Making suet

A practical joke that has been perpetrated on newbie birders for, it appears, for a long time, is this: It's cheaper to make suet for the birds than to buy it. In October, 2009, I had my first and LAST whack at it. Here's what I wrote then. Newbies! You have been forewarned!

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Welp.... I'm having my first go at it and I gotta tell ya - it stinks! No... literally. It stinks! I've set off the smoke detectors once (so far) and, did I mention the smell? I have two pounds of this stuff, been at it for the better part of a half hour, my eyes are burning out from the smoke and I MIGHT have 2 cups worth of liquid. Did I mention the smell?

~~~~ Some time later (eternity, I think)

I'm done. Grease spatter burns on my arms, my eyes will never be quite the same - I just know it. My dog hates me. If we had any resident bugs in the house, they've made their exit gracefully. I managed to get enough liquid for 4 cakes -- that's 1/2 & 1/2 suet and seed. The house stinks and I'm burning scented candles but it doesn't seem to be helping. My wife is due home for lunch. She will NOT be a happy camper... might even blow breakfast as she walks through the already-open door. She might come in through one of the open windows. Not sure. In any event, all the open portals will be handy for me to make my escape.

Trust me -- 80 cents a cake is an absolute bargain for these things!

Excuse me. I have to scrape the grease that is splattered all over the stove and countertop.

Good story.

Funny story .... but it sounds more like you should be banned from the kitchen!

I make all of our suet without much fuss or muss. I usually pick a rainy day and make it a project. We find that our backyard feathered neighbors prefer the home made suet over the store bought type.

My suet recipe:
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup rendered fat or lard
1 cup crunchy peanut butter

Combine the oats, cornmeal, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Melt the lard and peanut butter (I use my microwave oven on low) Pour the melted (rendered) lard (fat) and peanut butter mixture in with the dry ingredients .....Mix well.

You can add other items as well .... like sunflower seeds, regular bird seed, raisins or any other "non-candied" dry fruit pieces.

I spoon the combined ingredients into sandwich size plastic storage containers, filling about 3/4 of the depth high. These fit perfectly in suet cages, which you can buy at Walmart, etc. Place these in your freezer and they will be ready when you need them.

I usually double this recipe when we make suet .... results in about six (6) cakes.

I have used cheap lard from the grocery store, beef fat, souse, meat / bacon drippings .... for the "fat" portion of this recipe. Each works well, but I prefer animal fat. I am able to get the fat from our local butcher for free! He even trims off all the meat pieces and leaves just the fat.

bhowdy wrote: Funny story .... but it sounds more like you should be banned from the kitchen!

I make all of our suet without much fuss or muss. I usually pick a rainy day and make it a project. We find that our backyard feathered neighbors prefer the home made suet over the store bought type.

My suet recipe:
2 cups quick-cooking oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup rendered fat or lard
1 cup crunchy peanut butter

Combine the oats, cornmeal, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Melt the lard and peanut butter (I use my microwave oven on low) Pour the melted (rendered) lard (fat) and peanut butter mixture in with the dry ingredients .....Mix well.

You can add other items as well .... like sunflower seeds, regular bird seed, raisins or any other "non-candied" dry fruit pieces.

I spoon the combined ingredients into sandwich size plastic storage containers, filling about 3/4 of the depth high. These fit perfectly in suet cages, which you can buy at Walmart, etc. Place these in your freezer and they will be ready when you need them.

I usually double this recipe when we make suet .... results in about six (6) cakes.

I have used cheap lard from the grocery store, beef fat, souse, meat / bacon drippings .... for the "fat" portion of this recipe. Each works well, but I prefer animal fat. I am able to get the fat from our local butcher for free! He even trims off all the meat pieces and leaves just the fat.

Sounds like you found a better recipe. I'll be "stealing" this for my feeders. Thanks.

Not stealing John .... I was sharing. My recipe is a variation of another that I "borrowed" from someone a couple of years ago.

I did my own suet cakes, but that was back when I was on the farm and could do it all over an open fire in the back 40.

bhowdy wrote: Not stealing John .... I was sharing. My recipe is a variation of another that I "borrowed" from someone a couple of years ago.

Appreciate the info. Thanks.

lmao!! OMG, this is too funny! Thanks for the laugh !

Shanna-Marie wrote: lmao!! OMG, this is too funny! Thanks for the laugh !

You're welcome!