Now mix it all up – you can do this by spooning it around, or by fixing the lid on (securely) and giving it all a good shake. Using the same method, make a hole about the size of an egg, about halfway up the bottle. Fill the bottle with seed to just below the hole. The birds will perch on the edge of the hole to feed. Atora original beef suet, 100g (4oz) mcdougalls or be-ro self raising flour, 150g (60z) raisins, 150g (6oz) sultanas, 100g (4oz) fresh breadcrumbs, 75g (30z) dark brown sugar, 50g (20z) chopped almonds, 1/2 tsp mixed spice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 small apple, peeled, cored and chopped, 2 medium eggs, 75ml (3floz) whole milk, 50ml (2floz) brandy or sherry. Suet should be made with regular, beef, or vegetarian ingredients. Your own opinion. Flour can be raised without the use of chemicals. Alternatively, plain flour can be made with bicarbonate of soda.

Making fat balls is extremely easy, all you need is solid vegetable oil, beef suet or lard, plus bird seed mix, at a ratio of 1:2. Use a fat that is solid when unrefridgerated to avoid it melting and making a mess. Fat ball ingredients It can also be used for savory dishes including dumplings or pastry for pies, making it a versatile ingredient to have in your cupboard. The best way to use it for any pastries or recipes is to freeze and then grate it to replicate the consistency of the suet. 2. Beef fat The following substitutes can help you save your next meal that includes suet if you don’t have suet at hand. 1. Vegetable shortening Butter has a much lower smoke point than suet. So, it will burn if using it for deep frying, and might not add that light and airy consistency to your plum pudding or Christmas cakes.However, if a recipe calls for suet, the properties of suet will often help the texture of the recipe, although in most places it can be replaced with lard in the same quantity. Can I use coconut oil instead of suet?

And if you find it, it’s a great vegetarian alternative to suet. It can be used in exactly the same way as suet, but it is made from vegetable oils and flour. For a more natural looking feeder suspend a gnarly log from a tree branch. Push the fatty seed mix into its crevices and holes.Furthermore the removal of the skin and tissue and the even mixing due to the fine shreds, imparts an extreme lightness in the cooking, and removes the reproach which was sometimes levelled at puddings made with the old-fashioned suet, of being heavy and stodgy.

That is an interesting short piece on the man who invented Atora – and how it is made – and what benefits Atora suet gave over making your own suet from fresh. Atora Suet Recipes: Some foods should never be fed to birds, including the fat from a roasting tin, salted nuts, desiccated coconut and cooked oats. Unscrew the lid of the bottle, make a hole in it and thread through a length of twine, or a hook twisted from wire, and hang up. Make a plate feeder

Other ways to feed birds

Once the fat balls are solid, put in the garden, on a bird feeder or in a fat-ball feeder. Other ways to feed birds Empty yoghurt pots Since then, Atora has been recognised as a convenient, economical and reliable food, with a good storage life. In fact, a tin of Atora suet was among the supplies taken by Captain Scott on his historical trek to the Antarctic in the early 1900s. It was returned to Atora many years later with the contents still pure and intact.

One last important point. These recipes prepared with “ATORA” are not only nice – they contain all the nourishment of good beef suet. Remember that suet is more than a cooking medium, it is a food, and there is no substitute for it. Children may like to start a bird book, keeping a record of the species they see – and don’t forget the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch every January, when you note the birds that visit your garden (or park or other open space) and send your results to the RSPB. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pudding basin, cover with parchment paper and foil and steam for 8 hours.You can find vegetable shortening in all supermarkets and it’s easily accessible and can be used for a range of recipes. Vegetable shortening is one of the best substitutes for suet. Use an ice cream scoop, or mould with your hands, into balls. If you want them to hang from a tree thread some string through them. To make dumplings, all you need to do each time is grab that box, open it and give the contents a good stir (to ensure they’re still mixed well) and spoon out as much as you need (by eye) for the number of dumplings you want to make! Then add water slowly to bring it into a dough. Just drop your dumplings into the top of your stew 20 minutes before the end! The name "Atora" was derived from the "toro", the Spanish word for bull, inspired by the fact that suet comes from beef cattle.