice and dive it into hot fat or other ways?Has it to be dried again at air?
Thanks in advance for your precious devices! :)

 

[3DStudent]

How,you guys,would proceed to reintroduce enough fat (duckfat we much prefer) and salt/spices?Should we slice and dive it into hot fat or other ways?Has it to be dried again at air?
Thanks in advance for your precious devices! :)

I haven't made it myself yet, but from what I've read, you just put the shredded beef jerky into an pot with an equal weight of fat (so if 2 kg of meat, also 2 kg of fat). Then you mix it up and get a paste. I think this is when you could add your salt and spices. Then you just put it in some container and when it cools it will be hard.

 

[Laurentien2]

Hi pemmican lovers

How,you guys,would proceed to reintroduce enough fat (duckfat we much prefer) and salt/spices?Should we slice and dive it into hot fat or other ways?Has it to be dried again at air?
Thanks in advance for your precious devices! :)

These link brought by Odyssey give sound explanation how to prepare the pemmican Don Diego. I followed these instruction and the result as I said is good. I don't know about using duck fat for pemmican but I read that you can use other fat like bear or other but that it turn rancid faster. As well, duck fat may melt at a lower temperature and if not as hard if I may say. I wouldn't suggest it for maximum shelf life but if it is to add fat in your diet by having some in your refrigerator, why not.

Citation de: Odyssey le Janvier 15, 2011, 01:38:19
I found some online instructions for a cheap jerky maker.

_http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/JerkyDrierInstructions.pdf

Also very detailed instructions on making pemmican once you dry your meat.

_http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf

Posté par: wetroof

Or you could just dip the jerky in rendered fat Smiley. thats my idea anyways.

You know it crossed my mind to too to dip the pemmican in fat and I may try it.

A real pemmican as meat and fat only with spice for top life shelve but, I'm trying to add some fat to our diet and adding some dry berry and other ingredient only to make it more palatable. I give some to my daughter for school snack same for jerky to replace carbs and she really like it. Wasn't sure what her reaction would be but she ask for pemmican as snack every morning. She only get weird look from her class mate when they ask what she eat. Compare to jerky, it take much less to fill you up, a few gram make you feel like your stomach is refill quickly. Yesterday, I went for a walk in the mountain and brought a small piece of pemmican about 40 gr. instead of the usual 85 gr. buckwheat muffin and the difference is that I felt filled whit the pemmican. I even gave a small piece to my 2D friend. It is really like that , carbs don't fill you and I realize that what they say is true i,e, no message is send to the brain that you are full.

 

[realitybugll]

I bet Pemmican does taste good. But if I did not want to make it, I think I could take the jerky (which is easier to make right? just dried / dehydrated muscle meat) And eat it with a side of melted beef fat or other rendered or "pressed" fat. It beats drinking fat plain.

I should make some of this though. it would be great if I have to live in a college dorm room without a freezer. but that is to be decided. Still knowledge protects, and better to be prepared.


Part of the reason it fills you up is because I think carbohydrates can be nerologically addicting, and I am not sure if this is the same with fat. People can have extreme fat cravings, if they are not getting any, but definitely different than carbohydrates. Also per volume fat is much much more calorie dense than bread/oats/sodas/granola bars.

 

[Don Diego]

Thanks Laurentien! :)

 

[Laurentien2]

I did some experiment to improve the pemmican taste and came up with something more than tasty, it is delicious. I spread some almond butter on the pemmican and topped it with melted chocolate that I did with butter, coconut oil, xylitol and stevia. The result taste like Nanaimo bar my wife commented and we all were delighted with the result. Pemmican is first to preserve meat but it can be use in many different for. It can be add in a soup, stew, reheat with veggie etc... and as I discovered today serve it for desert or high energy bar that taste great.

For the chocolate topping use your recipe or invent one. Here is mine but I still need to work on the quantity of each ingredient.

1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of xylitol
3 envelope of stevia
I did not add salt because the pemmican is salted

Melt the butter and oil at low heat or in a bain Marie and add the xylitol and stir until it as desolve completely. Add the stevia to adjust the sweetness, let it cool a bit so that it don't melt the almond butter and pemmican. Spread over almond butter already spread over the pemmican and place in the freezer until the chocolate as solidify. That's it, really high energy bar that don't taste like dog food .

 

[ScarletBegonias]

Yesterday I made pemmican for the first time and used lean grass-fed ground beef. It turned out great, but just needs more salt. I would like to share my recipe on here in case others are interested in giving it a try. I flattened 16oz of ground beef on a cookie sheet, cooked it for three hours in the oven at 200 degrees F, blended the dried beef in a blender, mixed in bacon fat until it was mushy, and added 1/8 cup of blended cranberries and salt. I'm not sure how long it would last without being refrigerated, but I prefer my pemmican cold so it works for me. :)

 

[Ollie]

Well, for hiking trips, and other times when unsure if I can get a decent paleo meal, I'm eating pemmican that is over a year old, is wrapped in foil and stored in a cool cupboard.

 

[HowToBe]

Pemmican is probably good to make and store for the future, but while we can to eat some of the organ meats. that is my impression.

Interestingly, one CAN make jerky from beef heart, and it's supposed to be quite good. Just search "beef heart jerky" and you'll find the same links I did.

You can also make jerky from liver, but it seems like it's more prone to bacteria and spoilage, and is generally used as "dog treats" because of the taste:
http://paleohacks.com/questions/98194/how-to-make-beef-liver-jerky
Some bad advice in this recipe, but it's a start: _http://www.ehow.com/how_5686283_make-liver-jerky-home.html

And apparently kidney is a possibility as well (also usually used for dog treats): http://freetheanimal.com/2009/09/food-fun-in-pictures.html

May not be pleasant, but that could make some nutritios survival food, maybe? But... organ jerky might still spoil faster than muscle jerky, right?

Just 2 cents.