Pemmican

Pemmican is one of the oldest preserved foods in North America, developed by Indigenous peoples as a portable, calorie-dense fuel for long journeys and harsh winters. This version uses caribou jerky ground to a powder, mixed with dried cranberries and raisins, sweetened with brown sugar, and bound together with melted suet.

The suet is what makes pemmican shelf-stable. Once it cools and hardens around the ground meat and dried fruit, it seals everything in a solid block of preserved fat that resists spoilage. The cranberries and raisins add tartness and chewiness, while the brown sugar softens the intensely savory, concentrated flavor of the ground jerky.

This isn’t a snack bar. It’s serious trail food, compact and energy-rich, meant for backcountry trips and survival situations where lightweight, no-cook calories matter.

Kitchen Tips

• Run the jerky through the grinder multiple times until it’s almost a powder. Coarse pieces don’t bind well with the suet and the texture becomes crumbly.
• Melt the suet slowly over low heat. Overheating gives it a burnt, tallowy taste.
• Press the mixture firmly into the loaf pan so it sets into a solid block with no air pockets.
• Store in a cool, dry place. Properly made pemmican can last for months without refrigeration.

Variations

• Use beef or venison jerky if caribou isn’t available.
• Add dried blueberries or saskatoon berries for a more traditional Plains-style pemmican.
• Mix in a handful of crushed nuts for extra protein and crunch.