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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 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.
For a 'suet' cake, one must add some form of flour to hold the cake together, usually wheat, corn, sometimes oatmeal. The mix can be as high as 6 cups of flour to a mere 1 cup of fat!!!
Melt 1 cup peanut butter and 1 cup lard over low heat. 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 the leaf fat from around the kidneys. It is more saturated than other fat. It is very dense and hard. Its melting point is in excess of 110 degrees.
Birds love energy-rich fat balls, which give them all the calories they need to get through cold winter days and nights. You can buy them in the shops but they're easy to make at home. Simply mix kitchen scraps such as cheese, cake crumbs and dry porridge oats with melted lard or suet, and set in the fridge overnight.
Press the dough down into the forms to remove all the air and you have a solid suet cake. If you are going to use some right away, place it in the refrigerator until solid and freeze the rest sealed in plastic. That's it! No melt suet that will stand 115 degree temperatures in the summer.
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.
First, it can take days or even weeks for birds to discover a new feeder. Or maybe you have hung the feeder in an area that is too busy (with human activity, predator activity or even too much bird activity. Woodpeckers can be skittish.) Or there may not currently be suet eating birds in your immediate area.
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).
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.
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.
Suet is a type of beef fat found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between 113 °F and 122 °F and a very high smoke point: 400-450 °F.
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