Pemmican

[yon yonson]

cool, so it seems like it shouldn't be a problem. another question though: i feel pretty confident that i'll be able to get good quality raw meat where im going, but it might be hard finding enough fat. would it be feasible to just bring rendered suet along as my source of fat? would that have the same keeping qualities as pemmican or would it spoil? this would be preferable for me to do as i have loads of free suet from my butcher but getting enough lean meat to make an equal amount of jerky is expensive.

[Guittarman03]

Just a couple weeks ago I took a 1 lb ribeye through security.  I could see the wrinkles in their eyes as it was going through the scanner, so I told em it was a steak, to which they laughed, told me about someone who brought a roast through recently, and I was on my merry.  Then I ate it during my layover.  I've found it's actually pretty easy to get away with it right out in public and here's how/why:

Eat it wrapped up in wax paper like maybe it was a burger.  Stay leaned over w/ elbows on knees, hands dropped, one holding the steak, the other covering the opening.  Most of the time is spent chewing anyways.  People see that your eating, but almost no one actually takes the time (or cares) to examine what you're eating.  It's one of those, you see what you want to see - since eating a raw steak is so far outside the box, it's not anything anyone really would expect to see; and thus, they don't.  

And if anyone did and ask me about it, well there's another person who learns for the first time about RPD... lol, or I've just met one of you guys.        

[Ioanna]

another question though: i feel pretty confident that i'll be able to get good quality raw meat where im going, but it might be hard finding enough fat. would it be feasible to just bring rendered suet along as my source of fat? would that have the same keeping qualities as pemmican or would it spoil? this would be preferable for me to do as i have loads of free suet from my butcher but getting enough lean meat to make an equal amount of jerky is expensive.

i'm not sure why you want to render it first, but it should keep just fine forever so long as you have either separated completely the water or rendered at a high enough temp to boil off the water.  any remaining water will allow for mold growth. 

are you traveling with it?  i've never rendered suet, so i'm not sure the consistency, but anything creamy or gel-like might not be allowed.  just be sure it is very solid upon going through security would be my advise.

[yon yonson]

i'm not sure why you want to render it

so it will keep longer. my trip will probably be a month or so long. you can't really just keep suet unrefrigerated for that long

[Raw Kyle]

That would be a good idea. You could even break it up into bite size pieces after it hardens and eat those with your lean meat the way you would eat fresh suet. I would keep the cracklins too and mix it all together.

[William]

That would be a good idea. You could even break it up into bite size pieces after it hardens and eat those with your lean meat the way you would eat fresh suet. I would keep the cracklins too and mix it all together.

Tallow/rendered suet keeps for years at room temperature, but the cracklins/scruncheons go bad in a few days.

[yon yonson]

awesome. so i think im gonna try this out when i go on my trip. i'll make some pemmican with the beef jerky that i already have and use the rest of the suet to just make tallow. as long as the tallow holds up, i think i should be fine. oh, im also gonna dehydrate some organs and mix that in with the pemmican i make. we'll see how that goes.

[Neone]

I am going to be making some pemmican for shits and giggles.. I was wondering if there was a reason you couldnt grind the meat and spread it on something mesh-y to dry out?  I would imagine that it would be easier to powder this way but thought I would ask first.

[lex_rooker]

Neone,
You can grind  the meat first if you like but I wouldn't try to use ground meat from the market.  Way to much fat which will go rancid in a very short  time.  Just choose very lean meat like eye of round, cut off all the fat and then grind that.  This way you will be sure to have very little fat.

Also, If you are going to make pemmican from the meat then don't season it at all.  Just dehydrate it plain without salt, pepper, or other seasoning.  You can always add this to the pemmican when you make it.  What tastes good in jerky will be way to salty in pemmican.  You can take a look at my pemmican manual for instructions.

http://www.traditionaltx.us/images/PEMMICAN.pdf

Lex