Baking Pine Cones

Believe me some of them are scary and you don t want to bring them inside.

Baking pine cones. Baking the pine cones my friend lisa mentioned to me to bake the pine cones on some aluminum foil in my stove. Check the pine cones frequently while baking so they do not catch on fire. Alternatively you can sprinkle baking soda on the soil while applying mulch to help neutralize the ph of the soil. Line a a cookie sheet with foil.

Place pine cones on baking sheets and bake for several hours at 200 250 degrees fahrenheit. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Since pine cones are somewhat acidic use them around acid loving plants such as blueberries and azaleas. After soaking remove the pine cones from the water and let them air dry on a large towel.

I have been trying to sanitize pine cones but using the vinegar and water method soaking them for 30 minutes followed by baking them anywhere from 200 to 300 degrees for up to an hour and a half. And i am too impatient to. Simply bake the pine cones in your oven 20 minutes at 200º does the trick. You want to kill all the moths bugs mildew and any other creatures living in your pine cones.

The solution will help kill bugs as well as loosen and remove any dirt and debris. Please watch them closely while you dry them though. To thoroughly clean your pine cones you will need to first soak them in a water vinegar solution. These foot long cones are from the sugar pine tree.

Air drying can take 2 3 days for the pine cones to fully dry and open back up. You don t want to layer your pine cones but keep them flat and bake at 200 degrees for 2 3 hours. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spread pine cones across it in a single layer. Give the cones good shake outside and pick off any visible pine needles or leaves and lay in a single layer on the sheet.

Once they are finished soaking they will be ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 200º. Then let your pine cones air dry for two to three days. Place the pine cones in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cones are fully opened and the sap has melted.

Place your pine cones flat on an old baking sheet. Do not leave the oven unsupervised during this time be alert for smoke or fire. The shiny finish is due to the sap melting into the pine cones. This acts as a natural finish and preservation agent.

I tried soaking them for only 10 minutes and they hadn t closed up too much but as soon as i put them in the oven they closed completely. Plus after baking them they are insect free and the sap is gone from baking them. Your home will smell wonderful 6 the pine cones will be fully open dry and shiny when finished baking. If you don t have that kind of time you can put them on a cookie sheet and in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

If there is a lot of sap you will have no clean up after baking them. Bake your pine cones for an hour to an hour and a half or until they have re opened. After baking for up to an hour and half they still don t open up as pretty as before they received the treatment.