How To Make Dry Meat And Pemmican.

How To Make Dry Meat And Pemmican.

With the ongoing pandemic, it’s unsure if things will get better or if they will get worse, so it’s a great idea to learn how to make food that our people have survived off of for thousands of years, just in case we need to start leaving off the land once again.

So how do we even start to make dry meat? and what is pemmican?

lets find out together on How To Make Dry Meat And Pemmican.

So what is Dry Meat and Pemmican?

Before there was beef jerky there was dry meat.

Dry meat and pemmican have been a traditional food in the diet of First Nations people since the beginning of Turtle Island. During the cold winters, Many different tribes would have survived on dry meat as it would good for a long time for many moons.

Pemmican is a sweet paste that is made out of different ingredients mixed into one to make a delicious traditional dessert.

This dry meat can be made out of any meat that you can get but deer, moose, and other big animals are usually used.

So how do you make it?

First, Go Hunting.

Easier said than done, hunting has always been apart of many tribes across North America and all around the world.

Before hunting, make sure to take the proper precautions before you head out, e.i, Personal Protective Equipment, permits, etc.

There also many other things and protocols to consider before you do go out hunting, so make sure to educate yourself before you hunt or else bring along an expert on hunting. Above all else, be careful.

Cutting Up The Meat.

So after your done killing your animal you must skin it, butcher it and cut up your meat. Make sure to save the white fat of the animals as it will be used later on in the pemmican making process.

Next, we have to cut the meat into thin slices in order for the meat to dry.

With a sharp knife, you’re going want to start cutting your meat into long thin slices in order for your meat to be big enough to hang onto racks or poles.

After you are done cutting your meat you can then marinate it. This part is optional as our people did not have readily available stuff to marinate the meat with, so if you want traditional tasting meat then plain is the way to go. If you want a taster type of meat then marination is the way to go.

Prime Rib seasoning, Salt, pepper, and brown sugar should do the trick for marinating. After your putting in your desired amount you then you can put it in the fridge and let it marinate overnight.

Build A Fire And Smoke House.

So if you’re going to make dry meat, you’re going to need a place to dry it.

If you already happen to have a smokehouse then great, if not then I will briefly go over how to make one and what wood to use during your fire.

First, you must make a tipi like structure like the one seen above, with poles with similar characteristics such as height and width.

After assembly on the structure, you must then make an inner structure of horizontal poles, sort of like the picture above.

After that, you have to wrap the structure with a large tarp of canvas material in order to block out the wind and to contain the heat in one area so the meat drys faster.

Next is our fireplace, You must dig a circular hole directly in the center of our tipi and right underneath the horizontal pole structure. After digging the hole comes making the fire,

The best choice for fire wild to dry meat would have to be the deadfall from a popular tree since you will smoke the meat for a long time, a significant amount of deadfall will be needed.

After you have started the fire you can let it begin to heat up for about an hour or so and start placing your thin strips of meat, evenly spaced apart, onto the horizontal poles.

If you can the strips too short they might end up falling off that’s why its important to cut them thin but long lengthwise.

After that you can leave to dry for about 6 to 8hrs, occasionally checking the hardness of the meat and adding more firewood if needed. After about 2 to 4 hours would be a good time to flip the meat over to dry it nice and evenly.

Be careful not to make your fire to big and also be careful not to go too far. You run the risk of burning the meat, your smokehouse catching fire, or even a forest fire. So as the old saying goes, keep an eye on your food while cooking.

After about 6 to 8 hrs you can begin to start taking the meat off the racks and cooling them. Then pack the meat into resealable zip locks bags and make sure to put the date onto the bag with a sharpie marker so you know when it was made.

A deep freeze or the freezer in your fridge in usually where the dry meat is stored until it is needed to be thawed out or eaten.

Making Pemmican.

With the dry meat already made you then going need to crush the dry meat into a fine powder. You can do this in various ways, either with a new school food processor or a good old canvas bag and two rocks way.

The old school way involves putting the dry meat into a canvas bag then smashing the dry meat between the two rocks until the dry meat is a fine powder. Both ways work but the food processor would probably be easier and faster then again it all depends on what you got.

Then put the crushed meat into a container big enough to hold to contents plus more.

If you don’t have any of these ways then you have to get a little bit creative and think about what you can use around your house to crush the meat. I will leave that up to you.

Next, you’re going to need some berries. Depending upon what flavor you want Saskatoon berries are usually used amongst First Nations People as the berry of choice for pemmican but you can use any berry you want.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is to dry out the berries, you can do this in a dehydrator for 24 hours or putting the berries in the oven at 225 degrees for about 3 hours.

After your done drying the berries you again going to crush them as well into a fine powder with a food processor or the old school canvas bad and 2 rocks way. Mixing the crush berries with the crushed dry meat when your done.

Finally, we got our white fat. At this time you’re going to throw your animal fat into a pot a let it melt into a liquid. Then, pour this liquid fat into a mixture of crushed berries and meat. Next mix it around.

Then you going to cover the mixture with a lid or with saran wrap and put it in the freezer overnight.

Then you’re done! After many hours of work, you end up with a sweet delicious paste that you can put on your fry bread or eat as dessert after a yummy stew.

How Do You Make Your Dry Meat Or Pemmican From Your Tribe? Let Us Know In The Comments Below!