Pemican?

Anyone try real pemmican, not the brand name? Looking at online sources (reliability ????) the claims are that it lasts for years at room temperature and has all the necessary vitamins and minerals for a complete meal.
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I might give it a try.

Nope, haven't tried real pemmican, but there have been discussions of more heathful and palatable versions in this forum. I'm thinking dark chocolate for the fat and craisins were mentioned.

Please let us know how you do with this if you proceed.

CamperMom

I'd be curious to try it. As a history nerd, I think making a batch from the ground up and using it on a proper adventure alongside hard tack would be absolutely fantastic!


From what I recall, it must have the berries crushed into it, otherwise its vitamin content is quite low and a frequent user over long time periods could end up with a case of scurvy or other fun "olde times" diseases.

That's also true of dehydrated or freeze-dried fruit; either dehydration process destroys the Vitamin C. I always take a multi vitamin pill daily.

That I did not know. I think I'll add a daily multi to my daily dose of Glucosamine-Chondroitin while on the trail.

If your diet is balanced enough otherwise, any source of Vitamin C is sufficient. Many of the powdered electrolyte type drinks contain C.

Also, unless you're out for several weeks at a time, you don't need to worry--you won't get scurvy on a 2-4 day trip!

My version of pemmican after much research on the subject ended up being,
A trail mix consisting of the following!

Dark chocolate covered raisins
Sea salted macadamia nuts
And peppered jerky

I've done several overnighters carrying only this during summer fly fishing trips ! Never hungry !

Even while not catching fish,

Just tred a new batch where you run cooked bacon and dried cranberries through a food processor ad a little salt press and vacuum seal

Was rather tastey!

I've never tried real native american pemican but I would love to. I've read that was key in making the first successful cross continent Upper North American explorations for the NW Passage. The name of the explorer who took the time to learn how the aboriginals survived the winters escapes me, but bringing pemican was a major factor in his successful crossing. There must be some references to the recipes they used. I know it was fat and pulverized meat, but beyond that I don't recall. I don't think it was considered very tasty by the immigrants though.

I've had it, and it wasn't too bad, although *very* rich.. The stuff I had was essentially moosemeat jerky, dried and chopped up fine (I believe actually cuisinart'ed mixed about half and half with melted lard and a healthy dose of dried saskatoon berries and rosehips for good measure, then made into fist size balls. I'm sure traditionally the fat would have been rendered buffalo or bear - pretty sure the stuff I had was just plain old lard

A good ball of it would keep you going for a while, even in the cold, and while it's definately a hunger buster, I wouldn't call the stuff I had anything like amazing.

Hey...phat's back!

I made a small batch and didn't like it all that much. I rendered some elk fat and then made elk jerky that was really dry. Basically how my links describe making it. To me...very bland. But, I will try again...but with seasonings. I also think the fat had freezer burn on it...might have been a factor in the taste. I did put a bunch of the rendered fat in a glass jar and left it in my cupboard with the lid off. It is a test to see if it goes rancid. It has been a while and so far so good. I think I made it in July...so 8 months ago?

I think it has a lot of merit....just have to figure out how I like it.

I don't think Elk fat would be so good at it - it's a bit too hard for that I think. I'd try it with buffalo or bear if you can get it and render it down (like lard) or try cheating with lard.

Beef fat and buffalo are pretty close - Elk is more like deer fat.

Well, I think I will try beef next.