Pine Cones

PINE CONES

Pine cones make excellent toys for birds. When collecting pine cones, ensure that they are not old, damp, moldy or are growing moss. Ideally one should collect pine cones as soon as possible after they have fallen to the ground and before they have become wet from rain. This is not always possible. Pine cones are also a favorite hiding spot for little beasts such as spiders and earwigs.

It is not possible to "sterilize" pine cones but heating in an oven will kill molds and little critters and make them safe for the birds to chew on. I heat pine cones in an oven for about 20 minutes at 225 degrees F, then turn off the oven. The pine cones are left in the oven for approx. 2 hours to dry out. It is important not to exceed 225 degrees F. otherwise the pine cones will scorch and possibly catch on fire.

The seeds inside the cones are a special treat and are safe for the birds to eat.

= From Gillian Willis Vancouver, B.C, via parrothouse.com =

cool plenty of pine cones near us.

..............whats (do you know ) is 225 degrees f in degrees C?

i made that mistake with a cake once and baked it at 350 degresse C opps!!!!

our oven dosn't go that high, this was the same cake i put 3 to 4 cups of sugar instaed of 3 quaters of a cup of sugar..............as you can tell i'm great in the kitchen!

225 deg F = about 107 deg C

lol, i should've done the calculation since i know some of you are in the UK.

i recently made another disaster cake with 2 cups of orange jucie instaed of two teaspoons............no excuse this time the instructions where clear.

tasted just as nice though

I'm gonna try this,the ones that can be bought in the store just went up price wise again and my bunch rip thru these things in no time.

I know this is an old thread, but I was just wondering how long do they keep after you bake them?

indefinitely