Suet and how to make (1 Viewer)

[C. Crabb]

I have heard one can make their own suet as it is hard to find, if at all, around here. Does anyone have directions they would be willing to share? Many thanks in advance.

 

[Starzz]

This is the recipe I have used for years and the birds love it!

1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup suet or lard
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup white flour

Sometimes I add a handfull or 2 of sunflower seeds.

Melt lard & peanut butter.
Stir in other ingredients. If it seems runny, add more flour.
Fill small plastic margarine containers about 1/2 full, then freeze.
Remove from container; wrap, keep in freezer.

 

[Katy Penland]

I also make my own. Can't get kidney suet (the best kind) where I live, so I just melt beef fat that the local butchers save for me and mix hulled seeds into it, then press into a pan and freeze to make cakes that will fit into my feeder. Since I put crunchy peanut butter directly onto the bark of a tree, I don't mix that into the suet. I used to add corn meal but didn't find that as successful as just using all seeds and dried bits of fruit, but I'm sure it all depends on the types of birds you get in your area.

I use an 8" square cake pan that makes 2-pound cakes that fit into a large wire and wood suet feeder. Seeds that I typically use are a "nut-n-berry" mix to which I add more sunflower hearts/chips and a wild finch mix that is mostly tiny seeds. Everybody from titmice to woodpeckers to jays can find something their beaks can handle. :t:

 

[snapper]

Hi all how can you put out peanut butter for the birds when it has such a high salt content even the organic peanut butter has sea salt in it.

 

[Katy Penland]

In the case of peanut butter, the amount of salt that's added is miniscule by comparison to using, say, whole, roasted, salted peanuts. It is also dependent on the brand you get. The one I use the most has 4 ingredients: Peanuts, veg oil, sugar, salt. The lower down the list an ingredient is, the less there is. The only reason I give this brand guilt-free is that I provide a pond for the birds as well to help "mitigate" the one thing I give them that has salt in it. Of course, the absolute best thing would be to buy roasted, shelled, unsalted peanuts and put them through your own food processor. I can't get peanuts like that where I live, unfortunately, and shipping them in is cost-prohibitive. :t:

 

[lmhall2000]

Can you use bacon grease? That seems to be all the lard I have around here..will try and remember to get some from the store...

Tara

 

[willowa]

Hi all.
can't you just crush unsalted peanuts. We in the Uk are always advised not to put out anthing that contains salt.

Bacon fat also contains salt.

Can you get lard or unsalted butter?

Willowa

 

[lmhall2000]

Thanks for the mention about the salt...I read that salt was a concern but I didn't think about the bacon grease having it...no wonder my bacon tastes soo salty! I'll try and find some kidney suet and put some crushed peanuts...we have plenty of unsalted peanuts being so close to Georgia! I've also heard that walnuts are great for birds...can you mix those in there, too?

Thanks a bunch! I had bought little tubes of pre-made suet and the birds never touched it...I'm wanting to dig it out of my feeder and put my own in...let's hope this is better for them!
Tara

 

[Mary Evelyn]

Hi Tara,

All nuts are fine for the birds (except salted).

 

[annieB]

Can you use bacon grease? That seems to be all the lard I have around here..will try and remember to get some from the store...

Tara

Hi Tara You can use bacon grease, although it doesn"t solidify as well, and you need to addcornmeal, cracker crumbs, chopped nuts, and perhaps some whole wheat flour to bind it together. Some say to omit the nuts, because birds may dig deeply into the treat and get grease on their feathers, which may interfere with their natural insulation . Using creamy peanutbutter would work as well. I make "muffins" by mixing lard peanut butter, wheat flour, oats, and chopped raisins,apples, and a few cranberries and then push the stuff into a muffin tin (metal one with a hole at the top for hanging it) Melt the lard and peanutbutter, then cool a bit then mix the rest in. Freeze, then hang up where you feed them, or pop one muffin into a suet holder. This morning I watched my woodpecker go crazy on these! Have fun, AnnieB in Ohio.

 

[Katy Penland]

Thanks for the mention about the salt...I read that salt was a concern but I didn't think about the bacon grease having it...

It isn't just the salt but the preservatives and other additives in bacon that can be less than ideal for bird consumption.

we have plenty of unsalted peanuts being so close to Georgia! I've also heard that walnuts are great for birds...can you mix those in there, too?

Don't know why walnuts wouldn't be good, but maybe someone here has more info on that. They're too expensive for me to use, that's for sure!

Just be sure when you use peanuts that they're roasted, not raw (and of course as you said, unsalted). Raw peanuts can contain a mold that produces aflatoxin which is lethal to birds.

Thanks a bunch! I had bought little tubes of pre-made suet and the birds never touched it...I'm wanting to dig it out of my feeder and put my own in...let's hope this is better for them!
Tara

The few times I've offered commercial suets, the birds pretty much ignore them. Don't know if they're just spoiled or if the commercial ones are too old or rancid by the time they're made, delivered to the stores, sit on the shelf and ultimately get bought. I also don't like the fact that so much corn is used in them, as that's one of the best sources for salmonella contamination. At least here in the US; don't know about elsewhere.