How to Preserve Food for a Family Survival Kit
The food in your family survival kit has a different purpose from the food in your pantry. If you're forced to evacuate, you'll take your survival kit but not your pantry. Canning, freezing and dehydrating work well when you have utilities, plenty of space and running water, but survival foods shouldn't need them. Regardless of your circumstances, the food in your family survival kit must have a long shelf life and be compact, nutritious and ready to eat without cooking or re-hydrating. That's why pemmican is the way to go. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- 3 lbs. of lean beef
- 1 cup of berries
- Measuring cups
- Brownie pan
- Aluminum foil
- Mixing bowl
- 2 lbs. of suet
- Cast iron skillet
- Wooden spoon
- Strainer
- Mason jar
- 1/4 cup of Grade B maple syrup
- Wax paper
- Wax
Instructions
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1
Prepare the beef and the berries. Freeze the beef until it's firm, then cut it into thin slices with the large kitchen knife and sprinkle it with your choice of seasonings. Wash the berries and scoop them into one of the measuring cups.
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2
Dry the beef and berries. Line the brownie pan with the aluminum foil, pour the berries into it and put the pan in the oven. Set the oven to 150 degrees and arrange your beef slices on the remaining racks. Crack the oven door, to prevent moisture buildup, and let everything dry for about 15 hours. The meat will break easily when it's ready.
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3
Process the beef and berries. Transfer the meat, and then the berries, to a food processor and grind them into a powder. Pour the powdered meat and berries into the mixing bowl.
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4
Render the fat. Dice the suet into small pieces and transfer it to the skillet. Cook it slowly over very low heat, stirring it with the spoon until the fat stops bubbling. Pour it through the strainer, into the Mason jar, to filter out the solids.
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5
Mix the fat, beef and berries. Transfer a cup of the rendered fat to the mixing bowl. Add the quarter cup of maple syrup and stir everything with the spoon. Let the pemmican sit until it's firm, then knead it into palm-sized balls.
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6
Pack the pemmican for storage. Wrap each ball in wax paper and dip the wrapped balls in hot wax. If you make the pemmican properly, you can keep it in your family survival kit for up to 20 years.
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Tips & Warnings
One-half to 1 1/2 lb. of pemmican per day will sustain a person indefinitely. Use this as a guide when you decide on the amount of pemmican to add to your family survival kit.
On an all-pemmican diet, you'll lose about 10 percent of your body weight during the first two weeks. Your hunger will also increase, and as your body adjusts to the new diet, you're likely to experience headaches, diarrhea, nausea and muscle cramps. After this adjustment period, your hunger will disappear.
