Alright…for those of you were wondering about cooking your own pumpkins…here you go.
Couple things you should know before you embark into the land of homemade pumpkin puree:
- You have to use a certain kind of pumpkin. The kind that you get for carving…yeah, those won’t work. *bitter
- Look in your store for the “pie pumpkins”…they will be on sale and super cheap over the next few weeks.
- Easiest, no fuss way to make your own pumpkin…in your slow cooker. How to Cook a Pumpkin in your slow cooker…Toni’s got your covered!
- You can cook it in the oven as well…I prefer this method of steam-baking. Cut into wedges, then follow the “steam-bake” directions, scoop out flesh once cooked, puree, let cool and freeze.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments…we’ll help you out!
What is a good price for pie pumpkins? I think they’re about 50-cents a pound around here right now, and I want to do this, but I didn’t know if prices would drop much more…
Don’t forget long necked pumpkin squash too if you can find it at your store or farmers market. The BEST pumpkin flavor in your pies, breads etc.
The one time I made fresh pumpkin puree, I cut up large chunks of pumpkin and boiled it until soft. Then I mashed up the pumpkin. It worked great in the cookies I made.
Hmm. I’ve used carving pumpkins that I got at the end of the season for a quarter or something. If I remember right they are just more watery and need to be drained. There is also less “meat” in a carving pumpkin than a pie pumpkin. I guess what I am saying is you can use carving pumpkins, but pie pumpkins work better.
I never thought about putting the pumpkin in the slow cooker. I usually microwave my pumpkins and squash. I cut them in half and remove the seeds. Then place in a glass bowl with a small amount of water and cover with plastic wrap. I cook them for about 20 minutes. I let them cool and then scoop out the flesh.
I too have used the carving pumpkins. I do find them to be waterier as mentioned above. They are not as sweet so I use them for more savory dishes and use the sugar or “pie” pumpkins for the sweet recipes.
I use carving pumpkins all the time. I just slit them open, gut them, slice them, place them in the crock pot with a cup of water and they cook in about 4 hours. They are a little bit watery but not bad. I then season them with a little salt, some sugar and cinnamon. I freeze in 1 cup increments and use as I would canned pumpkin. I did up 2 pumpkins this week that I had purchased for $1 each and I got about 15 or so 1 cup portion sizes. This will last easily for a year around here.