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Pemmican

Bill-Chicago

somebody shut me the fark up.

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Professor Dickweed
As we approach deer hunting season, I know alot of you make Jerky.

You ever pound your jerky with a rock?

Here's some survivalist primitive cooking tips:

My survival interests and training fall mostly in the area of wilderness
survival. I have worked with the Boy Scouts
and Explorers at summer camps teaching: wilderness survival, First Aid,
camping and cooking merit badges. While most of this is geared towards
younger folks it is still the basics of what can keep you alive. Also,
If you know how do do something with nothing, think how much easier it
is to do when you are prepared and/or have some items of 'luxury'.
I Thought I would share some thoughts and info on primitive cooking.
I won't cover the actual hunting or trapping of wild game. I will leave
that up to others or perhaps a later post. I will assume that you
already have in hand the item we are going to be cooking.

1) Jerky. Jerky is an excellent method of preparing/preserving meat
that you have acquired. It will store for great lengths of time if kept
dry and in addition to being tasty is easy to carry. Jerky can be made
by cutting long thin strips of meat, of which as much fat has been
removed as possible. Keep this fat for a later recipe. If it is
possible soak the cut meat strips in a strong salt water mixture. This
can be made by adding salt to water or boiling down sea water to
increase the salt volume. This is not critical and if no salt is
available don't worry. The next step is to hang the strips. If you
have a string you can poke a small hole in on end of the meat and thread
the string through the holes. Tie off the string to a couple of trees
to suspend meat about 5 feet off of the ground. The same thing can be
done with a thin branch if no string is available. A small fire will be
built beneath this so find/make an area appropriate to the task. The
height is to keep small critters from eating your food before you do and
the fire is to keep away flies so keep a small supply of green wood
available to keep it smoking. The fire should be low enough that the
heat is not cooking the meat. The drying will be done by the wind and
the sun. Cover the meat at night and keep it out of the rain. When it
is done the meat will have turned almost black on the outside and be dry
through out. If the hanging method is not suitable to the area you are
in (like a desert region) the meat can be laid on flat rocks and turned
over occasionally to allow thorough drying. Be creative. You know what
the end result is supposed to be so do what it takes to get there.

Jerky is good food but it lacks fat. Fat is where the majority of the
calories are and you want the calories. To get around this little
problem someone came up with the idea of pemmican.

2)Pemmican. Take some of the jerky you have prepared and shred it by
pounding with a rock or other suitable 'tool'.
Remember the fat we removed from the meat for the jerky? Well now is
when it gets used. Cut the fat into chunks about the size of a walnut.
Then slowly cook these pieces over a low heat to cook the grease out of
the lumps. Don't let this boil up as we want to keep the now liquid
fat. This liquid fat is then poured over the shredded meat and mixed
together in about 50-50 proportions. The consistency should be about
that of sausage. This can then be stored in bags or in pouches made of
animal hide. It takes about 5 lbs. of fresh lean meat to make one pound
of pemmican.

You can live on this for quite some time although it lacks some
vitamins. These can be supplemented with greens and other plants you
find in the area or during your travel. If you are of reasonable health
when you start though this is not critical until you get up around a
month or so but the variety of diet is nice.

If it is desired, I can post on cooking with clay and other things
next. Let me know.
 
Bill: interesting info distantly related to Q. Since you seem to be an avid survivalist, perhaps you be would interested in learning about roadkill harvesting techniques.
 
No thanks

The branch of survivalism I am into is more about preparing for the worst.

Road kill is a happenstance that may be added to your diet after the beginning of hell, but should not be counted on.

Had trouble locating a half ton of wheat last night.
 
Bill. I am going to make some jerky in the bandera is a good brine good enough to preserve the meat or should I get some commercial cure to be safe...Im using beef rump roast
 
cookswithfire said:
Bill. I am going to make some jerky in the bandera is a good brine good enough to preserve the meat or should I get some commercial cure to be safe...Im using beef rump roast

I usually stock up on the commercial stuff already shrink wrapped.

Was it Jorge, or Kapndsl that make jerky? Can't remember
 
parrothead said:
Bill, any info on how to make your own toilet paper?

Just follow these steps:

1. cut a chunk out of a cherry tree limb that is about 4" in diameter and also 4" long, making sure to leave the bark on.

2. drill a 1" hole through the middle.

3. put the toilet paper dowel through the hole and start using
 
willkat98 said:
cookswithfire said:
Bill. I am going to make some jerky in the bandera is a good brine good enough to preserve the meat or should I get some commercial cure to be safe...Im using beef rump roast

I usually stock up on the commercial stuff already shrink wrapped.

Was it Jorge, or Kapndsl that make jerky? Can't remember
Bill--It was me among others.
I make lots of Jerky-just took about 10 pounds on the Texas trip for my kiddos.
Never tried the Bandera for cooking jerky. I use an Excalibur 2500 dehydrator which holds 8 pounds pre-cooked weight. Curing temp is 140 to 145 for about 10 hours.
Somewhere on the Forum is a thread about using the Bandera. I would not like to spend that much time trying to hold low heat. Also, dehydrating is all about airflow and lots of it, not heat. I am sure you could get it done in the Bandera, just not my cup of tea.
I use Bottom Round or London Broil for the beef version. In season, my deer hunter friends bring me venison which I do up on "Halvsies".
If I can get caught up from my post-trip projects, I will post my recipe over in files.
TIM
 
I think an ideal method would involve the Bandera on the front end and an electric dehydrator to finish. That way, you can get the smoke with the ease and control of an electric dehydrator. It's what I do with peppers and tomatoes sometimes.
 
On the bandera I hang strips of bottom round that have soaked in Dale's sauce for about an hour from stainless steel skewers. I have four sausage hooks and lay the skewers across the top. Works pretty good.
 
Im with Mark on that...but :roll: my question was...will brine be enough to preserve or should I get some cure (sodium nitrate etc.) or Dales Sauce
 
Best cure for your meat is Old ugly snatch. That will cure it everytime.
 
Chris:

Home made recipes don't call for nitrates/nitrites (example: http://www.recipezaar.com/42272?path=0110A0105)

Commercial jerky does use it. So you don't have to but it might be wise especially from a safety if left unrefrigerated perspective. Something like Morton's Tender Quick also imparts a certain amount of flavor.
 
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