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Chickadee -
Black-capped  
Photos provided by Jayne. Please see her
Photostream and contact information at:
Jayne's Photostream on Flickr
(Suet)
Great project for 5
year old or older - with supervision
Complexity
- Medium
Time to
Complete - 2
hours
Main Ingredient -
Fat
Needed -
Fat or lard from bacon drippings, cookings, meat trimmings,
etc. You can also buy a chunk of fat. Beef fat is commonly
found in stores and is very inexpensive.
-
Suet hanger from a hardware store, build your own, or use a
fruit or vegetable (onion)
sack.
(You can pour the mixture from Step 2 below into a cupcake pan
and skip the hanger altogether. Just place a string into each
cupcake slot before it hardens. You now have Suet Cupcakes to
decorate your trees!)
Step 1 - Render the fat -
a) Chop or Grind the fat
into small pieces (it will melt better in small pieces) and
place in a sauce pan
b)
Add 1/2 inch water in the pan, cover with
lid
c) Soften and melt
the fat over LOW heat on the stove (fat has a
lower burning point than grease, so be careful not to
overheat) STIR OFTEN!
d) Strain through
cheesecloth
e) Allow to
cool
f) Re-heat again
and strain again (the suet will only
harden
if you perform steps 1c and 1d a 2nd time. THIS IS KEY IF YOU ARE MAKING SUET FOR SUMMER
USE.
Step 2 - Using a bread pan, mix
into the melted fat a variety of household staples, such as
old cereal, crackers, bread crumbs, nuts, berries, dried
fruit, raisins, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, rolled oats,
popped popcorn, even dog or cat food. Be creative here. This
is where the recipe can become your own by adding ingredients
that your birds enjoy!
Step 3 - Let mixture cool and
begin to harden
Step 4 - Cut into slices that
fit your holder and set aside to fully harden. You can store
any unused suet in the freezer for future
use.
Enjoy the Chickadee!
Other Chickadee
Facts:
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