Pemmican from Native Americans

As you might know, I've been researching how to feed ourselves based on ancient history.  Pemmican has fascinated me for years, so I looked up how to make it.  It's really no different from making a granola bar or something similar.

In a fiction tale I wrote years ago about pre-history people in the Klamath area in pre-Oregon, USA, I had my characters make pemmican often. When food was scarce as they traveled, or when they were in isolation, they would pull out their pemmican.

Hope you like it!

PEMMICAN:
(Rabbit would do very well here since it is extremely lean, very little fat, if any. You could also use chicken, quail, bison, deer, etc.  Trust the source of your meat!)  Freeze very lean meat until you can slice it into very thin slices.  Dehydrate/dry at a temp just barely below 118 degrees F. until quite crispy. You can smoke it if you have a fly problem, or just make sure it's in a fine mesh/weave to keep bugs off.   Grind into a very fine powder. 

At the same time, dry/dehydrate very nutritious fruit, like blueberries, apples or cranberries, and grind these into a very fine powder. 

Mix the powdered meat and powdered fruit until well combined. 

Add in clean melted/liquid (cook and strain out any solid bits) animal fat until just enough to keep it together (I prefer bacon fat since I always have it but in the future, I may have to use something else). You could also use coconut or olive oil but this might shorten the life of the pemmican as you will need to keep a "nose out" for rancidity.

You could also add dehydrated and powdered nuts (walnut, almond, chestnut) or seeds (sunflower, flax, etc) and/or grains but these also might shorten the life of the pemmican.

Form into tiny 1-bite balls. Should hold together very well.
OR
Spread on a tray in a thin layer. Slice into small bars and store in jars or baggies. I would separate the layers with wax paper, or clean and dry edible leaves.

Feel free to add spices or herbs. Some people make dessert versions (with nuts, real cocoa powder, a tiny bit of honey for trace nutrients, and cinnamon) and others make it more of a meal (with onion or garlic powder, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, or whatnot).

These may last weeks, months or even years.  Good to make at least once a season, or whenever you have the supplies. Make enough to tide you over until the next time you can harvest an animal and/or get all of the supplies together.

You actually can live off of this.  It's very nutritious, has fat, protein and good nutrients. Travels well because it's very light.

Also good for your dogs!

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