How to Make Pemmican - High Calorie Snack for the Backcountry

Pemmican is a high-energy, nutrient-dense food traditionally made by Indigenous peoples in North America. It's typically composed of dried meat, fat, and sometimes berries.
Its durability and nutritional profile made it especially valuable for explorers and traders in the 18th and 19th centuries, and it remains a popular food for modern hikers, campers, and survivalists due to its long shelf life and high energy content.

[@LeeMorgan07]

Great video. I liked the history component along with the process of making it.

[@dwaynewladyka577]

I have heard of farmers in Saskatchewan who found pemmican in their fields that was really old, and it was still edible. I have had pemmican from Cree native vendors at a food stall, at a food festival in Edmonton. It was really good. I believe caul fat was also used for pemmican production. It's a unique type of fat that has a longer storage life. Saskatoon berries would be great in pemmican too. On my dad's farm in Alberta, we had Saskatoon berry bushes. That looks really good. Cheers! 👍🏻👍🏻✌️🇨🇦

[@starbright47]

Hiya Jim, this was such an interesting presentation, I really enjoyed it❣️

[@SheriffofYouTube]

great presentation

[@scottmaxwell403]

I agree with some of the other comments, I liked you "peppering" some history with this.

[@lilianebangay6221]

thank you for saying some of the history of manitoba . much appreciated

[@r37l36]

Thanks Jim. I’ve wanted to make pemmican for years and almost bought an expensive cookbook of lost recipes. I learn best from watching someone explain the process and then doing it myself. Looking forward to trying your process. Thanks so much for the detailed video.

[@derekfoehr9264]

Great video! I make pemmican on a regular basis as a replacement for snacks for my kids. They love it.

[@Abes523]

It cracked me up when you gave this to your brother - "This is gross." Love the content my man.

[@aarongonzalez787]

Im looking forward to the Arctic videos!

[@dyannejohnson6184]

We found pemmican in a Bur Oak tree on our property in Manitoba….in the 60’s …the trade route actually showed on the land…we had a trading post there …nothing left but a odd area….our land had 3 senioral lots with one fishing net / lot right on the lake….. it was so well encased it smelled sweet….oh yes, Grandpa had a bite

[@dyannejohnson6184]

Absolutely loved this Jim

[@kimprocarione5473]

Very cool! I had no real idea what went into making pemmican! Excellent job!

[@bloodyeyeful]

Thanks.Very educational. When you store it at home, do you refrigerate it or dark cellar, or what?

[@toddmclean2127]

Great video Jim. I have used tallow from brisket in my pemmican. Went on a canoe trip and the tallow melted in my vest when temp went about 20°C. I recommend finding a animal fat with a higher melting temp. Organ fat is usually better than muscle fat from what I have read so far.

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

It did melt pretty good lol. Still okay though. lard such as tender flake from the store doesn’t mealy as fast. Apparently fat from the liver is ideal I beer and caul fat from the organs like you’re saying. Thought to come by an animal with enough fat to do a significant amount t or to buy this stuff though

[@allancunningham6019]

Quality 😊❤

[@marygordon3032]

AWESOME SAUCE. THANKS JIM AND HUDDY! 👍👍👍💯💯💯😎😎😎

[@TripFishingMyLife]

hadir..semangat selalu kawan..👍

[@halinawiecek2297]

Jim thank you for sharing the video, Hatson is good helper.

[@lindapetersen1800]

You go there JIMBO !!! I do this also for Myself here !!!

[@EYES2seeEARS2hear78]

Would love to try this, thanks Jim for the instructions. Unfortunately I think my girls donated my food dehydrator when they were clearing out for space. 😂 plus our electric oven won’t go lower than 200degrees. Still a great tutorial!

[@douggibson9084]

Thanks Jim!!

[@SECRETCREEKPROSPECTING1776]

Very well explained Jim. Stay golden my friend, relocated to Idaho. Woo hoo 😅

[@pacificbushcraftandfirecra6358]

All good stuff! Thanks for sharing the process with us!

[@JimmyDCarter]

That is going to be some very tasty treats for your next expedition into the wilderness.

[@BrettVaughnB100]

I just made a batch of it myself .. I used a couple of rump roasts of course blueberries but I added some pecans and just a little honey .. It cam out pretty good

[@EnjoyTheWild1]

awesome video with the history and thorough exclamation. but can i just buy some off you? haha

[@dougp4009]

Great vid. I was wondering what it tastes like? Would there be any sense in adding a little spice to it?

[@JamesBabb]

I don’t eat meat or lard, but I still found this very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

[@peperetuque7744]

great to know all this

[@johnj620.]

👍👍🤠

[@andrikaro8659]

Thanks for the vid, you inspired me to make it a year ago. From the video it seems you don't season the beef at all? No salting beforehand? Everything else seems clear, wild blueberries are in the dehydrator as we speak :)

[@JimBairdAdventurer]

I don’t know, and traditionally it wasn’t but you can.

[@hansjohansson8053]

👍🇸🇪❤️

[@alanmiller4122]

Our oven only goes down to 150 but I crack the door with a metal spatula and it stays pretty steady at 140 or a little less

[@lpencook]

Shouldn’t Pemmican be made with grass fed meat? I heard it said that that is the best vs. corn fed or grain fed meat

[@abergeron04]

Today on cooking with Ol’ Jim…

[@lilianebangay6221]

pick the berries

[@earlshaner4441]

Even after a 100 years this food was edible

[@ChrisSmith-xh6ip]

Hello

[@duelsonsantos2380]

There’s a hair strand on the grounded beef 😂😂😂

[@gracefulcat68]

could ghee be used as the fat?

[@johnsamuels4038]

Be careful with indian stuffs.

[@gracefulcat68]

@@johnsamuels4038 its more middle eastern, but its shelf stable and more flavorful than lard or tallow.

[@johnsamuels4038]

@@gracefulcat68 But the word has originated from india.

[@gracefulcat68]

@@johnsamuels4038 ok, great. i'm not eating the word.. lol.

[@johnsamuels4038]

@@gracefulcat68 There is a difference between and Ghee and middle eastern Samneh. You know what that is?

[@SeriousPoems]

First

[@soniadowney7427]

Great video but music was too loud and distracting..wasn't necessary