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Make your own suet recipe and watch the birds flock to your feeders. It’s easier than you think and also learned about No Melt Suet
Gardening is slowing down a bit this time of the year, but it’s also time to get my bird feeders ready to go for the winter. Suet feeders are a great way to feed them and suet is also easy to make yourself.
I love feeding the birds in my backyard. It’s been a passion of mine for so long. Just watching them grab a few nibbles with their mate and seeing all the different birds in our area. I wish we had more, but I don’t live next to the forest and there aren’t many trees in my area. I planted one in the backyard and that has drawn a few to my feeders. Birds really don’t care to hang around palm trees.
Birds love to eat from suet feeders. High-fat treats are great when it really gets cold outside. True suet is made with animal fat and provides a good source of energy and attracts your larger birds. The woodpeckers love my suet feeders, so I make sure I keep them filled. But I have one problem here in Central Florida. It does get hot and when it gets above 80 degrees here suet will get gooey. Yuk! Not good for my yard or the birds.
So I was on another mission of trying to find a solution. I visit Tractor Supply oftento get my dog’s food there and they always have a great selection of birdhouses, feeders, and seed mixtures. I then found a product I didn’t know about called No Melt Suet. I have also found these at Walmart and other stores. I had to try it and it works great!!! It stays hard and doesn’t make a mess.
I put out the suet in a suet feeder on November 1st and I will keep it full until about May. So many birds migrate to and from Florida and if I leave it up in the summertime here, it will turn black from mold.
I have made my own suet in the past and it’s supereasy. Suet is really just fat from beef that has been trimmed off. I go to my butcher and ask if he has any suet. It’s usually just thrown out and the butcher has always been pleased to give me some. I have also found out that using real beef suet is what the birds like most.Lard was rarely touched. What suet I don’t use, I will put in the freezer.
Melt the suet and peanut butter together in a large pot.Stir in the remaining ingredients, a littleat a time.The mix should be the consistency of cookie dough.If it’s too runny, add more flour.Spoon it into suet trays (I keep trays from store-bought suet). Press down in the trays firmly to make a nice solid block. I have had friends scope out balls with a cookie scoop or put them in small paper cups too. Freeze your blocks until time to use them.
I have also addedchopped-up nuts, sunflower seeds, and dried fruit to the mixture. The birds will thank you for those extra treats.
If you are looking for other recipes, here is a great source.
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In a large bowl, mix 2 cups quick oats, 2 cups birdseed mix, 1 cup yellow cornmeal and 1 cup flour. Stir melted ingredients into the dry mix. Once cool, press into molds and refrigerate.
Suet is made from the fat that surrounds the kidneys of animals (mostly cows and mutton). The fat is removed from the meat, clarified, chopped, and then boiled in water, which removes any impurities.Upon cooling, the water and fat separate and the remaining fat is suet.
For making a no-melt suet, which stands up better in warmer weather and sunny days, you need to use a lard or vegetable fat that is sold and stored at room temperature - Armour's Lard or Crisco, not a bottle of vegetable oil.
If you can't find suet then we have found that grated vegetable shortening (such as Trex, Crisco or Copha) is a good substitute. To grate the shortening firstly freeze a stick or block of it until firm but not solid (this usually takes about 30 minutes).
It's a good idea to take down suet feeders in warm weather. Raw or homemade suet should not be offered in the summer. Some suet manufacturers state that their blocks will withstand temps over 100 degrees without melting; however, these might nevertheless go rancid in short order if extreme high temperatures persist.
If you are a “quantity” birdfeeder, making your own is far more affordable than purchasing commercial products. That being said, it is messy and does require care around the stove and work area since you will be melting tallow (beef fat) or pork fat. Suet is animal fat that has been rendered and then allowed to cool.
While lard is a safe alternative to rendered suet, avoid using bacon drippings. The chemical preservatives in commercial bacon become more concentrated once cooked. While this doesn't pose a health threat to humans, it can be harmful to birds. Bread and table scraps should be avoided, too.
True suet (or maybe true lard, though pork subcutaneous fat is often erroneously called "lard" - true lard also comes from the groin) is the only safe fat for birds. Make suets with true suet, millet and hulled sunflower seed, some oats, and peanut butter.
A bird feeder made with hamburger or meat grease might attract unwanted animals such as rodents or raccoons. If you are interested in making this type of feeder, get real suet (the hard fat of cattle and sheep) from the butcher and cook it down.
Crushed peanuts are also an option, as long as they are unsalted and in date. You can use suet instead of lard, if you prefer, so fat balls are sometimes called suet cakes. You could also use single-ingredient peanut butter, with no added oils. But don't use peanut butter containing artificial sweeteners or added salt.
You can easily make your own homemade suet at home with simple ingredients such as animal fat, peanut butter, cornmeal, flour, and bird seed. *While potentially safe to eat, this is NOT for human consumption!
Most types of oats that you would use to make porridge or oatmeal will be fine for offering to garden birds as long as they are not cooked. So, rolled oats, steel-cut oats, jumbo oats and pinhead oats are all good to feed to garden birds. Don't offer instant porridge pots or sachets.
Peanut butter is a good high-protein food for birds, and they can eat any of the same types humans do. If you're buying it specifically for birds, look for natural or organic types with the fewest additives. Try offering crunchy peanut butter for an extra nutty treat.
Not recommended. Bacon drippings are animal fat just like suet, and many birds will eat it. But bacon virtually always has detectable amounts of nitrosamines, carcinogenic compounds formed from some of the preservatives used in bacon.
By the time full baking temperature is reached within the pudding, the suet has melted, leaving a void in the batter. Consequently, the use of suet in such dishes as puddings, dumplings, and mince pie results in a spongy texture.
In general, temperatures over 90 degrees will cause suet to melt, which will make a mess and leave your suet more susceptible to mold. There are "no-melt" options available for hot weather, but there are mixed reviews about how well they work.
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