How to make Pemmican – The Ultimate Survival Super-Food by C. Davis

Invented by the natives of North America, pemmican was used by Indian scouts as well as early western explorers. These people spent a great deal of time on the go and depended on having portable, high-energy, highly nutritious, and filling foods that would last for long periods of time.

Pemmican was light, compact, high in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and if done properly can last anywhere from a few years (decades) up to a lifetime without refrigeration!

Pemmican consists of lean, dried meat which is crushed to a powder and mixed with hot, rendered fat. Back in those days the natives made it with bison, deer, or elk but nowadays it is usually made with beef. Crushed, dried berries can be added as well.

A man could subsist entirely on pemmican, drawing on the fat for energy, the protein for strength and vitamins for health. There are a few cases in history of people living for months (in good health) only out of pemmican.

So, it’s easy to understand why I choose pemmican as the ultimate survival-superfood.

People really should avert their gaze from the modern survival thinking for just a bit and also look at how the guys who wandered the west 130 or so years ago did it. As I’ve said it in a recent article (30 Lost Ways of Survival from 1880) the “SHTF” we all prep for is what folks 150 years ago called “daily life:” No electrical power, no refrigerators, no Internet, no computers, no TV, no hyper-active law enforcement, no Safeway or Walmart.

How to Make Pemmican

You’ll need:

• 4 cups lean meat or a pound (deer, beef, caribou or moose)
• 3 cups blueberries (or other dried fruits)
• 2 cups rendered fat (or 1/2 pounds)
• Optional – unsalted nuts and about 1 shot of honey

Get about a pound and a half of lean, grass-fed shoulder roast and let it firm up in the freezer so you can slice it thin.

Add salt and pepper. Set the oven to the lowest possible temperature (around 150 degrees) and put the strips of meat directly onto the rack. Crack the oven door to prevent moisture buildup.

At this point, you can also put a handful of frozen wild blueberries on a small oven pan to dry out with the meat.

Let the meat dry out for about fifteen hours, or until it is crispy. Toss it in the food processor until it becomes a powder. Do the same with the blueberries. In the old days they’d pound it with a rock to turn it into a “powder”.

For the fat portion of pemmican, you can use tallow (rendered beef or mutton fat) or lard (rendered pork fat). Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat into the crockpot. Set the crock pot on low heat and remove it only after it becomes completely liquid. Use a strainer to avoid all the crispy bits; you just want the pure, liquid fat.

Mix the meat and berry powder together, then slowly add the hot liquid fat. Pour just enough so that the fat soaks into the powder – slowly.

Let it firm up, then cut it into squares or roll it into a ball.

If done and stored correctly it can last for decades. Wrap these “pemmican balls” in wax paper and store them in a ziplock bag in a cool, dark place.

Back in the 1800, the native people Canada (Metis) would go southwest onto the prairie, slaughter buffalo, convert it into pemmican and carry it north to trade at the North West Company posts. For these people on the edge of the prairie the pemmican trade was as important a source of trade goods as was the fur trade for the Indians further north. And this is because for a serious journey, almost all foods would have been too heavy to carry.

If you’ll ever have to bug out – especially without a car – keep this in mind: Pemmican is the most compact, light, natural and nutritious supply you can take with you.

http://www.myfamilysurvivalplan.com/make-pemmican-ultimate-survival-super-food/

How to make a nutritious superfood for survival that lasts decades

(NaturalNews) It may come as a surprise to learn that the most nutritionally-complete food on the planet is not only easy to make at home, but can also be stored unrefrigerated for many years without spoiling.

Dubbed the "original MRE," or, "Meal, Ready-to-Eat," pemmican is a survival superfood that was developed by Native Americans many centuries ago. It contains everything the body needs to sustain itself in a healthy fashion for an extended period of time.

Pemmican consists primarily of powdered dried meat mixed in equal amounts with rendered animal fat. The early Americans used meats such as buffalo and elk; today, pemmican is typically made with beef. We suggest using grass-fed meat, as animals fed in this manner are raised significantly more humanely.

The Native Americans were also known to mix in a small amount of dried berries (around five percent -- by weight -- of the total ingredients).

Pemmican: Enjoyed by early settlers, still provides health benefits today

The Pemmican Manual, by Lex Rooker, contains a wealth of information on the subject, from the history of its use by early settlers to recipes for making pemmican at home.

"When pemmican was discovered by our early Frontiersmen (explorers, hunters, trappers, and the like) it became a highly sought after commodity. The Hudson Bay Company purchased tons of pemmican from the native tribes each year to satisfy the demand," Rooker explains. "The basic unit of trade was an animal hide filled with pemmican, sealed with pure rendered fat on the seams, and weighed about 90 pounds. As long as it was kept away from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight, it would last for many years with no refrigeration or other method of preservation."

Those frontiersmen knew a good thing when they saw it. Pemmican was ideal for travel and for stockpiling a source of highly-concentrated nutritious food during lean or cold periods.

The same considerations apply today. For surviving a SHTF scenario, you'll need portable, high-energy rations that can be stored indefinitely.

There are a few variations on the theme, but most recipes for pemmican follow the same basic methods.

How to make pemmican at home

First, you'll need to dehydrate your meat (and berries, if you want to add them. Keep in mind berries are prone to spoilage and may shorten the shelf life of the pemmican; it may be worth replacing them with another healthy item such as cinnamon). Use a food dehydrator or an oven at its lowest setting to slowly dry out these ingredients.

Rooker warns of being careful not to overheat the meat, saying that lean meat should be dehydrated below 120 degrees Fahrenheit, ideally staying between 100 and 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures that are too high will cook the meat too much and take away from the nutritional value.

Once you've dried the meat, grind it into a powder and add in the dried berries, if desired.

Next, you must render the fat. You can use tallow (rendered from beef or mutton) or lard (from pork). When doing this on a stovetop, simply heat the ground fat by simmering and stirring occasionally. Then strain the liquid that ultimately forms into a mason jar using a cheesecloth or coffee filter.

Once the fat is rendered and strained, it can be mixed with the dried meat and shaped into balls or set into a mold. The trick is to not use too much fat or the pemmican may eventually turn rancid; add just enough to thoroughly moisten the mixture and bind everything together.

Why not try some variations on the theme?

Honey, which yields a similar shelf life, can be used in place of animal fat. Adding some spices, such as cumin with black pepper, may also be tasty addition to this recipe.

Long-lasting nutrition for active people, SHTF situations

As Rooker notes, pemmican is the perfect food for someone on the move. It's also ideal for possible SHTF scenarios.

"Ten pounds of pemmican will easily sustain a backpacker for a full week providing 1 ¹/₂ pounds of pemmican per day which would supply 4,400 calories -- enough to support strenuous climbing at high altitude and in cold weather." He adds, "The same 10 pounds of pemmican would supply food for two full weeks of leisure camping activities at ³/₄ pound per day providing 2,200 calories."

Sources for this article include:
http://tacticalintelligence.net
http://www.traditionaltx.us [PDF]
http://www.askaprepper.com

How to make Pemmican – The Ultimate Survival Super-Food

Invented by the natives of North America, pemmican was used by Indian scouts as well as early western explorers. These people spent a great deal of time on the go and depended on having portable, high-energy, highly nutritious, and filling foods that would last for long periods of time.

Pemmican was light, compact, high in protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and if done properly can last anywhere from a few years (decades) up to a lifetime without refrigeration!

Pemmican consists of lean, dried meat which is crushed to a powder and mixed with hot, rendered fat. Back in those days the natives made it with bison, deer, or elk but nowadays it is usually made with beef. Crushed, dried berries can be added as well.

A man could subsist entirely on pemmican, drawing on the fat for energy, the protein for strength and vitamins for health. There are a few cases in history of people living for months (in good health) only out of pemmican.

So, it’s easy to understand why I choose pemmican as the ultimate survival-superfood.

People really should avert their gaze from the modern survival thinking for just a bit and also look at how the guys who wandered the west 130 or so years ago did it. As I’ve said it in a recent article (30 Lost Ways of Survival from 1880) the “SHTF” we all prep for is what folks 150 years ago called “daily life:” No electrical power, no refrigerators, no Internet, no computers, no TV, no hyper-active law enforcement, no Safeway or Walmart.

How to Make Pemmican

You’ll need:

• 4 cups lean meat or a pound (deer, beef, caribou or moose)
• 3 cups blueberries (or other dried fruits)
• 2 cups rendered fat (or 1/2 pounds)
• Optional – unsalted nuts and about 1 shot of honey

Get about a pound and a half of lean, grass-fed shoulder roast and let it firm up in the freezer so you can slice it thin.

Add salt and pepper. Set the oven to the lowest possible temperature (around 150 degrees) and put the strips of meat directly onto the rack. Crack the oven door to prevent moisture buildup.

At this point, you can also put a handful of frozen wild blueberries on a small oven pan to dry out with the meat.

Let the meat dry out for about fifteen hours, or until it is crispy. Toss it in the food processor until it becomes a powder. Do the same with the blueberries. In the old days they’d pound it with a rock to turn it into a “powder”.

---

For the fat portion of pemmican, you can use tallow (rendered beef or mutton fat) or lard (rendered pork fat). Cut up your fat in small pieces and place the fat into the crockpot. Set the crock pot on low heat and remove it only after it becomes completely liquid. Use a strainer to avoid all the crispy bits; you just want the pure, liquid fat.

---

Mix the meat and berry powder together, then slowly add the hot liquid fat. Pour just enough so that the fat soaks into the powder – slowly.

---

Let it firm up, then cut it into squares or roll it into a ball.

If done and stored correctly it can last for decades. Wrap these “pemmican balls” in wax paper and store them in a ziplock bag in a cool, dark place.

Back in the 1800, the native people Canada (Metis) would go southwest onto the prairie, slaughter buffalo, convert it into pemmican and carry it north to trade at the North West Company posts. For these people on the edge of the prairie the pemmican trade was as important a source of trade goods as was the fur trade for the Indians further north. And this is because for a serious journey, almost all foods would have been too heavy to carry.

If you’ll ever have to bug out – especially without a car – keep this in mind: Pemmican is the most compact, light, natural and nutritious supply you can take with you.