Hi everybody,

After reading posts on both this and the low-carb list, and asking questions,
and reading the recipe posted by Ray....I dove in and made my first batch of
pemmican.

OK....I was underwhelmed......I have some questions.

SPICES:

I used a mesquite chicken seasoning (no sugar), extra garlic, and lime juice
(the meat had started to "slightly" go over, but I wasn't worried about
spoilage after reading about it a bit more).   I did a "mini-marinade" of the
meat with this BEFORE I put it in the dehydrator.
?? -- is it better to add flavorings when mixing the "powdered" meat with the
beef fat?  I don't seem to be able to discern the seasoning as much as I'd
like to in my "batch"  I am also wondering if the spices alter the
texture/nutritional value of the meat if its added before hydrating.

DEHYDRATING TIME:

I dehydrated for a LONG time, almost 20 hours, in a standard commercial
dehydrator.  I did it this long because I wasn't too successful in slicing it
thin (it was chuck roast, and had a lot of muscle facia and other
hard-to-slice stuff), and also I wanted to make sure any bacteria that had
flourished when it was in my fridge were good and dead. (I subsequently
became less worried about that).

?? Ray writes in his document to be sure that the meat is "dry but not
cooked".  Is there the danger of the meat actually "cooking" if left in the
dehydrator for extended periods of time?  I'm wondering if this may be part
of the cause of my dissatisfaction with the end result.

TEXTURE

I ground the dried meat in a "food processor" until it didn't seem to want to
get any finer.  I ended up with something like the texture of what settles to
the bottom of a box of shredded wheat or what you see particd be (for some
reason, my "pemmican" seems to have the texture of wood fiber coated in
grease).

Or.....last but not least:  Is this an acquired taste that I should just
allow myself to grow into?

Thanks for your indulgence here -- just beginning with this PALEO-GAL stuff.

Thanks :)
Kim
"Paleo-Rose"
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