Bacon Pemmican – The Ultimate Paleo Travel Food

Pemmican has never tasted this good!

Bacon really does make anything better and this Bacon Pemmican recipe will change the way you travel.

Pemmican is the original travel food of our ancestors. Developed by the Native Americans, it quickly spread to the European fur trappers and ended up being one of the main food sources for Arctic and Antarctic explorers.

Traditionally, pemmican was made with a 1:1 protein to fat ratio. In those days, it was created with large game meats like elk, buffalo and deer that were dried, ground down, and mixed with the animal fat. At times wild berries were mixed in, as well.

This was a time without domesticated animals, so the groups of people who had access to larger game would make pemmican and use it to trade for things their land didn’t have. Nowadays, most pemmican is made from beef; the best being US Wellness Meats’ Pemmican. It has a unique meaty taste. The kind that takes a little time to grow on you. Always looking to improve ideas… I started experimenting with pemmican.

Bacon Pemmican – The Luxury Travel Food

I’m never fully satisfied with my SCD travel foods. Each year Jordan and I are traveling more, so travel foods are becoming a bigger part of my lifestyle. I’m picky. I want food that makes me feel good and tastes good, too. And while I’ve cooked pounds of bacon and carried them on a plane, I’m always looking to class it up a little.

In case you didn’t know you can take frozen food through TSA checkpoints, which makes this recipe even more appealing as it is frozen and no TSA agent has batted an eyelash about it so far. Not only that, but I cut it into bars, wrapped it in tinfoil and then stuffed it into a plastic bag. It stayed in my backpack cold and frozen for over 14hrs! No cooler needed.

As you can see from the calorie breakdown below, it packs a big punch for being very small. (It’s almost enough calories to sustain a person for 2 days.) Add in some other easy travel foods and you’ll be good to go. Did I mention it’s SCD legal and what I might call a traditional Paleo food?

How to Make Bacon Pemmican

It’s actually really easy to make this and the variations to try are endless. I did try 1/2 raisins and 1/2 cranberries once and did not like it as much as the variation below. I hope as you experiment you’ll return and post the tweaks you’ve made in the comments.

Equipment needed:

• Large Skillet Pan
• Blender
• Square, Glass Baking Dish

Ingredients needed:

• 12-16 Ounces of Bacon
• 1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil (melted)
• 1 Cup of Dried Cranberries

Begin by cooking the bacon in a skillet; the key is cooking it long and slow. You really don’t want to crisp it up too much, it should be soft and flimsy still but the fat should be mostly cooked down. At this point turn the heat off and let it cool.

After it cools down (but before the fat begins to solidify), add everything to the blender. Get as much of that tasty bacon fat as possible into the blender. Then begin blending it down. Chop it as finely as you can. At this point add 1 cup of cranberries and make sure they get chopped into very fine pieces, as well. The last step is to add the coconut oil and blend till it’s good and mixed up.

Next, get the glass dish out and pour the mixture into it. Try to make it an even depth in the dish, then cover and freeze. It will take an hour or so to solidify. At this point you can cut it into bars or whatever size pieces your heart desires.

How Much Rocket Fuel is in this Recipe?

I wondered that, too. My best guesstimate is below:

• 16 Ounces of Bacon (cooked) = 2450 Calories – 68% Fat, 31% Protein, 1% Carbohydrate
• 1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil = 940 Calories – 100% Fat
• 1 Cup of Dried Cranberries = 339 Calories – 4% Fat, 0% Protein, 96% Carbohydrate

Totals = 3729 Calories = 70% Fat (2620 cal), 20% Protein (759 cal), 10% Carbohydrate (350 cal)

The biggest unknown is the bacon numbers. I can’t seem to tell whether or not the 16 oz. of cooked bacon is including the rendered bacon fat or not… I’m guessing not, so these numbers could be even higher. Maybe someone in the comments can figure this out and help us all.

I’ve shared this with a few non-SCD, non-Paleo types and they loved it. And I think you will too (it has bacon in it – duh).

-Steve

P.S. – I will caution against getting freaky and eating like half of it at once. It’s very high in fat (a good thing), but it can be tough on the digestive system for those who aren’t used to munching a 100 grams of fat at once.