I am a bird watcher….usually from my porch or deck, sometimes while walking in the woods. I enjoy watching them change colors in the spring, and the migrating transients that pass by, raise clutches of babies in bird houses and bushes all summer, and then somehow survive the cold and snow of a northern winter. And I make suet cakes.
Considering that most birds only weigh a few ounces, it’s amazing they survive brutal winds and sub-zero temperatures. I do what I can to help them along.
Beside providing seed and purchased suet cakes, or real suet fat when I can find it, I make suet cakes.
It’s really easy, using things I already have on hand. Though I have been known to buy things just for the birds! I save a couple store bought trays, or make my own with things in the house. I have found the birds seem to much prefer my cakes over those from the store. Under duress the birds eat store bought, but whenever I put out one of my cakes, it’s devoured much faster.
The only thing required in the kitchen is a large pot and a spatula or wooden spoon. I just used my Our Home Perfect Pot today – it worked wonderfully. Because it’s aluminum and non-stick, it warmed up fast and nothing stuck to it. It’s also large enough to put the dry ingredients directly into it instead of using another bowl. I have also used my cast iron Dutch oven, but it does take longer to heat up. Really any large nonstick pot works fine.
My perfect Pot works great for regular food cooking too! Not an inexpensive purchase, compared to some pot prices, but should last for a long time (at least that’s the company’s claim). And it comes in pretty colors!
Back to the suet…. melt some lard (or shortening – palm free please) and chunky peanut butter together, add in the rest of the dry ingredients, mix well and put into containers to freeze. I generally use 1 cup of black oil sunflower seeds and 1 cup of woodpecker mix (lots of nuts and dried fruit) to attract the widest variety of birds.
My recipe makes 4 standard cakes. Considering how costly many things are becoming, my cakes work out to a comparable price to store bought suet cakes, all with things I already have on hand. I tend to buy the giant economy size of the cheapest oats and peanut butter. Other nut butters, like almond butter, can be substituted, but greatly increase the cost of making the suet.
Things to not include in suet cakes
The suet cakes should not be made with other animal fats like bacon. I know, my mom let us use it, but too often bacon drippings are high in salt, and have nitrates/nitrites. Bread is also not good – just like for people, white bread/white flour has no nutritional value (which is what we are trying to provide) and bread can have both sugar and salt. Do not mix in any table scraps, like fruit seeds or pits. I avoid filler seed like milo/sorghum (the round dark colored seed prevalent in cheap bird seed), which birds won’t eat anyway.
Avoiding including any moldy seed, as mod can be toxic to birds.
DO Make sure to
- use fresh ingredients
- use seeds and nuts that your local birds like – no point in having it fall on the ground for mice and rats. Most of my birds do not care for cracked corn, so I don’t use commercial feed that includes it.
- Using hull-less seed/no waste seed is fine, as is using all nuts. Or make a batch of each!
- refrigerate or freeze homemade cakes. With no preservatives they may more easily go rancid in warm temperatures. I put mine in the freezer to harden up, then remove and store in bag in the freezer.
Homemade Bird Suet Cakes
a healthy treat for your backyard birds including nuts and seed, cormeal and oatmeal.
Ingredients
- 1 cup crunchy peanut butter
- 1 cup lard or shortening
- 2 cups quick oats
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour oat flour may be substituted
- 2 cups birdseed and/or nuts
Instructions
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Heat the peanut butter and lard together over low heat, just long enough to melt and mix it together.
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Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well to moisten all the dry ingredients.
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Put warm mix into containers to harden – used store bought suet trays, metal baking trays, plastic food containers. If you are concerned about removal, spray lightly with cooking spray, or dip the container in hot water to loosen the cake. This works well with metal like loaf pans. Avoid freezing in one large block unless youplan to feed it that way. The suet does not cut well when hard.
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Put in the freezer to harden. Remove the suet from the containers and store in a plastic bag in the refrigerator or freezer. Will keep several weeks frozen.
Recipe Notes
Substitutions / additions – meal worms, in-medicated chick starter, millet, pearled barley groats, salt-free peanuts.
If squirrels are an issue, a little red pepper can be mixed in, or use prepared food made as a squirrel deterrent.
Birds who will be attracted to your homemade suet
All the usual birds will love your suet – blue jays, chickadees, titmouse, all species of nuthatches and some sparrows. Perhaps a cardinal or two, depending on the location of your suet cake. Woodpeckers of all kinds especially love it. You may even get bluebirds in the late winter months, or a catbird. In late winter /early spring I have Pine Warblers migrating north who swing by to eat my cakes.
While I usually put the suet cakes in regular suet holders, either individually in trees, or in my combination seed/suet feeder. I do occasionally put one on a flat tray, so ground feeding birds like a cardinal will feel comfortable landing and feeding, if it appeals to them.
