Here's a copy of a post from another list, if anyone knows more please advise...

Todd Moody wrote:
> Also, the warm fat begins to cool instantly when added to the dried meat.  Indeed, if you wanted to hasten this, I suppose you could refrigerate the dried meat first.

The risk is of destroying enzymes, which make pemmican IMO qualify as food.



>   One reason why it tastes like candle wax is that candle wax is, in fact, mainly stearic acid.  Same for crayons, a traditional grade-school treat. You can buy bulk stearic acid from chemical supply companies.  It's very cheap.  It comes in granules or flakes.

Aha! So it's something that nobody experiences as food. The fog lifts.

> The more liquid a fat is, the more unsaturated it is.  Kidney fat is hard at room temp because it's so saturated.  The more unsaturated a fat is, the more prone to oxidation spoilage it is.  For the native Americans, the whole point of pemmican was that it was a food that could be made in bulk and stored for the winter or for long overland travel in the warm seasons, without fear of spoiling.  If you use more muscle fat, it might be a good idea to keep the pemmican refrigerated until you eat it.

The modern instructions for making pemmican include rendering the fat at 250°F and keeping it there for several hours. I assume that this would drive off the water and maybe whatever else makes it likely to spoil; if true, muscle fat could be used.
>
> As others have pointed out, muscle fat is a symptom of obesity.  You wouldn't find much of it in wild animals.  Subcutaneous fat, kidney fat, hump fat, are a different story.

The local (W Quebec) aboriginal Americans are supposed to have used bear fat when they made their pemmican. Much fat on a fall bear.
Farther west there were older buffalo/bison; old ones should have had enough hide fat.
>
> A reason why cold-water fish are so high in PUFA is that if they weren't, the cold water temperatures would cause their bodies to harden.
>
>
Hm. I wonder if that might apply to us. If so I will have to change my opinion of L. Cordain.

Thanks for the illuminating reply.

William

The thing I like about pemmican is the idea that it will allow me to travel some place with no fear of having to completely break down my diet to a very poor level. I am planning on vacationing in the Caribbean over this Winter and am assuming that if I don't bring pemmican with me I'll be forced to eat mostly cooked foods and the meats will probably be grain fed. There will probably be plenty of tropical raw fruits and some vegetables but the pesticide question will be there for them.

Perhaps I could find a good seafood place and they could just sear my fish but there's also the economic question. I could bring 20 lbs of pemmican with me and it would cost way less than eating out a couple times a day for a week.

I agree with the concern, however for occasional use it is still the time-tested and proven way.
The meat is still raw and grass-fed organic.
I can't get grass-fed organic fat.

What do we lose when fat is heated? I ask because mixing raw fat and ground jerky does not taste good.

Undoubtably lost are some types of fatty acids changed in cooking as well as fat soluble vitamins and obviously water soluble since you're taking out the water.