Any type of animal by product like butter, milk, yogurt will attract rodents and other large criters. They aren't really bad for the compost but most home composters stay away from adding them because of the rodent issue. Animal fat I would almost say the same thing but it may fall more inline with animal meat. The reason most home composters stay away from that is the possible diseases that it may carry and of course the attraction of large critters to your compost. I personaly try to keep meat and fat out but at the end of the day if a little gets scraped in there from supper o well.

As far as your "shine" cardboard I think that's really up to you. Some say the shine and the color ink has chemicals that you don't want in your compost others don't mind it and shread and thow it in there anyways. I keep mine and just recycle it. I got enough stuff for my compost that I don't need to guess on some of iffy stuff.

Does it matter if the bread or the pancake was made of BUTTER or not?

Nope, toss it in. The only time these dairy products become a problem is if they are used in over-abundance (out of proportion to the rest of the ingredients) and/or are not buried deep in the pile. Got to bury them in the pile. True, fats can slow the decomposition process somewhat but again only if used in abusive amounts.

I live about as far out into critter country as one can get and use open piles and bins. In my experience, the critter problem is way over-rated. JMO

Dave

As Dave has stated fats are only a problem if the volume you put into the compost is too great. Proportion is the key. Those that tell you never, ever add meats, fats, dairy, etc, do not believe the average person has enough sense to know what is enough and to not add more. Meat and Fats can, in fairly large quanities, cause a major slow down in the digestion process, and if not properly handled could result in attracting vermin (critters that are not desireable) to the compost. But in all the years I have been composting the small amounts of meat and fats we generate have not presented a problem to my compost piles.

I never blink at any type of baked goods. Small amounts of sauces, plate scraps of meat, poultry bones and fat, no big deal. I am using an enclosed black Earth Machine type composter. Just don't empty the Fry Daddy into it.

I have even put the entire carcass of a turkey - after removing meat and boiling all the scraps for stock - into the composter, bones, fat, skin and all, buried in a steaming 1 cu yd pile in November. Following spring all I found was the breast bone. Not recommended for beginners though!

Thank you all. I got the idea.

Critters and vermin are a for real deal. I'm fairly new to composting and when I started I was very picky at what went into my bin. I didn't want anything that would attract them. But they still come. I don't know if they come to eat or if they come because of the warmth and shelter. But I've been doing this just over a year and I bet I've caught over 10 mice/rats. I even stopped putting kitchen scrapps in it for close to a month and yet they still climbed around in there. So now I just watch for traces of them and if I see them I put out my good old snap trap and get rid of them that way. Now I add a lot more stuff since they are going to come anyway.