On Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:54:36 -0600, william <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> What kind of fat do you use?
>
> I ask because I have been using beef fat from around the kidneys, and  
> the resulting pemmican tastes like candle wax & sawdust.
> Then I read this: http://tiny.cc/XIofv which makes me wonder as I've  
> been told here that kidney fat is high in stearic acid.
My latest pemmican was from grass-finished buffalo: a flank steak which I  
wouldn't use
again, and rendered buffalo fat.  The buffalo fat was really great; had a  
tiny overtone of
grass taste about it, very fresh-tasting.  But flank steak has so much  
connective tissue that the jerky was very hard to grind for pemmican, so  
next time I'll use round steak.

In years gone past, I used to use grass-fed lean beef round steak for the  
meat part, and home-rendered pork fat for the fat part. Tasted yummy as  
you might imagine, but I had to eat it with a spoon because the pork fat  
is quite soft, and it wouldn't have the keeping qualities of a true  
pemmican (mine never stayed around long enough for me to notice).

I also have had the experience of rendered beef tallow being waxy and  
unpleasant, even when starting with high-quality beef.

Thanks, Todd, for the technical information on stearic acid and kidney fat.

	Lynnet