How to Make Pemmican

how long will Pemmican store for?

Survival Topics - the length of time pemmican stores is variable depending upon a number of factors.  In a cool, dry place it should last at least a year.

Where does one get items like; Beef Suet; Dried Smoked Bacon; Powdered Beef Liver, Dehydrated; Granulated Dried Beef, Dehydrated; Tomato-Vegetable Concentrate, Dehydrated; Pea Soup Powder, Dehydrated; Soy Bean Grits; Lemon Powder. I'm a cook that loves spending time in the kitchen and have never seen any of these ingredients at any of the stores and/or supermarkets I've shopped in.

Pemmican Bars can also be ordered from two sources in the US. We are hoping to try Tanka Bars.

I just made some Pemmican, basically following your recipe and directions, It tastes Okay but I don't like the consistency. It's sort of like a paste. I was thinking it would turn out more like a health bar or at least firm.

This recipe bears no resemblence whatsoever to any other pemmican recipes I have seen either on the Internet or in books.  What is all the milk powder, lemon powder, and Brewer's Yeast Type 50B for? How are you supposed to get hold of that in a survival situation?

The basic historical pemmican recipe is half dried lean beef and half bone marrow fat or suet. Add dried berries if you have them. Pound with a smooth rock to powder meat and berries then blend with melted fat.

Survival Topics - fact is, there is no official pemmican recipe.  Many different ingredients can be used according to taste and availability.  Generally pemmican is prepared before a journey or survival situation.  Of course in a survival situation should you come into more food than you can eat you may want to turn the excess into pemmican if possible.

Venison, Elk ,or Buffalo (Bison) are alot more lean than beef. Plus they were easier to find on the frontier

Since the first time I rendered my own lard, I've also rendered various other kinds of animal fat. I've become comfortable with the process, if not adept.

But I always make small quantities, because I just use the small bits of fatty tissue I store in the freezer. When I wanted some lard a while back, I was annoyed to discover that I had exhausted my supply. I decided to make a boatload so I have more on hand?buying lard is not an option, since the store-bought version is stabilized with partially hydrogenated oils. I've given instructions on this before, but Melissa documented this round thoroughly, and so I'm offering my newly illustrated, step-by-step guide to rendering lard, a technique that works equally well for other kinds of animal fat. It is very easy, though somewhat time-consuming.

1. Start with 5 pounds of back fat. This is, not surprisingly, fat from the back of a pig. It has little meat and lots of fat bound up in the cells and tissues. At one local butcher, it cost me $1/pound. I bought 5.5 pounds for the lard, and reserved a pound in the freezer for lining terrine molds, grinding into sausages, or making lardo, salt-cured back fat.

2. Chop the fat into small squares. The higher your surface-area-to-volume ratio, the quicker the rendering and the higher the yield. But there's no need to go crazy either. I cut the fat into roughly 1"x1" chunks.

3. Add to a pot with a little water - about half the volume of the fat - and bring to an uncovered slow boil over low heat, stirring frequently. The water moderates the temperature so the fat doesn't burn or stick to the pot. Eventually, the water will all evaporate; the golden liquid left behind is melted fat. You'll know when this has happened because the bubbles will look different. Keep cooking until the solid fat has melted. Your kitchen (and perhaps much of your house) will have a wonderfully warm meaty smell. Stir occasionally to mash up the fat bits, and skim often as foamy scum collects on the surface. I added more water than I should have: I cooked it for a few hours on the stove top, then overnight in a 225° oven, and even then I had to cook it more the next day. Eventually, you'll be in diminishing returns mode. There will still be some solid fat left, but you won't feel like it's worth rendering. Turn off the heat, and pour the liquid fat through a cheesecloth-lined strainer into a large container. If you did have some meat on the fat, don't toss it out. It's been slow-cooked in one of the world's best fats for hours. Eat it. Use it in a salad. Put it on toast points.

4. Let the fat cool until it's just warm and still liquid, and add a lot of water. This clarifies out some of the little protein bits in the fat. Store in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, you'll have a thick slab of lard sitting atop a tub of water. Remove the lard slab and dry it thoroughly.

5. Chop the lard into pieces, and melt over low heat. Ladle the liquid fat into jars, let cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate. Here's a tip; make sure you've got plenty of jars on hand before you start. I found myself rummaging around for extras to hold the 9 cups I made. The jars will keep for a long time in the refrigerator, even longer in the freezer.

6. Lard makes an unbelievably flaky pie crust; I use about 50% butter and 50% lard. Melissa eyed the jars and suggested french fries, since lard is much better for frying than vegetable oil. But I have my eyes on a pork belly confit: pork belly slow-cooked for a long time in lard, and then preserved in the fat for two weeks or more. And what's the best way to reheat pork belly confit? Deep-frying, of course. At this rate, I'll be rendering more lard before you know it.

The recipe sounds great but is loaded with ingredients that I can't locate. Ingredients such as Beef Suet; Dried Smoked Bacon; Dehydrated Powdered Beef Liver; Dehydrated

Granulated Dried Beef; Dehydrated Tomato-Vegetable Concentrate; Soy Bean Grits; Lemon Powder; Where can these ingredients be purchased? Or what might be used in place of these?