William > Looks like we need a definition of suet; is it only fat around the
> innards, or can it also be that fat found under the hide?
> Then there should be a study on the relative healthyness of tallow made
> from each kind of fat.

"Technically, all raw beef fat is suet; but, for recipes that call for
suet, kidney fat is preferred.  Once rendered it is tallow.  Suet is
used in meat puddings, mincemeat, and Christmas puddings." -
rec.food.historic

"Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is
solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended
periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition,
provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation." -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallow

As I understand it now, with Todd's help, the higher the stearic acid
composition, the better the suet. The better the suet, the longer the tallow
it produces can be stored. So waxy is good, apparently, when it comes to
pemmican.

Perinephric fat (the fat that surrounds the kidneys) is higher in stearic
acid than subcutaneous fat (hide fat), and wild perinephric fat is higher in
stearic acid than that of domesticated animals. Also, the perinephric fat of
beef cattle and bison contains more stearic acid than that of sheep and
other animals. So wild bison perinephric fat--precisely what the Plains
Indians tended to use--should be optimal for pemmican. This high-quality
pemmican can allegedly be stored indefinitely in the tightly-sewn animal
skin pouches that the Indians used, and I have never heard of any of it
going bad. 

As with so many things, it seems we had to learn through scientific
investigation what the Plains Indians knew already from experience:
"Kris-Etherton's equation [for change in plasma LDL cholesterol caused by
the various saturated fatty acids] clearly separates stearic acid from the
other long-chain saturated fatty acids and suggests that it has an
independent cholesterol lowering effect." [Source: Food Safety 1995, Carol
E. Steinhart, M. Ellin Doyle and Barbara A. Cochrane, Food Research
Institute, University of Wisconsin--Madison Food Research Institute,
Published by Marcel Dekker, 1995] If true, this would help explain the
Plains Indian's claim that wild bison pemmican was "good medicine."

Fatty acid composition (I assume these are for domestic animals):
bovine kidney fat: 30% oleic, 33% stearic
bovine subcutaneous fat: 40% oleic, 20% stearic
[Meat Science and Applications, By Yiu H. Hui, Wai-Kit Nip, Robert Rogers,
CRC Press, 2001, p. 15]

> 
> Lacking such, we need postulate that pemmican was made in the fall when
> hide fat was present in older animals, especially bear, so that hunters
> could avoid the risks of winter travel.
> 
> I'm inclined to think that paleoman used sense of taste to define what
> is or is not food, and then pemmican made from hide fat wins.

From... Tales of the Mountain Men: Seventeen Stories of Survival,
Exploration, and Outdoor Craft
By Lamar Underwood
Globe Pequot, 2004

"Winter was a preserving season for women and to some extent trappers. For
example, it was a good season to make pemmican, the best of all concentrated
foods. The 'winter pemmican' of the literature, which is sometimes spoken of
unfavorably, was made not in winter but following the fall hunt, when the
weather was likely to be unsettled and thorough drying difficult, so that
the product might turn sour. 'Summer pemmican,' the Grade A stuff, was made
in late winter and early spring. The meat, almost but not quite exclusively
buffalo meat, was first dried in the way always used by trappers and Indians
whenever they had a surplus following a hunt. It was cut into slices and
strips an inch or so thick, scored crisscross, and spread out on racks of
cottonwood poles high enough to keep it from dogs, wolves, and vermin. Not
so much the sun as the wind dried it and the process, which winter cold did
not affect, took four or five days. It could be shortened to three days if
during the first one a slow, smoky fire was maintained under the frame, and
such smoking made the product sweeter and tastier. The result was the
universal dried meat, jerky, or charqui, of the literature, a first-rate
food in itself. It was always carried by trapping parties.

Pemmican, however, was in a class by itself. All the gristles and sinews
that might be present in jerky were removed and the residue was pounded in a
mortar or on a parfleche till it was pulverized. This powder was loosely
packed in a parfleche bag, melted fat was poured over it, and the mouth of
the bag was sewed up. Thus packed, pemmican would keep for years. It was a
splendid high-energy food, a complete diet in itself. It was also a great
treat (some cynics dissenting), incomparably richer and more flavorsome than
jerky. It could be eaten uncooked or fried, roasted, or boiled, by itself or
in combination with anything you had on hand. The luxury article was 'berry
pemmican,' into which pulverized dried fruits of any available kind had been
mixed, most often wild cherries with their stones.

Fats were preserved separately. The boiled and refined 'tallow' that played
an important part in the Canadian trade served all the uses of butter. Like
pemmican, it was sewn up in bags of standard size and weight. The most
abundant buffalo fat was that which lay along the back. When sun-dried it
was a gourmet's delicacy. It was also slowly fire-dried, cut up into sticks,
and wrapped, or it was dried after being boiled; in these forms it was a
staple rather than a treat. Kidney fat, if not eaten raw, was dried in long
slices or briefly boiled."