Making Pemmican

[Desert Drifter]

I know there are a lot of smart people on this site so thought i would ask for your advice on making pemmican.It calls for using suit in the preperation after grinding the dried beef and adding your favorite dried fruit.My question is can i use lard in place of suet?
From my research on pemmican it is a very high energy food that has been made in various forms for hundreds of years. Also if kept dry will last for quite a long time.If it will not be used for a while it can be frozen to extend it's shelf life even longer.Any info.would be greatly appreciated.Thanks

Drifter,
You can use lard if you wish. I better product will be obtained by using suet chopped very finely or ground. Suet can often be had at your butcher for very little charge. Suet is just fat. Lard is just rendered fat. Fat of almost any animal can be used, but some taste better than others. I would go with the beef suet. Bear fat is also tasty, but an aquired taste. I would stay away from the fat of deer it has a bad flavor, but would work in a pinch. I use mainly jerked venison for my pemmican, but any dried or jerked meat could be used. Bear meat would be my second choice. Beaver or muskrat meat is also tasty, fresh or dried. I like to use fresh fruits if they are in season. I particularly like blackberries, or raspberries. Other good combinations would be wild cherry, currants, elderberries and so forth. I like to use berry type fruits, they crush easily into the mixture and ad the need moisture to the mix. Spicebush is another great flavor addition. Actually you could ad any spice you wanted. Dried fruits would be good to bulk up the mix, especially if meat reserves were thin. Pemmican is a great substitute to plain jerky. I often pack mine in small tins that will hold a little less than a pound, to carry in my haversack. You can eat it as is, which is the way i perfer or you can also use it to make stews or soups. Instead of fresh meat use the pemmican. I encourage all to try it out. Anymore questions just ask.

Sorry i forgot to sign in.
Jagger

[Tracy Rimmer]

We have made it with lard (not so nice as suet) and even with honey or peanut butter as binders. My favorite is 1/2 fat (suet) and 1/2 PB. If you use all PB, it tends to fall apart easier -- using half suet makes it a firmer bind. Just melt the suet and mix in the PB until it's fully melted together. We generally use dried cherries or blueberries, sometimes dried apple, for the fruit (my son likes raisins) but cranberries are really good too.

[Desert Drifter]

Thanks Jagger and Tracy for the info. I figure with lard flour and salt i can also make tortillas which do not have a very long shelf life but easier to pack on a hike than bread for it won't get smashed.

Drifter,
Woodland indians as well as early white men during the 17th and 18th centuries also carried a mixture of ground dry corn and maple sugar. This mix was often carried in a tube like bag made of buckskin or similar leather. Then they could carry it like a belt or a bandolier. You can eat the mixture dry or it is best added to boiling water to make a thick gruel. It is very nutritious, and it is very tasty.

Another great trail food is fry bread. The only other ingredient that you would neat would be baking powder. If you'll be carrying salt,flour,lard. Mix the ingredients dry then add water to make a pizza dough like substance. Either roll out and cut into shapes or you can just make little patties of it in your hands. Drop in hot oil. Does not have to be alot but about and 1 inch or so in the pot. Fry till brown, flip brown the other side. Eat plain or i like to eat them with maple syrup or coated with sugar. I have also put like fresh berries inside the raw dough and fry it that way. It puffs up alot. Makes for good eating. We eat this all the time in the woods on camping trips etc. My family bug me to make all the time. Have fun

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1teaspoon baking powder(not soda)
water/or milk

Jagger

[Urban Dreamer]

i've made pemmican, but it was sorta odd tasting, so i didn't eat it all. i used beef tallow, which i think i heated too high when i rendered it. i'm going to try again sometime, but in the meantime, i'm looking for a high energy bar that is a bit easier to eat... ie. no spoon required. does anyone have a recipe? i have lard, (will have tallow), coconut oil, jerky, protein powder, dried berries... it's just hard to put it together and get something edible...