Pemmican is a Native American survival dish that has been round for hundreds of years. Used as a long-lasting, high-calorie meals appropriate for lengthy journeys afield or in storage, pemmican is manufactured from dried meat and rendered animal fats, and typically with different components like berries or herbs.
Pemmican usually served as a kind of survival ration for Native Individuals and later settlers from Europe, and it’s making a comeback with preppers at the moment.
Making pemmican is an concerned course of and so naturally, individuals wish to know the way finest to retailer it for max shelf life.
What’s one of the simplest ways to retailer pemmican to make it final?
Pemmican is finest saved wrapped in hermetic luggage, and stored in a cool, darkish place Different viable strategies embody freezing, burying, canning and confit, or immersion in lard.
Pemmican is a recipe that may final, however the presence of fats as an ingredient signifies that cautious storage is a should in an effort to maintain it from going rancid.
Pemmican may be saved for lengthy intervals of time, years on finish, however you have to know what you might be doing. And as you may guess there are a number of strategies that work higher than others.
On this article, we are going to talk about the alternative ways to retailer pemmican so that it’ll last more and in addition speak about the advantages and disadvantages of every technique.
What’s Pemmican, Precisely?
Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat and rendered animal fats, usually with different components like berries or herbs added in for taste.
The phrase “pemmican” comes from the Cree phrase “pimikan” which implies “fatty meat”. Pemmican was initially created by Native Individuals as a strategy to protect meat for lengthy journeys and instances of shortage.
It was an important a part of Native American life, and later grew to become a staple for European settlers in North America as nicely.
Making pemmican begins with drying the meat, which may be executed in a dehydrator or by hanging it in strips in entrance of a low hearth.
As soon as the meat is dry, it’s floor right into a powder and combined with melted fats, or tallow. The ratio of fats to meat can differ, however it’s sometimes about 50/50.
Different components like berries or herbs may be added at this level, and the combination is then wrapped tightly in a versatile casing to chill and solidify. As soon as that’s executed, the pemmican is able to portion out or retailer as is.
As soon as ready, pemmican may be eaten as is, gently pan-fried in slices, or reconstituted with water or broth to make a kind of “jerky stew.” It’s excessive in energy and protein, and due to the high-fat content material, fairly satiating in comparison with different rations.
Pemmican is making a comeback at the moment with preppers and people who find themselves concerned with survival expertise since it’s adaptable, calorie-dense, and customarily fairly good if you happen to make it proper. In essence, all the things you may want in a survival meals!
That being mentioned, in comparison with commercially produced survival fare, freeze-dried meals, and different such merchandise pemmican is devoid of synthetic preservatives and complicated packaging strategies.
Regardless of how good the recipe and course of usually are, it gained’t final wherever close to so long as an MRE or a can of Spam until you’re taking the time to retailer it accurately.
The next strategies are the perfect for that goal.
1. Wrap and Seal
The general finest technique for storing Pemmican. Merely wrap it up tightly in cling wrap or aluminum foil earlier than sealing it tightly in a Ziploc bag. Then retailer it in a cool, dry place.
Any time you are attempting to maintain fatty meals like pemmican at room temperature, warmth, gentle, and moisture are the enemies. This technique will assist to remove all three.
Conserving pemmican in your pantry is perhaps okay, however relying on its location within the dwelling and the extent of local weather management this may not be excellent.
A root cellar is tops, and even a dry and well-sealed basement can work. For those who don’t have these choices obtainable, take into account storing it in another cool location the place you retain survival provides.
Conversely, areas that have temperature swings or are naturally sizzling, humid, or in direct daylight are a no-go.
That guidelines out garages, attics, out buildings, and anywhere close to an equipment (they generate warmth!).
The fridge can be not really helpful because the fixed opening and shutting will trigger moisture to enter the packaging and hasten spoilage.
2. Freezing
Freezing pemmican is likely one of the most sure and reliable methods to maintain it contemporary. As long as you recognize it’s good stepping into, you may rely on it being good popping out.
Due to this, it’s a nice possibility for long-term storage as an emergency staple in your freezer or ice chest.
When freezing pemmican, you need to use the identical packaging strategies as above or you may go one step additional and vacuum seal it.
This isn’t strictly crucial, however if in case you have the gear it does supply an additional layer of safety and can assist to forestall freezer burn.
If utilizing freezer luggage, remember to take away as a lot air from them as attainable earlier than sealing- bubbles imply troubles!
One other factor to remember is that because the pemmican thaws it should rehydrate to a level and this may usually begin the clock ticking on spoilage.
For those who freeze pemmican to maintain it long run, be sure you eat it in a well timed trend after thawing it, and don’t depend on with the ability to maintain it contemporary an excessive amount of longer.
3. Burying
It sounds loopy, but it surely’s true. You’ll be able to bury pemmican to increase the shelf life- if you happen to do it proper!
This technique is what was generally utilized by Native Individuals after they needed to lengthen the shelf lifetime of pemmican.
By wrapping pemmican in animal pores and skin or oiled fabric, after which burying it in dry soil with a layer of wooden ash round it you may maintain pemmican for a really very long time.
This technique works as a result of it primarily retains the pemmican in a dry, alkaline setting and seals it off from each oxygen and light-weight. The wooden ash additionally helps to wick away any moisture that may attempt to infiltrate and helps to repel pests.
To do that correctly you will want to discover a location the place the soil is each dry and funky. A shady spot within the woods with good drainage will suffice.
And as a substitute of animal skins or different primitive wrappings, you may make use of contemporary butcher paper and tightly sealing plastic or steel containers.
4. Confit
Confit is a technique of cooking and preservation derived from the French phrase meaning, usually, “preserved” or “to protect”.
This technique is the place meat is salted after which cooked slowly in its personal fats earlier than being saved submerged in fats whereas inside an hermetic container the place the fats will maintain it from spoiling by stopping air from reaching the meat.
You are able to do the identical factor with pemmican after a little bit trial and error. To make this technique work, you’ll must first make the pemmican individually after which use a big amount of the identical sort of fats to retailer it in a crock or jar with a tightly sealing lid.
Simply get the fats sizzling sufficient to barely soften earlier than submerging the pemmican in it and changing the lid.
5. Canning
It’s attainable to lengthen the shelf lifetime of pemmican utilizing conventional canning strategies, however that is usually not really helpful because it normally proves to be fairly fiddly.
Any errors or errors means the high-fat content material of pemmican can go rancid comparatively shortly. Nonetheless, with some diligence it’s a viable technique.
For those who do select to go this route, remember to use food-grade cans and a stress canner. It will assist to make sure a greater seal and also will assist to kill any micro organism that is perhaps current.
Pemmican needs to be canned whereas it’s nonetheless heat and stored in a cool, darkish place till you might be prepared to make use of it. As soon as opened, pemmican canned on this approach will solely maintain for a number of weeks earlier than going dangerous.
