That was me. It is the fat that is preserving it. That's why you double-render the fat; to remove all of the water that's in the fat. As an experiment, leave a small portion of double-rendered fat on your kitchen counter. Tell me how long it takes to spoil. I've had a half a pan of it sitting on my stove for weeks and it's just fine. But the fact that the meat is dry also helps preserve it, because spoiling germs need water to work with. Once the pemmican is complete, there's no problem with keeping it in the refridgerator. In fact, it might not be a bad idea, as I had a batch go moldy on me over a few weeks (I forgot about it). But I'll bet that part of the problem was that the meat wasn't dry enough when I added the fat. Take care, John Pavao ---------- Dear Micke, Is it the fat that is preserving it, or the drying? Someone else on the list told me NOT to put it in the fridge overnight before adding fat, as it would add water. Anyway, in the future, I am starting all my batches early, to avoid having to even make this decision. Now, do you think the batch is safe, where I did leave it overnight in an airtight container but not refrigerated?? Another reason for making it is it is easily digested, digested mostly in the stomach, it does not feed bad bacteria and yeast, would be a good food for someone with a candida problem. Also, if you fed a schizophrenia patient on this exclusively, the diagnosis would go away, at least until the person ate starch again!