How do you crush your nuts!

[feathered-friend]

LoL

I have recently started crushing the bird peanuts. I firstly started with pestle and mortar type effect, found this quite painstaking, to get every whole nut crushed had to do small amounts at a time. ( my birds eat loads

Then I started putting the nuts in a plastic bag and wacking them with a mallet, alot quicker but eventually,bag split and bits of peanuts and outer skin everywhere.

Anyone tried a food processor? or any other ideas would be welcome please.

[DuncanE]

I'm going to chop my nuts as the birds dont seem to be bothered to peck at the whole ones. that will probably mean a new feeder too.

I plan to use my hand-held blitzer this - its bound to be less messy that bashing them in a bag.

I'm sure this thread are going to be moderated!

[Ollie]

Originally Posted by feathered-friend

LoL
Then I started putting the nuts in a plastic bag and wacking them with a mallet, alot quicker but eventually,bag split and bits of peanuts and outer skin everywhere.

Anyone tried a food processor? or any other ideas would be welcome please.

This is the method I use with as strong a plastic bag as I can find.

Recently started using an empty 20kg plastic bird food bag and it's lasted much longer than an ordinary plastic bag so far anyway.

[Hedera]

Put nuts in shallow cardboard box or old tray. Use folded newspaper on top and bash with mallet. Do this on the floor!

[LynM]

Alternatively....buy peanut granules and save the bother!

[Astra]

I stick them in the food processor.
Give them a few short bursts (not too much or else you end up with peanut flour!) with the metal blade attachment.

Sorted

[feathered-friend]

thanks lynM

I can't get whole peanuts here let alone granules, and I guess they are more expensive than whole nuts?

If they are as cheap let me know, I bought a 25kg bag from UK at end of December and have only a third left so using lots of nuts!

[dan-fisher]

Personally i've no need to crush or blend them. personally i think that if the birds are wanting nuts, they'll peck them from the feeder just as willingly as looking for pre-chopped ones..

[Pippa]

I bought a cheap blender, popped the nuts in, works a treat.Tried bashing them in plastic bags etc but wore me out

[Madelinew]

I don't bother. Of all the things in the feeders, after sunflower hearts, the peanuts go quickest from the mesh feeder so they're not having any problem getting at them. In the process, bits drop below the feeder which are then hoovered up by the ground feeders.

One thing I did find very succesful last year was peanut butter. Pure peanut butter with no added sugar or (more importantly) salt. I had some tiny terracota flowerpots that I tied along the length of a string, stuffed with peanut butter and suspended from a tree brach so the pots were hanging one under the other. Very succesful but flipping expensive cos they loved it so much and the only salt free stuff I could find was in the health food shop.

May be why I have quite so many tits in the garden this year as they were the main chompers.

I also smeared some into tree crevices. The magpies and robins seemed to like that.