# Self Sufficiency/Living off the Land or Off the Grid > Making Stuff >  Homemade Pemmican Recipe

## corndog-44

My favorite pemmican recipe is simple.

I make pemmican by starting with pulverized black and hard dry jerky then mixed with beef suet equal to the weight of powdered jerky. As I take some of this pemmican from the bag I may add berries and/or nuts or I may add vegetables for stew.

What's your favorite pemmican recipe?

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## nell67

For any who do not know beef suet is beef fat or tallow,you would be surprised how many Americans do not know what beef suet is.

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## U.S.Marine2111

> For any who do not know beef suet is beef fat or tallow,you would be surprised how many Americans do not know what beef suet is.


Thanks for answering the question I was going to answer.  Now, is this something you purchase?  Is it available at the supermarket?

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## nell67

it is available online for purchase,just google beef suet and you should find a website to purchase.

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## corndog-44

Alternately, get your tallow/suet from a real butcher shop.

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## trax

the name "pemmican" comes from the Cree (and  probalby Ojibway, they're very similar languages) word for fat or lard "pimik"

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## RobertRogers

An  How to make pemmican article you can use.  This method was used 100 years ago with good results by arctic explorers.  Can't go wrong there.

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## corndog-44

This is the technique to make pemmican when your out in the woods:

Step # 1. Use fat from cooked fish or other meat in the wild to make pemmican. Soften the fat by mashing it around in your hands.

Step # 2. Dry the meat you want to preserve completely in the sun. You can also dry it slowly over a smoky fire to make pemmican.

Step # 3. Cut, grate or pound the cooked, dry meat until it is powder-like. You can use a knife, clean rocks, or whatever you have available if you are in a survival situation.

Step # 4. Add seasonings, nuts and berries to taste. Pound the berries and nuts into a powder before mixing into the meat powder.

Step # 5. Separate the meat mixture into clumps the size of golf balls. Add the fat to the clumps and mix well. You want about half and half of each in a clump to make pemmican.

Step # 6. Shape the clumps into cylinder sausage shapes. Or if you prefer, you can leave them as balls. Leave the pemmican to dry in the sun. It will harden, and as long as it is protected against moisture, it will be edible for years.

Step # 7. Eat the pemmican as is, cook it, or add it to stews for a larger meal. If you see mold forming on the pemmican, simply cut off the moldy part. The rest of it is still edible.

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## corndog-44

Forgot to mention that pemmican was originally stored in the stomach or intestines of animals. Then it was stored in rawhide bags. Modern day storage is in sealable plastic bags or other waterproof bags.

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## Rob

I know where I can get beef kidney suet will that work for the suet partof these recipices.

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## Merlin

I thank you Corndog-44   The more I read the more I learn so what did I just forget

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## corndog-44

> I know where I can get beef kidney suet will that work for the suet partof these recipices.


Yes. Another good source would the suet found around the loins. If you substitute meat with other game; moose, caribou or deer work well. Never use the meat from bear, wolf or any other carnivore.

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## RobertRogers

So if you're not eating vegetarian people, avoid turning them into pemmican.

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## HOP

Many of my chili reciepes call for suet, I would get mine at the meat market often for free. Suet is not just fat but the flaky delicious fat that can be diced and browned  I think when added for pemican it is cooked of and the liquid is added, the crispies left over are tasty.

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## trax

Pemmican was important enough during the white settlement of Manitoba that there was a war fought over it.

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## corndog-44

> Pemmican was important enough during the white settlement of Manitoba that there was a war fought over it.


Are you referring to the Battle of Seven Oaks (present day Winnipeg, Manitoba) that was fought during the Pemmican War?

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## trax

Yep. Pemmican was so essential to winter survival that Red River settlers and Metis trappers for the northwest company fought a war over it. The power brokers behind the war had far greater reasons for wanting to let the war happen (as usual) but the essentials of survival were definitely on the line.

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## trax

Very astute corndog, you must be well read in history, most people would not have known that (including most Manitobans)

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## corndog-44

> Very astute corndog, you must be well read in history, most people would not have known that (including most Manitobans)



Neither would I if it wasn't for studying-up on woodcraft skills and my interest in how the eastern longhunters survived. It was there that I read about Peter Pond and learned about the Pemmican War.

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## trax

Peter Pond was actually a student of my great, great, (I think 5x great) grandfather, Philip Turner, who was the first cartographer for the Hudson's Bay Company. I had ancestors on both sides of the Pemmican War so it's always been kind of a point of interest for me.

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## BenG2813

Wow. Interesting stuff. I am going to have to give this stuff a try.

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## erunkiswldrnssurvival

My folks would make thier favorite mixtures, but they would store it up by placeing the pemmican,wraped in cloths into a wicker basket and press it with heavy stones for several weeks. The pemmican would be rotated twice a week, to ensure even curing of moisture , and the end product would be reduced and very tightly compacted.

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## red lake

I have been making my own pemmican for a few years now for canoe trips. I don't use suet or rendered fat though. I prefer to make mine with peanut butter. Basic recipe is pulverized dried lean meat such as venison, elk or moose. Then I warm some peanut butter to a runny state and add something sweet like honey or real maple syrup. From there I will throw in some dried fruit like raisins or cranberries and nuts and seeds. I let it set and then vacuum bag small pieces. Just one or two bites is plenty for lunch and I always keep a hefty sized piece in my ditch kit.

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## sh4d0wm4573ri7

this may sound rediculous but could one substitute lard for making pemmican ? Is it not rendered fat? Just curious

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## Rick

I like that recipe, red lake. I will have to try that. 

I've never made traditional pemmican because I just don't burn that many calories when I'm out and not out long enough to justify that amount of fat intake. Even being out a week doesn't justify it in my mind. Probably good tasting but just not healthy from where I sit. The peanut butter, on the other hand.....

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## tacmedic

Lard is a lot softer than beef suet, being as it come from pigs and it is made up of a different chemical structure.  I would think that it could be used, but it will be a softer consistency than using beef suet.

red lake- how long can you keep that type of pemmican?

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## red lake

I have had pieces for well over a year and still ate them. Not sure how long they will last

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## Fletcher

Do people still eat pemmican? That stuff is nasty.

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## nell67

> Do people still eat pemmican? That stuff is nasty.


 No way dude! pemmican is good stuff!

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## Fletcher

> No way dude! pemmican is good stuff!


Come on Nell67 you like that stuff? The greasy film on the top of your mouth
is what i don't like. In this case if it works for you...............work it girl!!!!!

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## rphillips1986

An excript I read while studying the HBC gives a recipe for pemmican that consists of 50 pounds of jerky, grinded into powdered, mixed with 40 pounds hard fat and 40 pounds soft fat. This was left to cool and harden, and the whole 90 pound block then wrapped in a buffalo hide parchment. It would then be traded off to trappers and natives, and transported to other outposts.
The point of this is that it shows that both the hard fat (what you'd get renderind the beef suet) and soft fat (made from pig suet, or lard as found in the tubs at the grocery store) will work. In my studys of Pemmican spacifically, I have found various recipies from arround the world. They can be the basic fat and meat mixture or seasoned with nuts and berries. It all really depended on where you were and what was available. As long as you get the rendering of the fat right you really can't go wrong.

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## Ken

> .....you really can't go wrong.


AND, you really can't go wrong if you tell us a bit about yourself!

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

Thanks!

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## SARKY

Peanut butter The smooth kind is a very good substitute for lard/suet, you could also use cashew or almond butter. the cashew butter has more fatty oils than the almond butter.  I add what ever fruits that i've collected and dried as well as honey or mollasses. I've never tried maple syrup, i'll have to give that a try.

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## oneraindog

ok some perhaps obvious questions:

whatever you add to the mix must be dried correct? 
berries, nuts ok. what about wild greens?
must is be pulverized/powdered? how fine must it be?
what kind of jerky can be used? can you use store bought beef jerky? any kind if DONT want to use?

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## oneraindog

@red lake and/or sarky

with the peanut butter are you letting this mix dry also like with the suet? or just putting it into a container? what sort of container will keep it well?

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## rphillips1986

> AND, you really can't go wrong if you tell us a bit about yourself!
> 
> http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14
> 
> Thanks!


LOL, sorry, I'll make my introductions.
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...038#post126038

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## SARKY

oneraindog;
yes it is all dried fruit, never tried dried vedies but it should work. Yes for long term storage i let it dry usually under a press. For short term or if I just want it moist, I toss it in a container and munch away.

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## oneraindog

thanks sarky. im excited about trying this out.
what about the jerky. can you use regular store bought jerky? is there anything i DONT want to use as far as that ingredient goes?

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## Rick

You don't have any problem with the oils in the peanut butter storing it long term? Wonder if you could process this through a dehydrator? Hmmm.

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## Tx Rd Kill

Very good thread, gonna attempt to make this to see how it goes. thanks

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