[pct-l] Pemmican

[Scott Williams]

Regarding the beef jerky, I don't remember what the cuts were, not brisket
as that was more expensive, but they were really large, cheap roasts I got
at a Smart and Final store.  I cut them into sections based on the flow of
fat and sinew and trimmed it down to very lean sections of roast which I
then hand sliced into very thin slabs.  All of this takes a good and very
sharp fillet knife.  Don't try it with a cheap, dull knife or you may lose
a lot of good lean meat and it will take you a long time.  The leaner you
can trim it the better as the fat is what will go rancid long before the
lean will go bad.  Even with a good knife it takes some time.

I then added quite a bit of fresh, crushed garlic, onion powder, course
kosher salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, thyme, sage and any other spices
that struck my fancy, and a cup or more of soy sauce to one 10 lb roast.  I
don't eat sugar, but brown sugar is a classic addition.  I never measured
any of this, tasting it as I worked with the batch as if it were steak
tartar.  If it tastes good raw, it will be great dried when everything gets
even more concentrated.  Each batch was different.  Some were really spicy
and others more subdued.  It was fun coming upon the different batches over
the summer.  I found I liked the spicier ones best of all.

After mixing it all together I lay the strips on metal racks in my smoker
and lit a very small fire.  I smoked them over hickory, oak and alder for 5
or 6 hours at no higher than 110 deg. F.  Then all of it was piled into a
dehydrator and dried at no more than 110 deg, until it was crisp dry, 8 to
24 hours later.  The thinner the beef the quicker this takes.  The smoking
is optional and was done more for flavor than for preservation, as it is
preserved by the near total elimination of moisture and addition of salt.
 Everything else is just for flavor.

The finished beef jerky was kept in large zip lock bags for several months
until I weighed and packed it in smaller zip locks and sometimes vacuum
sealed some of it.  It tasted as good when I ate it at the  Canadian border
as it did when I first dried it some 10 months before.  If it is totally
dry and devoid of fat, it is very shelf stable.  It, along with dried fish,
berries and many other foods, were staples for mankind for millennia.

I like the process and handling of the large pieces of beef (it took a lot
of drying of everything to feed me for 4 1/2 months on trail), so if that
much butchering seems daunting, try Chuck's suggestion of using very lean
ground beef instead of a roast.  When at Timberline in 2010, I was treated
to some really good beef Jerky made just as Chuck suggests.  It has a
different texture, more like the pemican we've been talking about, without
the fat however, but was really delicious.  I'm going to try this myself
for this season's hikes.  Thanks Steel Eye.

So the keys are, very lean beef, enough salt and spices to make it taste
good, and then really thorough drying.  Smoke it if you can, but if not,
maybe just add some "Liquid Smoke" which you can get at any supermarket.

Sorry I don't remember what cuts I used, but there were several, and they
all turned out really well.

Good luck and bon appetite.

Shroomer

On Thu, Jan 10, 2013 at 8:36 PM, greg mushial <gmushial at gmdr.com> wrote:

> > Message: 38
> > Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2013 18:38:27 -0800
> > From: Scott Williams <baidarker at gmail.com>
> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] Pemmican
> > To: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com>
> > Cc: pct-l at backcountry.net
> > Message-ID:
> > <CAGxcj13M5tP77R+HDVnOTvxEqvrjtc21VOyTtyXuPDJ4qyMO8A at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
> >
> > To shift to beef jerky for a moment, most of what you buy is very moist,
> > therefore heavier and not as stable once the package is opened.  The
> stuff
> > I make myself starts as very thinly sliced cheap beef roast that is then
> > salted and spiced and dehydrated so dry that it is almost like beef corn
> > chips.  It is so dry that what I made 14 months ago is still delicious
> > just
> > kept in a zip lock.  I used it out of hand on trail because it was really
> > tasty and then broke it up to rehydrate it with different meals.  It
> seems
> > the commercial jerky is attempting to be tender and moist, but I love it
> > really dry and crunchy.
> >
> > Shroomer
>
> This sounds interesting/appealing - can you offer more details in terms of
> what you bought (cuts of meat - what cheap roasts - or does it matter); how
> your prep'd it (what spices, beyond the salt you mention); how you sliced
> it - by hand or on a lunchmeat slicer; what dehydrating temperature; and
> about keeping it fresh during the hike - any concerns at all, or no
> concerns
> etc.
>
> thanks - TheDuck
>
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