At 09:31 PM 6/18/97 -0700, Grant wrote:
>One idea would be to send me the .bmp files privately and I'll make an URL
>which can be posted for those interested to go look.

Hey, why don't you (or Ray, or someone) take some
color photos of the various stages of Pemmican making,
scan them in and put them up on a web page?

I have a 32 bit color scanner, so if scanning is a problem,
send the photos to me and I'll do it.

I think a lot of people have never even *heard* of
Pemmican before starting Neanderthin, let alone
know what it looks like or is supposed to taste
like. Pictures would definitely help. I would love to
put together a step-by-step file on how to make
it which would include the photos.

All kinds of information could be included, such as
the simple fact that "suet" is something quite different
from your average "beef fat". I had no idea! I'd never
heard of "pemmican," "suet" or "render" until I read Ray's
book. (So ok, I'm new at this cooking business)

No offense Ray, but your instructions, both in the book
and in the GET PEMMICAN file, just don't give enough
information for a food that is so alien to most people.
I only got as far as I did because of Dean Esmay's *excellent*
"How to Render" post from a while back, and my
pemmican still came out nasty as sin. I think you folks
who are so into making Pemmican are *too* used to it
and forget that while it's simple for you to make, it's
anything but simple for someone who has absolutely
no idea what the hell the end product is supposed to
be like. Lots of you have given good advice but it's come
in bits and pieces. (It kills me that, after all this time, I'm
just *now* learning that suet is special kind of fat from
a specific part of the cow's body. What??)

I want to put it all together into one place. If I can learn
how to make Pemmican (I haven't yet), then anyone can.
The more information someone has to start out with,
the better, especially since Pemmican takes a *LOOOOONG*
time to make, is quite expensive, and, if it comes out
wrong, isn't something you can throw out and say "eh, I'll
just make another batch" about.

How about it? Any veteran Pemmican maker willing to
snap a bunch of photos and either scan them in or
send them to me so I can scan them in?

Btw, my pemmican-making experience was so tramautic that
I haven't tried again, but I will. I *want* to know how to
make it right. I believe I used the wrong kind of beef, the
wrong kind of beef fat, and the wrong ratio of beef to
fat.

I am, however, munching the hell out of the jerky my
dehydrator is churning out on a daily basis.

Vickie (who is imagining all the eye-rolling and "geez, it's
just suet and dried beef mixed together!" thoughts)