Recycled fire starters

[Old Philosopher]

I needed some more fire starters for my wood stove. I also had some suet blocks I made for the birds, that they just hate. So.....
The bird food is made from bird seed and deer tallow. I guess the birds feel the same way I do about deer fat, because one block in the feeder lasted 12 months! 
I've made deer tallow candles in the past, so I figured the junk bird food was a logical choice.

I unwrapped one of the suet blocks, and got a bowl of sawdust from the shop.



I melted the old blocks in a double boiler. I use the double boiler for wax, paraffin, or anything else that I know might catch fire if over heated directly on a burner.



When the tallow had melted, I stirred in the sawdust. Just enough to make a paste.



The mix was spooned into a fiber egg carton and pressed in firmly. I put a piece of butcher twin in half of them as a wick, which was totally unnecessary, and useless.



After a chill for an hour in the freezer, I cut the carton to make 12 separate cups filled with the tallow, sawdust and seed mix. I put one in the bottom of the stove with a few pieces of kindling. I just lit the carton part with a match and it took off. Plenty of burn time and heat to catch the kindling.



Thanks for checkin' it out.

[Yeoman]

Neat use. I've never kept rendered deer fat before. Is there a smell to it? Does it go rancid?
Do the seeds have any effect; negative or positive?

[imnukensc]

Great recycling job there, OP.  That's the same way I make fire starters except I use dryer lint and melted wax.  And like you stated, a wick is totally unnecessary as the paper carton is the wick itself.

I need to make some more.  I'm down to my last one.

[rtaylor129]

Does deer fallow have a "smell" to it as you burn it like in a candle or such? And also excellent idea!

[Dano]

Well ain't that just slick- very cool idea!!  We had a suet block too that the birds wouldn't touch, I wonder if it had deer fat in it too...it just went in the trash last week LOL

Thanks for sharing!!

[hunter63]

Great idea, thanks for posting.
I hate wasting stuff as well, looks like a great use.

I make mine from egg cartons filled with fatwood sawdust, but just use paraffin.

It has been suggested to place a cotton ball in the hot wax, about 1/2 way in.......to catch sparks for Ferro rod or flint and steel....will try next time.....got enough for a while.

[kanukkarhu]

Cool thread, OP.

I laughed out loud, well, sorta, when I read your bit about the wicks being "totally useless".  How many times I did some little project and a part of it turns out to be about as useless as, well, whatever, I can't even count... Happens all the time!

A couple of great ideas here, PLUS its all about re-purposing and recycling etc.

[wolfy]

My greatest fear in making deer-tallow suet blocks would be mistaking one of them for a granola bar!    Great idea for turning something totally worthless into something very useful, though!

[Old Philosopher]

Thanks!
Does deer tallow smell when it burns? Well, yeah...but it makes you hungry for venison, not nauseous like burning paraffin.