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Pemmican - What is it and how to make it
Few months ago friend of my shared info with me that I were looking for quite some time
A low weight and high calorie food
if you try to research - you will soon find out that...whatever is available is just not suitable for the task
Everything is simply too high weight to low calories ratio...
(It means you'll have to eat a bunch of it ...to get your energy back)
As an example - (the most potent) beef jerky - 40g packages - gives you only 255 Cal (full of salt and what ever crap they add (soy , wheat...)
You'll need x10 times (400g) of it ...everyday !!!!!!!!! (considering the price ...3 euro per pack ...you are @30 euro / day)
Thus, here is the alternative - the Pemmican
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What is Pemmican? -
Quote:
wiki :
Pemmican is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and dried berries that is used as a nutritious food.
Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today.
The word comes from the Cree word pimîhkân, which is derived from the word pimî, "fat, grease".
The Lakota (or Sioux) word is wasná, originally meaning "grease derived from marrow bones",
with the wa- creating a noun, and sná referring to small pieces that adhere to something.
It was invented by the Indigenous peoples of North America.
Pemmican was widely adopted as a high-energy food by Europeans involved in the fur trade and later by Arctic and Antarctic explorers
From my self (according to what i could find)
- 100g of pemmican (correctly prepared) is 1/2 serving of daily nutrition for an average size person (1000+ calories)
- Observed storage time is 30+ years (but not limited to) - once again if prepared with "storage time" in mind
- Even that it is considered as backup/emergency food - there are no drawbacks if used as sole food source for years
And here is the price of home made pemmican:
To produce 1Kg of pemmican - (that's about 5 days of food)
you will need:
500g of tallow (~650g of Suet) = (6 euro * 0.65kg) ~ 4 euro
500g of dry meat (~2Kg of fresh (lean !!!) meat) = (9 euro * 2kg) = 18 euro
22 euro / KG
(4.4 euro / day)
Although :) ...before that - we'll sure need some equipment !
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EQUIPMENT (total price: 491 euro)
- Dehydrator (to dry the meat and berries)
Originally meat would be dried outside for few days
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Price: 150 euro
but today is not 1492...we can do it in just 28 hours :)
price for those (home variants) varies from 20 - to 300 euro (depending on size, material (metal or plastic)
There isn't one better than the one you can afford - they all do the same - keep temperature constant and keep air flowing
Difference in price indicates how easy you can clean it, how noisy it is ...and after how many minutes/hours/days/months you can throw it away...;)
There are many dehydrators made of plastic - I would strongly dis-advice buying those
Plastic is a very weird material - especially when heated up (it melts at 230+ Celsius)
It also become pollutant (releasing some stuff) above specific temperature
My worries about it could be unfounded - I know
Though...(my opinion) - it would be smart to avoid plastics where temperature gets over 50C ...for prolonged time....
Anyone who worked in chemistry industry would totally disagree ...stating that there are EU norms ..etc...etc...
But we are avoiding any of those norms by purchasing stuff from Ali - where those norms do not apply. - Meat grinder (to grind fresh suet)
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Price: 32 euro
If you have one from your grand mother - you are set !
If not - buy one ...electric ...or manual - all up to your budget and preferences
I like the old one ...its cheap and reliable (if not made in china !!!!!! ...truly - the one I've is the second one...
coz first one just broke after few uses
...yes ..broke...literally)
https://42amsterdam.net/samforum/att...tid=7272&stc=1
Aaaand ...the second one (brand - Westmark - supposedly German)...
IS CRAP AS WELL !!!.... handle that you'll attach to the grinding shaft - started to slip around it ...after few minutes of use ...
It seems that European marked is completely infested by Chinese crap !!!
I'm going to find something that was made 50 years ago !!
that will serve me another 50 ...(until vaccinated zombies will steal it from me) - Blender (to grind dried stuff into the powder)
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Price: 60 euro
Please disregard any info that say "Grinding in a blender will increase temperature above the level nutrition values are intact"
You are going to grind a very dried meat - contact with the blades is almost minimum
One who originally noted this as problem had in mind fluid substances (as smoothies...etc) where contact with blades is way higher
and is probably some millennial vegan that lost all his/her followers and were playing va-bank to gain users back
In any way - when grinding dried meat in blender - do not overload it
Put just a handful of chips ...and use pulse mode to break meat into smaller chunks ...
When grinding berries - load just 1/4 of the container ...dried berries are light and will swing around easily ... - Fine mesh strainer (to filter grind stuff)
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Price: 5 euro
Grinding your dried meat will take some time (it took me 2 hours to fully grind 1.2kg of dried meat)
And you do want you meat to be as fine powder as possible
- Slow Cooker (to render fresh suet or safely melt the tallow)
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Price: 78 euro
You can surely do it on low fire ...in a water bath..
But now days - slow cookers are pretty cheap - you really don't need a super-duper one...just one that works
I would suggest one that is larger than 4 litters (you'll be able to process 1.5kg of suet at once) - A fine mesh fabric (for filtering melted fat)
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Price: 9 euro
you can get one at pharmacy shop ...but I would advice to search for cheesecloth (used in cheese production)
its a fine mesh fabric and is perfect for filtering (2 layers is enough) - Baking forms (for tallow - mini bread forms , and for ready product - various size/shapes (on
demand))
- once you render your suet - you'll need to store your tallow in manageable sizes (not like 1.5kg chunks...)
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Price: 27 euro
Baking forms could be anything that can withstand temperature of 100C ....(metal, paper, silicon, ceramic)
I've 2 shapes - 1 muffin form and muslie bars forms ...(flat bars)
This will allow me to make pemmican in 2 forms:
- daily ration bars (2-3 bars = 1 day ration)
- long storage muffin forms (1 muffin form ~ 1 day ration)
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Price: 23 euro
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Price: 18 euro - (you will need 3 of them to accommodate 1kg batch)
- Vacuum sealer (this is optional)
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Price: 53 euro
However - my estimates
If i use berries or spices ...aaand....vacuum seal the product - I'm expecting to still have shelf life of over 3-5 years (instead of 1-2)
(to be tested of coz)
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Let's start :)
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MEAT
To make a pemmican - we'll need the most leanest (fat free) meat there is !!!
When drying meat - every muscle fiber will dry ...except inter-muscular fat
Fat does not dry easily
During preparation of pemmican we are going to replace all moisture with fat !!! But not the same one.
Inter-muscular fat - is different from kidneys fat
It melts at lower temperature and has shorter shelf life - so ...the less fatty meat you'll get the longer you can store your pemmican
(good pemmican can be stored for over 30 years)
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When preparing meat for drying - it is imperative to cut it as thin as possible
Some videos I've watched to see how "they" do it - suggested to cut meat against the grain - to speedup the drying process
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I did all that above - and partially disagree
- without special tools/equipment - cutting into thinnest pieces becomes a challenge
- But if you smash your cut with meat hammer - you'll effectively semi-grind the meat (and no - it wont get to the same thickness back ...coz you've just severed junks of muscle tissue with your meat hammer)
- if 24 hours wont do it - 28 is perfect ...or even more (if you need) What i mean - cut the meat as thin you can (and hammer it :) - but don't bother making it paper thin ....time will fix it all Dry it 24-28-32 hours...what ever time you'll need with your dehydrator to counter count the thickness
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Drying process is just straight forward - load ...set temperature to 50C ...time to 24hours (most driers have that limit)...and reset it after to another 4 hours to complete 28 hours of drying cycle.
(Note: 28 hours is for my type of dryer - you'll have to check that manually with yours)
Your meat is dry if it crumbles like a cookie when you bend it.
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Important Note:
To keep all the nutrients in our cuts - meat MUST NOT be cooked !!!
Cooking will degrade final nutritional value of the product
Someone would ask a reasonable question - what about pasteurization ?
It's done by drying
And once fine powdered meat is enclosed in fat - (no oxygen, no water) - it will prevent any bacteria to develop
After it is dried - here is what you'll get:
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If you are not planning to directly make pemmican - store your dried meat in some jar (hermetically closed to avoid absorbing more water)
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DRY MEAT PROCESSING
We have to pulverize the meat !!! (or at least make chunks as small as possible)
I did it in 2 steps (using mesh from dehydrator for first step, then fine mesh strainer to get the smallest pieces out)
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This is what it looks like strained to the finest
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The left-overs (larger pieces) - you can run second ...third ....etc rounds through blender
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Though at some point (after 3rd -4rd cycle) - you'll end up with some fluffy whitish substance...
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Just discard it - its mostly inter-muscular tissue
And again - if you are not planning to directly use it - store away from direct sunlight and in hermetically closed jar
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SUET / TALLOW
First of all - lets put the dots above the I :)
Suet and Tallow - what are they and how they differ from each other
SUET ----
Suet - is unprocessed kidney fat !
There is already consumer ready product - that is semi-prepared Suet - (from brand Atora)
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It IS suet...the real one - but it also contains dehydrated flour and meant to be used in baking
Fresh suet varies in color from white to light yellow - depending on freshness of starting product
Freshest suet that just been cut - is just white
One important note - ANY suet - DOES contain remains of fat supporting layers...blood vessels, chunks of meat
TALLOW ----
Tallow - is a generic name for ANY rendered fat
By rendering fat - means melting fresh one and separating it from any supporting tissues
Rendered fat is yellow in color when melted - whitish when solid.
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Rendering Suet
There are many videos showing how to render fresh suet - though most of them somehow miss the important info
After reviewing almost all of them available on Youtube - here is what I've (including my own experience)
- You can use already prepared Suet - but its mixed with dehydrated flour - so you still have to melt the whole thing
and clean it as if you would do with fresh one - there is no gain here - final result will be pure tallow - If you are going for fresh suet - I would suggest to grind it as you do your meat for burgers !
Many videos on Youtube of coz tried to keep with techniques available 200 years ago - cutting it into small chunks
Now days - we can just grind it ..(4.5mm grinder grid would be fine )
This will speed up the process from 8-10 hours (when cut in chunks) - down to 30-60 minutes) - Add water to your suet ! there are few reasons to do that:
- Water will keep temperature below degradation limit(in case you are rendering it on open fire)
- Water will absorb solvable impurities - and will separate from clean fat when it solidifies
- No cooking - keep temperature as low as your slow cooker allows (range from 70 to 85C is fine !)
This will preserve as much good stuff this fat has !!!
Temperatures higher than 120C - will degrade fat nutritional value and add some unpleasant after-taste
Correctly rendered tallow is white when solid, without smell or taste ! - Correctly rendered fresh suet - will give about 75% output of pure tallow
- Remaining 25% is mostly non-solvable supporting structure. Its not useless !!
if you have pets/birds - it would be good nutritional addition to their meal
One important note: - always let it cool slowly !!!
This will allow fat to self purify by the magic of physics (difference in density)
Basically all impurities will be pushed out to the top or left at the bottom of solidified fat chunk
PROCESSING FRESH SUET ----
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Grinding it - will allow you to finish in 30 min ...(instead of 8-12 hours !!!!)
Note: Use semi-frozen suet - otherwise meat grinder will get clogged very quickly
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Not forgetting the water - about 1/3 of the totals
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All melted ....(smells not pretty - disregard that)
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Prepare the filter
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Yak ...
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This is first output - looking good !!!
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And that is whats left - if you have pets - you can make use of it (otherwise - à la poubelle)
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After first render - let the fat solidify (first on air ...then once its solid - in fridge (no freezing))
just for an hour
Note: If after solidifying your tallow is yellow like butter - do not use it for pemmican !!!
It is an old fat and should not be used for our project
From all 5kg of "fresh" suet I've got - there was one bag with old suet ....that rendered into complete yellow substance
(exactly like butter)
At the moment I've no idea what to do with it - but i kept it nonetheless (frozen)
When all is solidified - puncture the fat - and drain the water ...
You'll get something like this (a bit grayish-yellowish white substance)
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It is fat ...but not as pure as we'd like it...
Repeat "melting / solidifying" procedure with water
(always allow fat slowly solidify on the table) ....only once it become white - place it in the fridge)
Result - should be like this (clear white and some light yellow tint on it)
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FINAL MELT :) ... and split it by forms:
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You are not done yet !!! :)
Once last melt will solidify (for few hours in the fridge - so that its not soft if you finger press on it)
Take blocks out ...but the very last poured block(s) might have some water at the bottom - scrape it off
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You can store your tallow outside of fridge for decades - just wrap it in a baking paper or put it in a jar
Keep it away of sunlight !!!
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DRYING BERRIES
I went for blue berries - there were plenty in the shop and it was mentioned in many recipes
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... 3 days later :)..@55C ...donno probably over time ...but there were some soft parts still present (concentrated sugar syrup)
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GRINDING DRIED BERRIES
All the same as with meat - grind - strain - grind - strain ....
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And whats left - - these are little chunks of syrup - jelly like
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I run it couple of more times through blender down to this
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Then mixed all in ... (279g from 3.2Kg of fresh berries)
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MAKING PEMMICAN
Here all straight forward - 50/50 (For simple receipt (only meat))
We'll be making pemmican with berries
Dried meat - 50%
Dried berries - 5%
Tallow - 45%
Though in practice - this makes way too "oily" substance ...
You might add few spoons of dried meat to thicken it (just keep ~100g of dried meat as reserve for that)
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Keep temperature low - you still can cook dried meat if its too high
If melted fat is above 50-55C ....cool it down before mixing dry meat !!!
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Mix the dry meat by small portions - (5-7 soup spoons) thoroughly mixing it
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Keep mixing dry meat in - final substance should be hard to mix ...
and you should see almost no light reflection in melted fat in it ...(just a bit)
The density of your warm pemmican can be compared to ice cream - Hard, mushy and firmly holding the shape
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You can use baking paper and some flat plate (cutting board) to flatten filled forms
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When done - store it in a fridge for few hours to harden the fat (would be easier to handle / pack it)
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STORING PEMMICAN
Once ready - you can store it in a jar (or wrapped in baking paper) in cold dark place (no need to refrigerate or freeze it)
Or vacuum seal it for longer storage:
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Here is about 5 days food ration (1025g)
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you might also label it :
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CONCLUSION
Pemmican is just great !!! Low weight to high calorie makes it irreplaceable food source when hiking or as emergency ration
Shelf time is above any available foods in stores. It tastes great as well.
Versatility of pemmican is uncanny - eat it as-is or use as base for other dishes
There are no drawbacks whatsoever. Eat it for a week or eat it for few years - your body will get all required nutrients and elements.
