I have tried several batches of pemmican now, but I still am unsure of
what I'm doing. I have some questions/comments about this.


Grant Magnuson wrote:
>
> Hi
> To make your own pemmican, here is what we do, but there are many other ways
> too:
>
> - get your butcher to slice up some beef into real thin slabs

I'm using up to 1/4" slices. Anyone have opinions on slicing grainwise
vs. against the grain?


> - lay it out in a dehydrator till when you bend it, it cracks

Thanks. That's what I thought. I made a batch where I didn't wait until
cracking. It was too *raw* for me.


> - whiz it in a blender to shred it

Works great.


> - DOUBLE render suet, i.e. heat it, filter it, cool it then heat it again and
> filter it again

This leaves a lot to the imagination. First unaccounted for is the
reaction to your buying 8 lbs of beef fat. "You want *what*?" and "How
is beef fat good for you?"

Second, when I put the beef fat in the pan it didn't melt right away
like familiar fat does. You have to separate it from the protein-skin.
If you don't chop it up into little pieces, this takes all day instead
of half the day. The process can be sped up by putting the fat on higher
than low on the stove, but then it smokes and your husband complains
big. Impatience usually sets in before you get all you can from the
skin, so you get about 1/2 - 3/4 of the volume you started with in
actual hard-crisco-consistency fat. Am I doing this all wrong?

Also unaccounted for, if you're like me, once you see this fat you want
more of it. You realise that it smells good and has good cooking
properties. It tastes better in eggs than olive oil. It tastes better in
almost everything than olive oil. It can replace butter on veges. So you
need more than used for the pemmican.

Why filter it? Are the particles any different in character than the
ground jerky( chipped beef ) particles? I cool and then reheat the fat,
but in practise don't see the reason for it. I assume it has something
to do with getting moisture out.


> - portion wise -- mix about 60% beef to 40% suet

Important point. I didn't like a lot of fat when I tried it so I just
used enough fat to cover the beef particles. I then pressed the mixture
into a non-stick muffin pan. I put the hardened muffins in a ziplock on
top of the fridge. After a week, I couldn't eat them any more because
they tasted too funny. One muffin left out on the counter a while longer
grew green fuzz. So next time I'm going to use more fat( I'll try to get
used to it ) and store them *in* the fridge.


> Only make a small amount the first time to see how you like it because you can
> "refine" & "upgrade" the flavor by mixing in whizzed dried fruit and nuts
> which makes it really nice.

I have been using salt, pepper, and garlic as per someone's suggestion.
I like it. I can't bring myself to add fruit, although I want to try it.
I just can't add the carbs. I'm only able to have 20g of carb to lose
weight.


,Micke