Pemmican Style Ground Meat Jerky Recipes

PEMMICAN-STYLE GROUND MEAT JERKY

Steps:

• Grind the venison, bacon and dried cranberries through the fine die of your grinder. If you are using pre-ground venison, chop the dried cranberries well and add them to the ground meat. Put the meat and cranberries in a large bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Mix well with your (very clean) hands until everything comes together and starts to stick to itself.
• If you have a vacuum sealer, seal the mixture and set in the fridge for 24 to 48 hours. If you don't, pack the meat mixture into a lidded container and press some plastic wrap directly onto the surface and let it sit that way.
• The next day, separate the mixture into two or three chunks, depending on how big your jerky gun is. Pack it in and squeeze out lengths of jerky onto your dehydrator trays. Make sure they are separated from each other. Dehydrate at 150°F until the meat is mostly dry, but still chewy. If you don't have a dehydrator, you can smoke-dry it in your smoker, or in an oven set to "warm," with the door slightly ajar. In both of these cases, you want to keep the temperature as close to 150°F as you can.
• This sort of jerky doesn't keep as long as traditional jerky because of the fat content. But it will keep for several weeks in the fridge, and it freezes well.

DRIED PEMMICAN WITH JUNIPER AND CURRANT BERRIES

Steps:

• For dried Jerky: Lay meat out on baking trays. Heat the ingredients slowly for jerky.
• You may substitute splenda for sugar and salt substitute for regular salt.
• Brush on each slice of meat. Let set for 1/2 hour.
• Bake 200* oven. Check after 2 hours, turn meat, baste with remaining flavoring. Bake until slightly dry. It will bend a little.
• Place in air tight bags or cans to store.
• For pemmican, crush with mortar and pestle: berries, raisins, onions.
• Mix with salt.
• Toss meat with crushed mixture. Shake off excess in bag. Lay on trays.
• Bake 200* oven. Bake until dry. You may lay outside in the air and sun if you have a protected place from bugs and animals.
• When totally dry, crush the dried meat. Put in small air tight bags, or double bag for the freezer. Use a survival food for camping, as a flavoring for soups or gravies, or sprinkle on noodles or rice.