February 5, 2007 Showcase Minnesota
Julie Zickefoose has kindly let me demo the suet recipe she uses on Showcase Minnesota. Here's a link to a blog post Julie did on how big a batch she likes to make as well as the original recipe.
Julie said that the original Peanut Butter Suet Dough Recipe is by Carrie Griffis--she fed it to a wild pileated woodpecker out of her hand. Carrie fed it to the adults who then fed it to their young. I can't imagine one of those guys eating out of my hand!
1 cup cheap peanut butter
1 cup lard
Melt these two over low heat, being careful not to let it scorch. Remove from heat and stir in:
2 cups plain yellow cornmeal
2 cups quick oats
1 cup flour
Allow to cool and harden, then chop into chunks and store at room temperature in jars. Serve crumbled in a shallow dish. Attracts bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, jays, wrens, thrashers, orioles, cardinals, and towhees. Julie recommends that bluebirds might need a little extra encouragement to try it, so you made need to add mealworms when you first feed it. Yum!
Julie also says, "I can make this on air if there is a stove available." Those are some strong hands.
Julie said that the original Peanut Butter Suet Dough Recipe is by Carrie Griffis--she fed it to a wild pileated woodpecker out of her hand. Carrie fed it to the adults who then fed it to their young. I can't imagine one of those guys eating out of my hand!
1 cup cheap peanut butter
1 cup lard
Melt these two over low heat, being careful not to let it scorch. Remove from heat and stir in:
2 cups plain yellow cornmeal
2 cups quick oats
1 cup flour
Allow to cool and harden, then chop into chunks and store at room temperature in jars. Serve crumbled in a shallow dish. Attracts bluebirds, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, woodpeckers, jays, wrens, thrashers, orioles, cardinals, and towhees. Julie recommends that bluebirds might need a little extra encouragement to try it, so you made need to add mealworms when you first feed it. Yum!
Julie also says, "I can make this on air if there is a stove available." Those are some strong hands.
posted by birdchick at 7:48 AM
13 Comments:
Any idea if I can freeze this stuff in plastic "disposable" containers?
It's like cookie dough, it reminds me of no bake cookies without the chocolate. All of the ingredients have an insane shelf life so I don't see any reason why you couldn't freeze and stuff in plastic containers.
the one time I tried to melt my own suet it seemed to take forever and it really smelled. Was I doing something wrong? Seems like $1.48 for a cake of suet is not too large a price to keep my kitchen from smelling like an abattoir (don't you love saying that word?)
I've melted my own beef suet and will never do it again in my home. My home smelled like the State Fair for a few days.
Lard is already rendered so it's a lot easier to melt than the chunk of beef fat that you get at the store. It's used in cooking. You can actually mash it up with the peanut butter without melting it.
Putting out an unrendered chunk of beef fat for the birds will get eaten, but if they have a choice between that and softer suet with nut flavoring, they will go for nut flavoring.
Any idea if Julie's recipe is enticing to squirrels? The pre-packaged suet was irresistable to them, which caused us to instead go for the plain beef fat, which so far has only attracted a ruby-crowned kinglet and a yellow rumped warbler to our Northern California backyard. The squirrels won't go near it, though they eat the seed we sprinkle on the ground.
Squirrels eat everything.
You're best bet is to feed nut flavored suets an hang the feeder/baffle it so squirrels can't get to it.
It can be done.
I swear by Zick's Famous Suet Dough. It has been great for all kinds of birds, especially my bluebirds, Carolina wren and northern mockingbird. My newest customer has been a female Ring-necked Pheasant.
I mix it up at double or triple the recipe amounts and store it in large plastic containers. Actually, I am saving the plastic tubs that the lard came in as storage containers for the dough.
It stores fine at room temp. I tried refrigerating it once and it was really hard to scoop out. I don't see why you would need to freeze it.
Suet is awful to melt; lard is easy. It is just like vegetable shortening (Crisco) in consistancy and handling qualities.
I'm sure squirrels would love this. Starlings do, too, I'm afraid to say. If you have a starling problem, look out - the suet dough will really attract them. I have resorted to caged feeders to try to keep it away from them.
~Kathi
When I rehabbed, I not only had a Pileated Woodpecker eating out of my hand--he also liked to sit on my arm, put his beak close to my ear, and stick his long, extensible tongue into my ear and run it along the little folds, apparently checking for bugs.
Okay, Laura, I'm just going to come out and say it.
THAT IS JUST WRONG!
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
and
one well placed jab could have punctured your ear drum, and don't run with scissors.
I wouldn't mind the Pileated on my ear. That's pretty cool.
I'm gonna give this suet a try! How does it hold up to hot weather?
i wouldn't mind the pileated in my dogs' ear - since my schnauzer died a couple years ago here ears just aren't as clean as they used to be
more props to Cinnamon - was at the pet store getting my oxbow supplies for my warren and wearing my disapproving tshirt - passed out the website to the store manager - she thought it was cute.
-carri ann
aka bilbo's mum (for a few more days... then she's moving out :( but i'll still have 3 other rabbits!)
I make this all the time, but I don't put the flour in. I add raisins, unsalted peanuts or sunflower nuts. I pour it into small containers,or paper milk cartons and freeze it, then hang it in my suet feeders. Lard is about .99 a lb. at the grocer and peanut butter is pretty inexpensive if you buy it on sale. This is a much more economical product if you like to feed suet cakes to your birds. The chickadees and nuthatches go crazy for it!
This is awesome stuff. I usually put it out in my jelly feeders in winter. This afternoon I got the bright idea to stuff it into the plug holes of the log type suet feeder. The spoon stuck to my hand- as in tongue on frozen flagpole! Not so bright at 4 degrees.
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