Hi -

I live in Rocklin but we go to the Bay Area fairly often.  My wife
and I both have family there.

> Is there anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area who is making pemmican? I
> would like to buy some from you and/or learn how to make it, email me privately.

Can't sell you any pemmican but I'll tell you how I make it.

The best cut of meat I have found is eye of round roast.  I put it in
the freezer for about 2 hrs to firm it up then trim the fat from it.
I use a slicer (I think it was a wedding gift but you could probably
get one at a garage sale if you didn't want to get a new one) and cut
the roast across the grain about 1/8 in thick, put it on the
dehydrator racks then  salt it >very< lightly with Kosher salt and
then dehydrate for about 12 hours (maybe 14 if you cut the meat
thicker).  I think it is best when the meat is fairly brittle. Now
you have the whole jerky.

I get 3 or 4 lbs of suet from a local butcher (check the yellow pages and call
around) and put it in a large pan and turn the heat on low. Suet
melts easily so you don't need high heat. This process take a while
and you will end up with melted fat and brown globs of stuff (it's
not a gross as it sounds).  Pour the whole works through a sieve into another
pan (I got a large sieve at Target - it doesn't need to be giant) and
discard the globs -- I use a coffee can. I then pu a couple of layers
of cheese cloth in the sieve and filter the fat again.  Now you have the
fat.

To make the pemmican whirl the dried beef in a blender ( you have to
experiment to find out how much at a time) I prefer my pemmican to be
made out of little chunks rather than powder -  maybe bb size (this is
another thing you just have to experiment with).  Process the whole
batch and put the meat in a large bowl - this is when I put the spices
in.  I have tried a variety of spices (no fruit tho) and I am at the
point that I don't put much in other than black, white and a little
red peppper sometimes a little sage.... just put it in the dry meat
and mix it up ... don't use any additional salt until you have tried a batch or
two - a little seems to go a long way.

Mix in the hot fat (not too hot, you don't want it smoking or even
close) a ladle at a time until the mixture is about the consistency
of fudge.  At this point I spoon and compress the stuff into a mini
muffin pan - others spread it on a cookie sheet and cut it into
chunks.  I leave the muffin pan at room temp for a while then put it
into the fridge for a while so the pemmican get v. firm I then pop
the pemmicans out of the pan and store in tupperware. Store the left
over fat in the fridge for the next batch.

I usually have several pemmicans available at room temp for snacking
(they have much better texture than the cold ones). A couple of
pemmicans and some nuts makes a nice light breakfast - also a good
replacement for Power Bars :-)

This is only the way I make pemmican and I guess there is no >right<
way so try this and if you like it fine and if not there are sure
plenty of other methods out there.  If you have any questions please
feel free to ask.



Cheers
Bob Baldwin