We were using commercially purchased suet cakes. An acquaintance told us of another home recipe. We tried it and it was quite successful. After several revisions and refinements we have arrived at this current recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:
Bird "Crack' (Suet) Ingredients
1 lb. lard
48 Oz of H20
1 18 oz. jar peanut butter
1 lb quick oats.(about 4 cups)
4 cups bird seed
Plastic forms (old suet containers, plastic storage containers, etc.)
Cornmeal (optional)
Use any inexpensive peanutbutter, (Fry’s/Kroger/Family dollar was cheapest per ounce, both shown) and bulk oats (seventy-nine cents a pound at Sprouts/local cheap produce). The lard was also purchased at Fry’s/Kroger.
Heat lard and water until emulsification takes place. (boil) While heating lard and water remove the peanut butter from the jar and put it on a plate. Turn off the heat. Slide the peanut butter into the hot mixture. Slide don’t plop!
Carefully, slide peanut butter into mix
Peanut butter will burn very easily so you must turn off the heat. Dissolve the peanut butter in the lard and water. You need to be able to stir the mix continually.
Add the 1 lb. of quick oats.
Add oats to mix…
Stir until all the oatmeal is wet.
Stir oats into fluid mixture until uniformly coated and moist
Heat, very briefly, again until it bubbles and it looks like normal cooked oatmeal only greasy. Turn off the heat and add the bird seed,
add commercial bird seed…
stir until evenly dispersed through out the mixture. Continue to stir as it cools for about 5 minutes. It will pull away from the edges of the pan as the gluten from the oats binds the mix. If you want a thicker mix, add a little optional cornmeal.
Line the forms with plastic wrap. Put the mixture in the forms when it is comfortably safe to handle. The filled form should be able to sit in your hand comfortably, no warmer than a hot shower.
Press mix into forms…
Cover, cool to room temperature, refrigerate.
After they are cool, put in your suet feeder.
Ladderback enjoys the crack
They are easily made out of a 1×4 and mesh screen or are avaialable commercially. (We have both, the one pictured is a copper piece, about eight to twelve dollars.)
