Pemmican
It appears the village bullies are preparing to follow Chogan into the forest. Kanti thinks it won’t be pretty if they can trap Chogan alone in the woods. So what does Chogan do? He grabs grease Mother was saving to make pemmican. Since we will mention pemmican many times as the story unfolds, perhaps we should let Rory and Annika show us how to make pemmican. They can do that while Chogan and Kanti gather supplies for their trip into the woods.
Slicing Meat
Pemmican was the Ojibway people’s equivalent of our trail mix. The dried meat and fat mixture provided high-density calories that almost never spoiled. It was the perfect food for long trips. Native Americans did not have refrigerators like we do, but they discovered harmful bacteria cannot survive without water. Cutting meat into thin strips for drying is the first step in making pemmican. Chogan’s mother cut her strips of meat with a bone or stone knife. That is too much work for Rory who prefers a meat slicer.
Drying meat
To dry her meat and remove harmful moisture, Mother hung strips of meat on racks near the fire. It was smoky, but smoke also helps preserve meat. Once the meat was dry, it tasted like our meat jerky. Sometimes she would keep her meat as jerky, but we want to make pemmican.
Drying meat today is much simpler with the store-bought, food dehydrator machines. Rory decided she could do just as well by placing her meat in the oven and turning it to “warm.” She doesn’t want the meat to get too hot or it will cook and destroy its vitamin C.
Grinding Dried Meat
Rory now grinds the dried meat into a course powder. Native Americans didn’t have food grinders like the one in the picture on the left. They placed their dried meat on a flat stone and then ground it into a power with second stone. This is also how they made corn meal from whole kernels of corn.
Rendering Fat
Rendered fat is the second ingredient needed to make pemmican. When animal fat is heated to 240 degrees Fahrenheit, the liquid inside the fat cells leaks out. This is rendered fat and will look like bacon grease (which is also rendered fat). The chunks of animal fat must be cooked until all the water boils off and the rendered fat separates from the remaining solids called “cracklin.” The picture on the right show rendered fat (a white solid when cool) on the blue plate and the solid cracklin on the red plate.
Mixing Meat and Fat
Rory and Annika now mix equal parts of ground jerky with the rendered fat. If prepared properly and all the water has been removed from the meat and rendered fat, the pemmican should last many months without refrigeration.
Storing Pemmican
Chogan’s mother would have stored her pemmican in an animal skin or possibly the stomach of a moose. Since Annika couldn’t find any moose stomachs, she decided to store her pemmican in a cupcake container. If the pemmican is to last a long time, Annika will need to seal the pemmican in a water-proof baggy or Tupperware container.
Now let's get back to the story. I'm anxious to find out what Chogan is planing to do with the rendered fat he "borrowed" from his mother.
Warning: Pemmican does not meet today's high food processing standards and could be hazardous to your health.