Odd question about Pemmican

[mrblond]

OK, its my understanding that Pemmican is dried, ground up meat missed with rendered fat and whatever else you wish to toss in. Now, I know that fat goes rancid, so why does pemmican last so long?

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[DLS]

By rendering the fat, you remove all the water and protein. If you are rendering suet, you are left with a very high saturated fat tallow. Saturated fat is pretty stable stuff. If you protect rendered suet from light and water, it should stay edible for years.

Rancidity occurs three basic ways: via oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids (you avoid this by having a high saturated fat mix to start out with), via reactions with water, and via microbial digestion. Pemmican avoids all of those through rendering the fat, thoroughly dehydrating the meat and hopefully being stored in a waterproof container.

So says paleohacks.com

 

[mrblond]

Oh, ok. I understand now. thanks!

 

[Flymph]

Because it's dried and often wrapped. Mold and fungis need three things to survive, medium, moisture and atmosphere. Usually two of the three things are taken out of that equation.