i used to melt mine first but found i can judge the texture better by useing peanut butter and lard or shortning at room tempature and add cornmeal or mixed bird seed or rolled oats to help thicken it and i use molasses or sorghum or syrup instead of honey. i add raisens or other dried fruit if i have it. we don't eat a lot of cereal but do use it if i have it. leftover crackers or stale bread heels. i do add boss or chopped nuts when i have them.
I make a stiff ball and form it into the metal cages or put it in a mesh bag. and hang the bags or cages. i save a litle and crunble in a pan by the window that the chickadees and tits eat from. the woodpeckers especially love the sweeter mix and when they are around regular add extra molasses or syrup to the mix. when the starlings are bad here i make covers using plastic bowls or trays
place the cages on side and run a bolt or chain up thru the cover so it makes a upside down feeder. does not stop the starlings all together but makes it a lot harder cause they don't hang well underneath the covers. i have a hand food chopper which is a platic jar with a plunger handle that i can coarse chop the nuts or leftovers instead of crushing. because the woodpeckers and chickadees like to carry off the bigger pieces.

A good winter recipe is:

2 cups lard
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups quick oats
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup raisins (chop them up)
1 cup wild bird seed

Melt lard and peanut butter and mix with dry ingredients. I chop the raisins using about 1 cup or the cornmeal or flour to put in my chopper so it doesn't gum up. It is easier for the birds to eat the smaller pieces. You can put this in ice cube trays and freeze for a few hours and then dump into ziplock bags for storage. This recipe is pretty greasy so not much good for hot weather.

I have real good luck with a homemade feeder made from a cedar log. it has nice perches on it and I drilled 3/4 inch holes in it and fill the holes with suet. The birds love it and when I take pictures on it, it looks natural. I saw a similar one at the Texas State Park this past year. Just screw a hangar into the top. You can also use a 3 or 4 inch thick limb with bark on it and drill holes. You don't need perches because they just cling to the bark.

I have another recipe that I think will be good for summer. It makes a huge amount and doesn't have quite as many ingredients and is probably a little cheaper. It doesn't have as much lard/peanut butter in comparison to the amount of flour and cornmeal. I recently made a whole batch of it and it is going fast. Both of these are supposed to be good bluebird suets; however, I don't have any bluebirds but the others like it too.

I have been making a mixture for the birds for over 4 years now. They LOVE it! This is the 5th winter I've been feeding Bluebirds.

The basic ingredients are rendered suet or Snow cap lard, peanut butter, corn meal and flour. I have also added:

bacon grease
oatmeal
currents
nuts
sunflower hearts
jam or jelly
egg shells
leftover bread, cookies, etc.
dried cat food

These extra ingredients are usually crushed (using a plastic bag and rubber mallet), pulverized, or blended.

Here's a pic from a few years ago, Bluebirds on my home-made suet log. I don't usually put as much suet out any more, because the Blue Jays, House sparrows, and Starling would hog it. Also, the suet log is much more weathered and the perches have fallen off!

The birds in my yard gobble up the beef suet we place out. Although we have tried recipes in the past, the birds just don't like the mixtures as well. Also, the suet is somewhat more natural, if you will, than giving birds processed foods like peanut butter and refined sugars.

Just a bit of a warning...raisins are toxic to dogs...if you have pooches, be careful about using raisins in things that can drop them to the ground where your dog can get them. I have little dogs and there are lots of mixtures of bird feed that have raisins in them. I'm very careful NOT to get those types of mixtures.

Getting back on topic...I grind and use just plain suet...the birds seem to like that the best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Info on raisin toxicity to dogs

Thanks for the info Ginni. I'm also a pet owner.

Not all these items would necessarily be used for suet, nor is this list all inclusive, nonetheless these are additional food items that should never be fed to dogs as they may be toxic and/or fatal:

Fish -- If fed exclusively or in high amounts can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death.

Cat food - generally too high in protein and fats

Raisins / Grapes / Currants - kidney damage

Avacado - vomiting and diarrhea

Hops - Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death

Mushrooms - Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death.

Onions and garlic - Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions.

Nuts, including and especially macadamia

Chocolate/coffee/tea/caffeine - toxic to heart and nervous system

fat trimmings (Pancreatitis)

Human vitamins with iron - Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys

Milk or dairy products

Salt - can lead to elecrolyte imbalances

Sugars or artificial sweeteners (hypoglycemia or liver failure)

yeast dough

Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.

Thanks Kimcoco...that's a good list. It's a good indication of what shouldn't go in suet if it's where dogs and cats can access it...either from the feeder or off the ground if birds drop it. In helping the birds, we sure don't want to hurt our precious pets!