Moira,

It should only take a few hours to render the suet.  The "lumps" are not
going to go away, they are the tissue that holds the fat together.  What
you're trying to do is melt the fat out of them.  You should be left with
things that look just like pork rinds floating in oil.  Strain them out.
 When you render the fat, cook it on enough heat to melt it without burning
it.  You'll know it's burning when it starts to smoke; unfortunately by
then it's ruined.

I don't think I'd put the dried meat in the refridgerator either.  It might
attract humidity through condensation when you remove it.  I just store
dried meat in a plastic bag on top of the fridge.

Good luck,
John Pavao

----------
The suet has been cooking all day, still looks awfully lumpy. I am finding
that not even a whole day (!) is enough to make some pemmican.

So, I put the meat which seems pretty crinkly into the fridge for tomorrow,
I have filtered the suet once and am putting it in the fridge for overni
ght,
then will heat and filter it again tomorrow, whew! But at least I have
gotten started, with the help of the list.

Thanks to everyone!

Moira