Cooks/birders: I'm getting annoyed here- rescue me

[Inchworm]

hehe...

I am trying to make my own suet.

I have fat back in the pan and it won't liquify. It is more like I'm cooking it. It is getting crispy rather than cooking down.

What am I doing wrong? Was fat back the right stuff to use?

Hep! Hep!

:banghead:

[Inchworm]

1. I think I'm making pork rinds...

should I add BBQ?

:shrug:

[Maestro]

2. I have no idea what you are making there, but

here are some good recipes. http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa101800a.htm

[Inchworm]

4. I got some parts of my recipie from there

It still usually just says "render fat." Being a rookie that in itself needed definition :P

:hi:

[pitohui]

3. try adding peanut butter over very very very low heat

this has happened to me and i think it is because the pork product in question had more gristle and less fat than i understood

i melted some peanut butter into it and it turned out ok

makes a nice smell too

the chickadees love it, titmice, cardinals, i even get a woodpecker on it once in a while, mostly red-bellies

i take my suet cakes down once the grackles come to town because they tell all their friends but i just put it out semi unpredictably so the little guys can get a surprise once in awhile

[Inchworm]

5. That's my plan

I finally gave up sorta and turned heat to very low and stepped away. It is finally "rendering" yay!

If it has any solids left in it after I think it will not render any more, I plan to remove and food processor that stuff and add it back.

-peanut butter
-dried fruit trail mix stuff
-flour
-corn meal

possibly sugar. It is for energy right? :P

I just hope it works. The kitchen to me is more of a laboratory than any other functional use :)

:hi:

[pitohui]

6. yes that will work perfectly

and yes the suet provides energy, which is important in cold weather to maintain their body temperature of almost 110 degrees F

wild birds don't need low fat diets :-)

[Inchworm]

7. I'm not a vegetarian

or anything by a longshot. I do however have my concerns about using food with gelatin in it. The store-bought suet uses gelatin. Basically, I'm making gelatinous goodness for the birds. The difference to me is, I see what it came from and isn't just animal soup.

:)

[GardeningGal]

8. Sounds like you know about chickadees so I have a question.

I haven't put out suet since I inherited my mother's dog because she is too fast in the back yard and I'm afraid she'll nab one of the birds flying in or out. The backyard is ideal because I have a very tall blue spruce as well as an even taller white pine.

I've been thinking about trying a suet feeder in the front yard to avoid the dog situation. However, the only tree in the front is a 50 year old silver leaf maple that is shedding its leaves right now.(No bushes either, just a perennial garden in the summer.) Do you think the chickadees will still come to the feeder if it's in the front rather than the back? Not sure they'll be particularly happy with the maple.

[Inchworm]

9. I'm relatively new to all the bird stuff but

I've found so far that "if you build it, they will come." You just never know what will come hehe. I think certain birds prefer certain foods.

I made a cheap little house out of scrap baseboard and keep sunflower seeds in it mixed with safflower. Chickadees ALL day.. its like a chickadee train.

If I space out refilling it, one will perch there waiting. If I space it for too long, it takes a day or so for them to find it again.

I am surrounded by trees. At first my problem was all the feeders were really too far from the house for me to enjoy seeing the pretty birds. I ended up buying a feeder pole and put it about 8 feet away from the window I look out of when I'm at computer. Coasted me $15 or so and made a big difference.



BTW: birds are dang quick and dang spooky. If your feeder is a few feet off the ground I doubt the frontal attack of a dog would ever be successful. Cats.. different story.

Just have fun with it.

[pitohui]

10. in my yard the post or shepherd's hook also needs a squirrel/raccoon baffle

i don't put feeders right hanging off any tree because then the squirrels get everything before the chickadees have a fair chance

here is a guide to some homemade raccoon baffles:

http://www.sialis.org/baffle.htm

although i just got my baffles from the wild bird store


oh, and in answer to your other question, the chickadees won't care if the feeder is in the front yard instead of the back yard

[sarge43]

11. Two words: Double boiler. n/t