Fruit

PREPARING THE MEAT
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Slice and dry as you would for jerky; it must be dry enough to break rather
than bend. Break it up by hand or with a food processor. Some people like
it powdered, some prefer a more granular texture. Add the spices or other
flavorings, if any.
NEW QUESTION: Other than with a food processor or blender, how do you
grind the meat? with some kind of knife, mallet, mortar & pestle, etc.?
PREPARING ("rendering") THE SUET
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This is the part of the process about which there is the most confusion.
Apparently the idea is to remove the skins or rinds, as well as any water.
UPDATE: re removing water: one person recommends actually adding some
water at first, to prevent burning. During cooking, the water settles to
the bottom and boils away. You can see the little blobs of water at the
bottom of the pan; it's done when they're gone.
Cut the suet into small chunks, and heat it in a pan over LOW heat -- don't
let it get hot enough to smoke, as it may give the pemmican a bad taste.
UPDATE: -- and have other unpleasant side effects such as adding
impurities to the food, annoying your spouse, etc.
The best explanation I found for this process was from Bob Baldwin on Oct.
30. He wrote:
>This process take a while
>and you will end up with melted fat and brown globs of stuff (it's
>not a gross as it sounds). Pour the whole works through a sieve into another
>pan (I got a large sieve at Target - it doesn't need to be giant) and
>discard the globs -- I use a coffee can. I then pu a couple of layers
>of cheese cloth in the sieve and filter the fat again. Now you have the
>fat.
QUESTIONS:
1. What about removing moisture? Does it settle to the bottom of the pan,
so that it's easy to separate? Or does it just boil or evaporate away?
2. Ray's book says to "render" the suet twice -- "render" apparently means
the whole process of heat, filter, and cool. Is twice really necessary?
(Bob doesn't think so, and the recipe in the archive doesn't call for it.)
UPDATE: another person says one rendering is enough.
FINAL PREPARATION
http://www.paleofood.com/pemmican.htm (2 of 3) [5/17/2004 5:15:00 PM]