Pemmican - the original meal replacement

[svivian]

Interesting concept for sure and definitely dense with calories. But what do you do for carbs?

someone will correct me if im wrong, but i believe that this is more of a fat based calorie burn similar to keto where carbs are not needed.

 

[HunterGatherer]

OK to render brisket trimmings? Pemmican has been on my radar forever but I haven't started it yet, got about 25 lbs of brisket trim in the freezer right now.

Possibly, depending on what animal the brisket came from but brisket tends to have fat, which you don’t want with the meat portion of the recipe. I know it Seems weird that you need lean meat when you add all that fat in, but that’s how it works

 

[HunterGatherer]

Interesting concept for sure and definitely dense with calories. But what do you do for carbs?

You can add more honey and dried fruit for carbs if you want but I try to avoid carbs most of the time. I find I feel better on a keto, or even carnivore diet. The energy you get from fat is like a long slow burn. Carbs ( especially simple carbs) give a spike and trough energy output that I don’t like. If I’m in a base camp or car camping I’ll eat some rice on occasion but other than that it’s all animal products - meat, cheese, eggs, butter, etc

 

[HunterGatherer]

OK to render brisket trimmings? Pemmican has been on my radar forever but I haven't started it yet, got about 25 lbs of brisket trim in the freezer right now.

Probably okay but if there is any meat still attached it will flavor the fat as it cooks. Maybe not a problem depending on your preference but I don’t like a cooked meat flavor in my pemmican.

 

[The Guide]

OK , I have a whole Moose brisket , would that work well for this ?

I would say yes as long as it is clean of fat and isn't marbled like briskets can some times be. For the best out come you'd use lean stringy meat sliced very thin prior to drying (thinner than jerky is typically sliced).

Jay

 

[hibernation]

Yeah this is what I was wondering about, does beef tallow do better about not liquifying in hot weather?

Better than any type of pork fat, definitely. But it'll still get pretty melty in your pack during actual warm weather though.

 

[hibernation]

I've used coconut oil with good success here too, if anyone has a tub of that but no beef tallow. Solid at reasonable temps, good flavor, went well with dried elk and dried fruit with a little added honey.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I've used coconut oil with good success here too, if anyone has a tub of that but no beef tallow. Solid at reasonable temps, good flavor, went well with dried elk and dried fruit with a little added honey.

Interesting twist and does sound like it would pair well with a fruity recipe.

 

[taskswap]

I would like to clarify an earlier statement that I made. Bacteria need water to GROW. I shouldn't have used the term "live". The one thing you do need to be thoughtful about is good old fashioned food safety. Make sure your meat is fresh and handled well to begin with. You can still get sick if you eat pemmican made with meat that was contaminated before you made it. Anything in the tallow will get killed by the rendering process but there may or may not be enough residual heat in it to kill what's in the meat when you pour it in.

I personally strongly believe a few days in the deep freeze are a smart idea if you're making this, because parasites exist, too, and their eggs have been shown to be highly resistant to cooking temperatures and being dried out for periods of time. But deep freezing does kill them. I've never seen anybody make pemmican with rabbit or pork, which would be the highest risks, but elk frolic in all kinds of pastures. You never know.

Personally, I wouldn't use a high quality cut of meat for this. By the time you grind it up, tenderness just doesn't matter any more. IMO this is a great use of neck and rib meat, as well as off cuts from front quarters. But YMMV.