**Erbswurst**
Erbswurst was a 19th century ration that was used by first Prussian and later in WWI Germany military. It is a sausage made from lard, dried bacon and pea flour that could be eaten as is or rehydrated in a mess tin into a
thick soup.
There are three basic ingredients and seasonings:
smoked bacon 12 ounces
Hard fat (lard) 9 ounces
Pea flour 14 ounces
Salt. 3 tsp
Pepper. 1 tsp
Marjoram. 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg. 1/4 tsp
Thyme. 1/4 tsp
Onion. 1/2 onion
Dice the smoked bacon into 1/4″ cubes. Fry both bacon and fat on a low heat (don't burn) until golden brown, stirring often. Lightly brown the finely chopped onion in some of the fat. Heat up a pot on a low fire and start adding the pea flour to the onions (and fat) stirring continuously. Add all the salt, pepper , and spices, whilst stirring. Add in the bacon and fat and stir well together.
May be put into casings or formed into bars/balls and stored in airtight containers or vacuum sealed bags.
Since many consider the ideal ratio of meat to fat is 1:1, I'm going to base this recipe on that formula.
Ideally meat, when dried to breaking when bent, should produce a little less than one pound of DRIED meat for every 3 pounds of raw.
Rendered fat is much higher, in that one pound of beef/pork/chicken fat usually produces about 12 ounces of pure fat.
You should trim off and save ALL of the fat from your meats and keep them in the freezer until you have enough to make pemmican.
Another option would be to go to a local butcher and purchase trimmed fat from him. (Usually $2 - $3 per lb)
STEP 1: Dry the thinly sliced LIGHTLY SALTED (with Himalayan pink salt) lean meat to thin strips at 145° to kill all bacteria and enzymes so that it doesn't spoil. It should break when bent.
After it cools, put it in a food processor and grind to a powder. Put aside.
STEP 2: Chop up the fat (about 1 and 1/2 pounds) and put it into a pot on a low heat. Boil it down until the cracklings are a medium brown color and strain them out. Let cool and strain so that the liquid fat is as clear as possible (strainer and cloth).
STEP 3: Mix equal amounts (weight) together in a bowl so that there is no liquid fat on the bottom.
STEP 4: Form into bars and place in AIR TIGHT vacuum bags or containers.