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"How
to make Suet"
In Winter when Insects are scarce, many Song Birds will benefit from
Suet in your back yard. You can make Custom Suet for specific species
by including those Wild Fruits, Berries, and Seeds which they prefer.
Chances are that in watching your back yard, you have discovered your
favorite species munching on certain morsels. You can plant shrubs
which attract Song birds by creating a Song Bird Habitat.
Then you can harvest ingredients from your own shrubs. You can also
find Seeds, Nuts, Raisins and other dried Fruit at your local
Supermarket. Trail Mix contains a great selection, but some of them may
have to be diced before adding them to your Suet recipe.
Some of the ingredients can be the Fruit from Flowering CrabApple or
other ornamental Trees and Shrubs including Pear, Rose Hips, Grapes,
ServiceBerry, Cotoneaster, Dogwood, Spice Bush, Holly, Honeysuckle
Bush, PokeWeed, Primrose, Acorns, Chestnuts,
Northern Bayberry, common sweet and sour Cherries, Choke Cherries,
Elderberries, Mulberries, and
Mountain Ash.
Egg Shells should be saved
all year. Bake them in an oven or Microwave.
They will become very brittle. Put them in a plastic bag,
and Crush them with
the bottom of a Cup or Drinking Glass. Mix them with Bird Seed or Suet.
They build Bones and Bird Eggshells. Don't worry about giving Birds
something they don't like. If they
don't like it, they
wont eat it. You can hardly go wrong.
Except for Processed Meats that
may contain unpronounceable additives, which may be harmful to you and
your Songbirds, and may also attract undesirable Animals. Ask your
Butcher to grind a pound
of Beef Tallow. Put it in a deep pot that will
completely cover the burner, so there is no chance of theHot
Fat getting on the burner and causing a FIRE ! . . .
Turn the burner on
LOW
and stay with it. When the Tallow has liquefied,
you have three choices:- Add the other ingredients,
or- Remove the solids to be fried
crisp and added back to the mix.- Or drain the liquid off to
be used alone.
Turn the Burner off and allow
the liquefied Tallow to cool somewhat; then remove it safely to your
working
area. Mix about four times as much Fruit and Seeds as you have Tallow.
Blend them into the Tallow completely. Then pour or spoon the warm
mixture
into forms like a Christmas Tree, Snowman or Cat to give to your
friends.
Or just pour enough into tapered plastic Freezer Boxes so when cooled,
the squares will pop out and fit into your favorite Suet Feeders. Or
use
old Suet containers over and over again.
Or dip Pine Cones in the warm
Mix, big end down, to fill all the nooks and crannies with tasty
morsels.
Or fill holes drilled in a sawed off tree limb and hang it for your
Feathered
Friends.Clean your pot
out with a slice
of Whole-Grain Bread and add it to the mix. A slice laid in the freezer
boxes before the Mixture is added may appeal to certain Birds.Or just
spread Chunky Peanut
Butter or Fruit Jam on a sliced and toasted English Muffin. You may not
want to share this with your Birds. Refrigerated Suet Cakes should
not turn rancid for at least a month.
The Birds in your particular
area should determine the ingredients of your Suet. Watch what is eaten
first and add more of that to your next batch. Whatever is eaten last
and
least should be minimized in future Mixtures.
"Bluebird_Suet"
Special Bluebird Winter Mix
using
frozen Blueberries and
live Meal Worms
(which will be preserved when they are submerged in the
hot Tallow).
1/2
cup live Meal Worms
1/2
Cup Frozen Blueberries (thawed completely and drained).
1/4
cup hot Beef Tallow
1/4
cup Creamy Peanut Butter
Submerge the live Meal Worms
in Hot Tallow, then add the Blueberries and Creamy Peanut Butter and
mix
thoroughly. Spoon it into a Form
to cool. If your particular Tallow does not set up solid, then put it
directly
into a Milk Jug
Suet Feeder and hang it in
an area frequented by Bluebirds.
Unless your Bluebirds are already
accustomed to eating at a feeder, other Insect-eaters may empty this
Feeder
before the Bluebirds find it. But don't give up - keep filling it.
The best Beef Tallow is from
the Kidney and Loin area. But if your Butcher gets his Beef in
"Quarters",
then this choice Tallow may have been discarded before he gets his
refrigerated
shipment.
If you let Tallow cool overnight
and then reheat it, when it
cools the second time
it will become harder.The lower quality strips of limber
Fat next to muscle tissue may be less solid when processed, and may
also
become rancid quicker.
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