Suet Balls for Birds (For Christmas)

From: Charlotte J

On Dec 19, 2007

These were fun to make. As Dreamer stated, the rendering WAS the hardest and most time consuming part about this recipe. It took 1 hour to heat the suet the first time, maybe I was just being to cautious. But even taking my time on heating it you could still see smoke. So I'd turn the heat off for awhile. All in all the kids had fun measuring out the dry ingredients. They were so proud to take their orange shell bird feeder home. I also used 1 1/2 to 2 inch tall meat trays to pour the mixture into to put inside my wired baskets outside. Oh yes, we also took pine cones and worked the mixture into I used rubber glasses to help keep our hands clean. Thanks for a fun project. Made for Zaar Tag game 2007

From: Dreamer in Ontario

On Dec 14, 2007

The suet balls came out great! The were a bit more work than I expected because when I asked for suet at the meat counter I was given a package with a couple of slabs of fat. I had to chop them up and render them down first. Next time I'll look harder for suet that's ready to go. In case anyone else has the same thing happen to them, here's the method for rendering I found:Grind the beef fat with a meat grinder or finely chop the fat. Heat the fat over a low to medium flame until its liquefied. Strain by pouring melted suet through a fine cheesecloth. Let cool to harden. Repeat steps 2-3. If the fat is not rendered twice, the suet will not cake properly. Let cool to harden and store in a covered container in the freezer.

From: Nyteglori

On Dec 25, 2007

I made mine for a rabbit. I did not have to render the suet as I asked my dad for some. This turned out to be fairly easy and quite cute. There is quite bit of snow on the ground here so I am sure the rabbit will appreciate it. I didnt read the directions closely enough and got smooth peanut butter rather than chunky. I also used black sunflower seeds insted of mixed bird seed.