well, i was able to get quite a bit of fat from the grocery store meat counter, and now am wondering what the best method to render the fat might be. i have read that cutting it into thin slices and putting in the oven is one way. i have seen pictures of whole slabs put in skillets over very low heat (i think is what they said). does anyone have any advice for me? what temp should i have it on in the oven? any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanx!

PaleoDeano...yeah, in the oven mine got kind of dark and crispy instead of chewy. So my first batch of pemmican wasn't quite pallitable, as it was like there was sand in my pemmican.
I just made my second batch today (dehydrated late into the night). I used my mother's dehydrator and I kept checking the jerky. Some pieces are done before others if you're like me and can't slice them all the exact same size. Anyway, I still ate the "sandy" jerky cause I didn't want to waste it, but the second batch today was sooooo good! The dried fruit I used was dried currants. I got about a pound of pemmican....I ate it all today! That's all I've been eating today. I really could live on this stuff! Now that I've got the basics down, I think I will get more fat at the meat counter and render a whole bunch at once and keep it in the fridge for my pemmican, because I think this will now be a regular part of my menu. I rendered the fat on very low heat on the stove top, it took a few hours.

When I was making soap a few years back, I spoke with an older lady about rendering fat. She cautioned me that I should be very careful and that if I could, I should render the fat outside. Apparently it is quite flammable. I went ahead and did it inside anyway and didn't have a problem. I do think that folk should be aware that this is not a project you can walk away from. You need to be there with it and it might not be a bad idea to have a chemical fire extinguisher at hand.
I wonder if a crockpot set on high would render fat. It would be a lower heat and there wouldn't be any element that could start a fire. I have used them for melting parrafin for this reason and felt very safe. It is something that would be worth experimenting with.
Just some thoughts.

Jaybird,

That is great that the dehydrator did the trick. I will definitely use that method next time, and will use bison meat. What cut of meat did you use? And how many hours did it take before the first strips were done?

To get a pound of pemmican, how many cups of rendered fat did you use?

People have been known to live on nothing but pemmican for a long time. It truly is a complete nutritional food.

I am getting ready to get another half a bison. I am going to ask the processors to give me lots of slabs of fat. I guess I should ask for suet? I plan on making loads of pemmican to keep in my freezer and eat all winter. What a great snack... probably the healthiest and most nutritious snack you could ever eat!


Signey,

Thanks so much for the warnings about fire! That idea about the crockpot sounds like it might be worth trying. I may try it with a small amount of fat to see what happens. I will also more than likely try the oven method. I just wonder if I can keep the temp low enough. Perhaps with the door propped open? I know that one web site said if you are going to do it over a gas stove top, to use a flame diffuser to further reduce the flame. That I don't have, so may want to just use the crock pot on low, or try it out in the oven. I know Diane said to bake in oven at 325 for 1 hour. I will try that. But, I will try a bit on the stove and in the crockpot. I'll let you all know how it comes out. I can't wait to get the bison fat. Then I can make "real" pemmican!

PaleoDeano, I used beef eye of round steaks for my pemmican. In the dehydrator many of the strips were done within 5 hours. My cutting job wasn't great so some pieces were too thick and took a few hours longer. Next time I will be more careful and take my time to cut evenly all the pieces fairly thin (I'd say about 1/8 inch) so they all dry in about 5 hours. I also highly recommend marinating the already sliced meat overnight in spices of your choice. I envy you with your healthy bison meat! Next year I at least will have some grass-fed beef. Well, let us know how you do on your pemmican, and good eating! I think I will be doing the same...making batches and batches of the stuff and keep in my freezer. Being a mommy of an 8 month old baby (plus I babysit a 1 1/2 year old) this is going to ultimately help me stay on a healthy diet as sometimes it is really hard for me to cook three or more times a day.

Oh yeah, for the amounts. I admit I wasn't really measuring things too well! But the recipe I ended up using just says to add just enough fat to moisten the dried meat and fruit. The first batch I did add too much fat and it was very rich with the fatty taste way overpowering everything else. The second batch I add JUST enough to moisten and it was delicious. My mouth waters thinking of it....some meat is in the freezer now to partially freeze so I can slice and marinate tonite and make the pemmican tomorrow. I still have some rendered fat left in the fridge.

jaybird,

thanks for the tips!

i am going to render the fat and dry the fruit and then try mixing with the meat i have. this is all experimental until i get the bison fat & meat in a couple weeks. then i will definitely use the dehydrator to prepare the meat. why do you recommend spicing the meat?... for the jerky? if you just use it for pemmican, doesn't the fruit give it the flavor it needs? and wouldn't the spices of the meat taste weird with the taste of the fruit? i am planning on using blueberries, blackberries, cherries, strawberries, red raspberries.

take care, and I'll let you all know how this turns out.

when you cook, you should try cooking a whole bunch of food at once, then you don't have to cook for a while... that has worked great for me.

While Ray says to use the dehydrator, it is kind of dangerous because we are using "processed meat." He uses elk and deer and wild meats that he processes, himself, and I think when using the stuff we get in the store, there is a great chance of getting bad bacteria, along with the meat...because it has been handled and left out, and stuff like that...When you get it at the store, you don't really know what you're dealing with. Obviously, you have to get to a happy medium. I wouldn't worry about the meat being too brittle, if you're just making pemmican. That's good! Now, you need to put it in the blender or food processor and grind it to powder...then, you mix that in with the rendered fat, and VOILA! PEMMICAN! As far as jerky, well that's another story and you have to keep a watchful eye on it, and get it out of the drying mode as soon as it reaches a ceratin consistency. I found making jerky a bit of a chore in my modern, hell-bent-for-leather-world. I used a weekend when I wasn't working. I kept an eye on all day long, as i read a book. Even then, some pieces got too dry...so, I used them in my pemmican. I put walnuts, almonds and pumpkin seeds in it, along with home-dried Marrion Berries and Raspberries and even a few home-dried plum pieces. But, the fruit makes it muchmore perishable...I found that out from Alaskaman

captxray,

i agree with what you say. it was from what you had said in an earlier post that got me to think twice about using the dehydrator, and instead using the oven. but that was with beef i got at the supermarket. i am only planning to use the dehydrator on naturally raised bison meat that i get fresh from a farm. do you still think this is a bad idea? i think if it is dehydrated at 155 degrees for long enough to become chewy, it should not be a problem... but, like you, i would never trust beef from the store done this way.

i think the reason jaybird and i were thinking the meat was not good for pemmican was because, as she said, it made the pemmican taste sort of "gritty"... which i can see why, because, like her meat, i had the same result of getting it a bit too done, a bit blackened on top. it was hard for both of us to keep the temp down low enough using the oven. i know that even though the door was propped open and the meat was on the highest racks, and the oven turned as low as possible, the heat still got up to about 200 degrees. one website said that was fine, and it was fine if the meat was a bit dark, but i still think the way jaybird did it the next time around, by using a dehydrator, made the meat come out much better... plus it can be used for jerky too. she must trust the beef she got at the store. personally, i am with you. i would only trust the bison i get from the natural farm, when using a dehydrator. but, then again, i don't really trust ANY grain-fed, commercially raised animals for any type of consumption... the things they do during the "raising" and processing of these animals is quite disgusting (both for the animals, and the humans that consume them). so, in that respect, i am trying to only eat naturally raised animals anyway... and am slowly getting to that point.

Well, I know it's not the best meat but I do consider it better than none until I get my grass fed beef next year. Again, PaleoDeano I am envious of your bison meat...I tried wild bison meat a few years back and it was amazing.

Last nite we had a fat feast, I was rendering down beef fat in the oven and after awhile the scent of roasting fat filled the house. My two young adults came sniffing whats to eat, The fat was ready so we started to eat the cracklings, the browned crispy bits man that was sooo good. I got about 6 cups of pure white hard fat and about 4 cups of cracklings, now to get my deer meat dried. The funny part is my kids normaly say eeew yuk to some like that not come around and start eatting it. Love my fat will eat pieces raw nice flavor little chewy find you can't eat much tho.

My boy has really bad acne does anyone know if lcing will help that? He is getting to the I will try anything point. My opening to strike mmmmwhaaaahaaha.( evil laugh)

Diane

well, i have been dehydrating fruit... my red raspberries were first to get done, then my blueberries soon after. strawberries took quite a bit longer. now if the cherries and (especially) the blackberries would ever get done! they have been going for over 40 hours now! hopefully they will be done by tonight. all of these i can put with the dry meat to turn both to powder (as one website suggested). i've also got dried dates and walnuts and almonds and pecans. does anyone know if these would be good to use for pemmican? does anyone think it would be better to put the dried fruit (and any nuts) in after grinding the meat in a food processor (or with the meat)?

i spoke with the guy who i get bison from. he is going to be taking in a 2-year old bull on November 4th. i am getting half of that. in the meantime, this week he has an older animal going in, and since they have more fat, he said he would get some fat off of this animal for me. he also said the best meat to use for jerky is 'the round'. and he said he would get me some of that as well. i spoke with the meat processor, and he said i might end up with close to 10 lbs of fat! that would be great! so, in a couple weeks i can make lots of pemmican from grass-fed, naturally raised bison!

Well... after over two YEARS!!!! ... I am FINALLY ready to make some pemmican!!!

I have been rendering fat on the stove top, in a large stainless steel skillet. It has been a few hours that the pound of bison back fat pieces have been on the lowest flame I could set the burner on my gas stove. After re-reading this entire thread, and the "lard" thread, and other info on the web, I was warned to keep the flame as low as possible. QUESTIONS. I have not seen the fat bubble at all, and don't see any steam coming off of it. It has been several hours (like 4) since I started it. The fat looks really good... liquid gold! The cracklins are getting smaller and "harder" looking all the time, and I am about ready to quit with the rendering. Is this normal? Have I got all the water out of the fat? I have been reading about "double rendering"... so what is the difference if I render this again tomorrow, or just render longer tonight?

The meat. I have been pulverizing the dried meat (from a couple years ago) into fine powder, using an old coffee/spice grinder. I am ready to add some dried berries and grind them up as well. Was thinking of adding some trail mix, which has lots of nuts and raisins. Should I grind this trail mix with the coffee grinder, or just put it in the pemmican as is?

Patiently waiting for your informed responses... I DON'T want to wait another 2 years to have pemmican!!! I have never made it before and have never even seen it before! Please help out this novice, would anyone? Thanks!

Deano,

same here, the cracklings getting smaller and harder is normal.

What I usually do is filter the fat through a sieve in order to obtain a purer fat, while taking out the cracklings.

It is indeed a good idea to put the flame on the lowest heat possible, because you really can «burn» (smoke) the fat, and it doesn't taste good afterwards, not to mention that it probably becomes damaged.

I don't know about putting trail mix, etc in it, when I had done it it was plain. But I don't see how it can be bad to do that. It may affect the shelf life of your pemmican, though I am not sure at all.

Pemmican looks like a type of «brownie», but definitely doesn't taste like it.

It tastes a bit like dried fatty roast beef. It is very fatty.

The recipe I refered to earlier, when I burnt (smoked) the suet tastes like rubber...definitely not pleasant.

But well done, it tastes pretty good. However, it is a very neutral taste (I did not put any spices, salt, etc in it).

Very interesting food though!