turning pumpkin to pie

[old fashioned]

I know this may seem like a "DUH!" question, but I just want to make sure since I've never done it before.
I would think the steps would be...

1. clean and gut pumpkin

2. cut peeling from meat

3. cook (steam?) and mash meat

OR

1. clean and gut

2. cook (bake?) to soften

3. then peel

4. then mash

Also, how different is it to can pumpkin from other fruits/veggies?
Please any and all input on this is greatly appreciated. thank you!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

This is what I do:

Cut in half
Scoop out seeds
roast shell up, until easily pierced with fork
cool
put pulp through a food mill (or you could mash it)

You need to pressure can, if you are going to can it, but I've never done that.

 

[big brown horse]

Perfect! Thanks I was wondering the same thing!

 

[patandchickens]

Butternut squash makes better pumpkin pie (or pumpkin bread, or etc) than any actual *pumpkin* I've ever had, though, and I am under the impression that the stuff sold in cans as pumpkin is actually a butternut-type squash?

Of course if one has pumpkins one may as well eat them

Pat

 

[old fashioned]

Thanks to all. I suppose any squash would work since they taste similar imo, but I did get a bumper crop of small sugar pumpkins this year and the kids only used about half of them for halloween, and the chickens turn up their beaks at it-pulp, seeds and all. go figure.

I don't/won't use a pressure canner, only my trusty rusty water bath.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Oh, you can freeze it in baggies. That is what I do.

I haven't tried using butternut squash or other winter squash for pumpkin recipes. I honestly fell in love with pumpkins after the first time I tried a REAL pumpkin pie. Before that, I loathed the stuff (out of the can).

 

[TanksHill]

I roasted up a huge heirloom pumpkin a few weeks back. I ran all the pulp through the Cuisinart to puree it a bit then froze it. I think it was a Musquee de Provence. It almost tasted like a sweet potato. Amazing!!!!

 

[Ldychef2k]

I am probably poisoning myself or something, but I roast all squash and pumpkins whole, and then cut and scoop the seeds out. Cutting a hard old squash or pumpkin is just too tough on my hands.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

It IS hard work! I don't think it matters. Whatever works.

 

[patandchickens]

Also, how different is it to can pumpkin from other fruits/veggies?

Pumpkin and squash are (very) nonacidic and thus ought to be pressure-canned.

Mashed or pureed pumpkin/squash are one of the few things expressly recommended *not* to be canned at all, not even pressure-canned, because they heat unevenly and unpredictably and thus there is no assurance, no matter what your processing time, of having sterilized all the botulism spores out of 'em. What's recommended, if you want to can your punkins/squash, is to cube them and can them that way, then drain and mash when ready to use.

(e.t.a. - a hatchet can be of use for really hard squashes, or a hacksaw to start a cut that you finish with a knife; or my preference, whack a really big butcher knife into the squash, so that the tip will always be sticking out a little past the squash on the far side as you cut down, then hammer on the tip of the knife with a very large metal can [filled] or other weight, to hammer the knife down thru the squash. Presto, is cut in half for oven-roasting )

(e.t.also.a. - oh, and I've heard of people opening huge rock-solid Hubbard squashes by dropping them out of a second-floor window onto a driveway or patio, then picking up the pieces )

Good luck, have fun,

Pat