Elk/moose, Dried Meat

1. The meat is cut into sheets, about 1/2 inch thick. If you see how it's done, then it's much easier.

2. You can sprinkle it with salt and pepper if you want to and the pepper may help to keep flies away.

3. Hang the sheets over a pole to dry in the wind and sun. Keep a fire going underneath, to keep the flies away.

Elk/moose, Pemmican

Pemmican was the original, WORLD WIDE "Trail-Mix" or emergency food; it was not invented in the United States, by indigenous North American peoples, or even in the Americas.

Pemmican is best made in August.

1. First dry the meat as above.

2. Cook meat in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Pound well with hammer and mix with marrow or grease.

3. Add berries or diced onions if you like.

4. Put pemmican into those ever useful freezer bags.

5. Freeze; cut in slices.

For other recipes treat moose, caribou, elk, bear, sheep, or goat meat as if it were beef, but please remember – Because of the usual low fat content, by preference, game meat is seldom ever broiled or roasted. Bear meat should be cooked thoroughly as for pork

General or Basic Process of Drying Meat, Including How to Use.

• Any lean meat; remove all visible fat-will go rancid quickly.

• Do not cook. Keep from moisture at all times. Brush with salt before drying aids preservation; pepper keeps flies away. Properly dried keeps months.

• Hang high away from animals and covered from egg-laying flies. Wash mouldy spots (harmless) before cooking to eat.

Jerky:

Preferably beef or venison flank. Cut 1-1/x/4" strips, any length. Dry same process until shoe-leather brittle 12 hours to 2 days) will keep year or more in cool dry place.

Pemmican

Powdered jerky, mixed 50/50 with paste of dried berries (any) or fruit pulp & melted suet rolled into balls.

Store in watertight material or dip in more suet for extra coating. Will keep years; highly nutritious classic survival food.

Fish drying\Split down back or fillet; sun dry on rocks. Grind bones, meat, add to stew, patties, etc. Don't eat raw (parasites.

Small Game, Birds

Dry whole, on rocks or on racks in sun; prop ribs open with stick. When dry; crush bones, and then leave an extra day to dry marrow.

To Smoke Fish or Meat:

Cut red willow; put into a hibachi or into any old metal can with a vent hole cut in it. Sprinkle water over flames if necessary to keep them down; keep feeding the smoker with willow, being careful at all times not to let it burst into flames.

Elk (in North American Only, Moose), Jerky (Oven Dried)

Elk/Moose, Jerky  (Oven Dried)

2-1/2-3 lbs. round steak cut 2 ins. thick

2 large onions, finely diced

2 tsp. oregano or sage

2 cloves garlic, mashed

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Trim and discard all fat and gristle.

2. Slice meat thinly, 1/8 inch, across grain.

3. Layer meat in a large crock or bowl, spreading onion and sprinkling seasoning over each layer; cover and chill at least overnight, or up to 24 hours.

4. Arrange meat in shallow pans (fills 3, 10 by 15) or stretch the meat directly over the oven racks, allowing the meat to touch but not overlap.

5. Let the meat dry at 200 F for 6-7 hours or at 150 F for 11 hours or overnight, until it is dry and hard.

6. Remove meat from oven; cool; store in airtight freezer bags.

The above are modern recipes, but they work very well and are a heck of a lot less work than the traditional methods.

Recipe,Elk (moose)), Dried Meat Used to Make Pemmican.

Elk (moose), Dried Meat

 1. The meat is cut into sheets, about 1/2 inch thick. If you see how it's done, then it's much easier.

2. You can sprinkle it with salt and pepper if you want to and the pepper may help to keep flies away.

3. Hang the sheets over a pole to dry in the wind and sun. Keep a fire going underneath, to keep the flies away.

Other Smokers,to Smoke Fish or Meat:

To Smoke Fish or Meat: Think about it, the process of smoking fish or meat is very simple--you require smoke and some sort of cover to stop the smoke from dispersing too rapidly--you do not have to be a genius. 
Cut red willow; put into a hibachi or into any old metal can with a vent hole cut in it (this is not absolutely necessary, see next older post, General or Basic Process of Drying and Smoking Meats). Sprinkle water over flames if necessary to keep them down; keep feeding the smoker with willow, being careful at all times not to let it burst into flames. You can use a blanket , piece of canvas, sheets of metal or plywood, even evergreen boughs, most anything as a cover. Dried or smoked foods are not usually cooked. Your purpose is not so much for flavour; but, to prevent spoilage and/or insect infestation, and to render the product easier to store or transport.  Most bacterial caused spoilage and insect infestation requires the presence of water. Smoking and drying reduces the amount of water and thus makes the food less susceptible to either-- because it weighs less, it is also easier to store or transport.

Smokers, General or Basic Process of Drying Meat, Fish and Poultry Jerky.

PIT SMOKER

• Any lean meat; remove all visible fat-will go rancid quickly.

• Do not cook. Keep from moisture at all times. Brush with salt before drying aids preservation; pepper helps keep keeps flies, hornets,and yellow Jackets away. Properly dried keeps many years

• Hang high away from animals and covered from egg-laying flies. Wash mouldy spots (harmless) before cooking to eat.

Jerky:

Preferably beef or venison flank. Cut 1-1/2x1/4" strips, any length. Dry same process until shoe-leather brittle 12 hours to 2 days) will keep for years or more in cool dry place.

Pemmican

Powdered jerky, mixed 50/50 with paste of dried berries (any) or fruit pulp & melted suet rolled into balls.

Store in watertight material or dip in more suet for extra coating. Will keep years; highly nutritious classic survival food.

Fish drying (fish jerky):
Split down back or fillet; sun dry on rocks. Grind bones, meat, add to stew, patties, etc. Don't eat raw (parasites.

Small Game, Birds (poultry jerky)

Dry whole, on rocks or on racks in sun; prop ribs open with stick. When dry; crush bones, and then leave an extra day to dry marrow.

Elk (Moose, in North America ONLY), Dried-Smoked Meat-The Most Common Form of Traditional Jerky

Elk, (known as moose in North America), Dried-Smoked Meat-The most common form of traditional jerky
Any form (birds, fish, small game, large game) of dried or" jerked' meat was not intended as a good tasting snack, trail, or energy food. The food was dried "jerked" in order to: 

• Preserve it.
• Reduce the weight.
• Make it easier to package
• Make it easier a man of foot (remember, many aboriginal, tribal, and pre-historic peoples, had no horses or other beasts of burden) to carry.
• Make it easier to store.

Dried or jerked foods were most often used as a base; from which soups, and stews, were produced.


PROCEDURE:

1. Build a slow, smoky fire of willow, or any wood, that doesn’t have pitch.

2. Put water into a large pot, and salt heavily, to make strong brine; boil for 5 minutes (if and when salt is available--pepper, if available, can also be used-- it helps to keep flies away.)

3. Take round steak about 2 ins. thick, and slice very thinly across the grain.

4. Tie butcher cord around the strips of meat and dip each piece into brine for 1-2 minutes.

5. Hang the meat from poles over the smoke, and leave for a minimum of 2 days, preferably 6-8 days, until it is dry and hard.

Elk (North American Moose), Jerky (Oven Dried), can be Smoked

No 1

2-1/2-3 lbs. round steak cut 2 ins. thick (flank steak or rump is also used)

2 large onions, finely minced

2 tsp. oregano or sage

2 cloves garlic, mashed and minced

2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Trim and discard all fat and gristle.

2. Slice meat thinly, 1/8 inch, across grain.

3. Layer meat in a large crock or bowl, spreading onion and sprinkling seasoning over each layer; cover and chill at least overnight, or up to 24 hours.

4. Arrange meat in shallow pans (fills 3, 10 by 15) or stretch the meat directly over the oven racks, allowing the meat to touch but not overlap.

5. Let the meat dry at 200 F for 6-7 hours or at 150 F for 11 hours or overnight, until it is dry and hard.

6. Remove meat from oven; cool; store in airtight freezer bags.

No. 2 3-5 lbs. lean: beef, moose (elk) or other venison 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce 2/3 cup soy sauce 1Tbsp. pickling salt 1 tsp. black pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder (not salt) 1 tsp. onion powder (not salt) 1 Tbsp. liquid smoke (optional)

1. Cut the meat into strips about 1/4 inch thick and 1 inch wide. Remove fat.
2. Mix together all other ingredients.
3. Put meat and marinade in big ziplock bag; or ceramic or stainless steel bowl, or plastic container.
4.  Set in refrigerator for anywhere from a few hours to overnight. The longer you leave it in, the more marinade it will absorb, meaning more flavour.
5. Lay strips on wire rack and pat dry.

Drying can be done in a smoker or in the oven at lowest heat setting and the door cracked open. If using the oven, add liquid smoke to the recipe if desired (optional) or if you won't be using wood chips in the smoker. SLOW drying is the key to a good jerky so be patient. Like hard-tack, jerky must be perfectly dry-all moisture removed.The above are modern recipes, but they work very well and are a heck of a lot less work than the traditional methods. I very much prefer recipe No 1; but they are both good.

Recipe, Real Pemmican: THE Original, WORLD WIDE "Trail-Mix" or Emergency Food

Pemmican was the original, WORLD WIDE "Trail-Mix" or emergency food; it was not invented in the United States, by indigenous North American peoples, or even in the Americas.

Pemmican is best made in August.

1. First dry the meat, as I have described in The Story of Pemmican post.

2. Cook meat in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Pound well with hammer and mix with marrow or grease.

3. Add berries or diced onions if you like.

4. Put pemmican into those ever useful freezer bags.

5. Freeze; cut in slices.

A MODERN Recipe, for the WEEKEND, ADVENTURE/REALITY GAME type survivor:
Makes 6 cups.
3 Tbsps. salted butter???
3 Tbsps. brown sugar???
!/4 tsp. powdered ginger???
1/4 tsp. ground cloves???
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon ???
4 cups beef jerky, ground into small pieces
1/2 cup cut almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts (definitely optional)
!/2 cup sunflower seeds??? (again, definitely optional)

For other recipes treat moose, caribou, elk, bear, sheep, or goat meat as if it were beef, but please remember – Because of the usual low fat content, by preference, game meat is seldom ever broiled or roasted. Bear meat should be cooked thoroughly as for pork.

The Story of Pem*ican

 Pemmican did NOT originate with the North American native. In true fact, pemmican was the original, WORLDWIDE "Trail-Mix" or emergency food. Because it existed for thousands of years before anyone ever even heard of the Americas, we know that it definitely was not invented in the United States, by indigenous North American peoples, or even in the Americas.
Basically, the same recipe is used in traditional  Scottish Haggis (made famous by Robbie Burns) or any dry sausage.The word means, roughly, manufactured grease, but there was a lot more than that to it.

The recipe calls for meat, cut with the grain in thin slices or strips and dried in the sun or over a slow fire. A smoking fire added flavour and was useful for keeping flies off; though if meat racks were high they tended to be clear of flies. The dry-meat was then spread in a hide and pounded by stones or sticks to become "beat meat" which was tossed into a rectangular rawhide(hair on--with the hair on the outside) container about the size of a flour sack. To the dehydrated, crumbled meat was added one-third or more of melted fat and the bag was sewn up. The fat might be mixed with the meat before or after it was bagged. While the pemmican was cooling the bag was turned from time to time to prevent the fat all settling on one side. Compressed in a skin bag that was greased along the seams to eliminate air and moisture, it would keep for years.

For the best pemmican, which was limited in quantity, the meat was very finely pulverized and only marrow from boiled broken bones was used. For variety and flavour, dried fruits such as chokecherries, or saskatoons might be added. The pemmican bags were flattened for easier handling. Marrow, while better tasting, required more work to acquire, was comparatively scarce and did not keep as well as ordinary tallow.

So high was the food value that three-quarters of a pound was a reasonable day's ration

Pemmican is best made in August.

1. First, dry the meat as above.

2. Cook meat in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Pound well with hammer and mix with marrow or grease.

3. Add berries or diced onions if you like.

4. Put pemmican into those ever useful freezer bags.

5. Freeze; cut in slices.

In North America, there were three says of eating pemmican. There was the soup or stew called rubbaboo; in which a lump of pemmican was cut off and put in a pot of boiling water. If it was available, flour was added, and possibly wild onions, sometimes, a little sugar, occasionally another vegetable or two. Frying the pemmican in its own fat resulted in what was called rousseau (notice that these words are of French origin) or rechaud or richot--and to this might also be added some flour or some suitable wild plant for flavour. The third method was to cut off a lump and eat it "raw", a slow process since it dried extremely hard, but a satisfying concentrated food for the travellers with no time to stop.

Though they realized it's worth, not everyone enjoyed pemmican, no matter how prepared. A party travelling to Saskatchewan (to see the solar eclipse of 1860) commented that "rousseau is by comparison with the other palatable, though is is even then impossible to so disguise it as to avoid the suggestion of tallow candles; and this and the leathery, or India-rubber, structure of the meat are its chief disqualifications. Even rousseau may lose its charms when taken as a steady diet three times a day for weeks or months at a time.   

For other recipes treat caribou, elk, wapiti, bear, sheep, or goat meat as if it were beef, but please remember – Because of the usual low-fat content, by preference, game meat is seldom ever broiled or roasted. Bear meat should be cooked thoroughly as for pork.

Smoked Salmon

 Smoked Salmon: Traditional Method

            Actually Lake Whitefish and Char, not salmon, are the fish Canadians most often smoke but the method used is the same for all three.

1. Make a fire of willow, and get it burning so that it's smoky and not too hot.

2. Cut salmon at least 1, 1-1/2 inches thick. When it’s too thin it's no good.

3. Hang over pole, and let it smoke for at least 6 days.

4. To keep salmon, skin it, slice it, and let it dry.