Pumpkin pie questions

[legend_018]

its pumpkin season time.
if i buy a pumpkin sometime in october, how do i prepare it for a pumpkin pie the end of november. never did it before. how do i separate the seeds from the pumpkin? do i scoop out and freeze the pumpkin from inside the pumpkin after taking it out in a containor until ready for making pie? how many pumpkins does it take to maake a pie. thank you so much

[Andy M.]

Treat it as you would a butternut (or other winter) squash. Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and bake it in the oven until done. You can scoop the cooked pumpkin out of its shell and freeze it.

My recipe for pie calls for about 2 cups of pumpkin (one can of store bought).

[legend_018]

should you also puree it?

[Andy M.]

If fully cooked, it will be fairly soft. You will be able to mash it with a fork. You can puree it before or after you freeze it.

[Goodweed of the North]

As Andy said, bake the pumpkin. Once it's cooked, you can freeze it. You can also cut the pumpkin into wedges, peel them with a veggie peeler, and cut into small chunks and either steam or boil them until tender. The flavor is milder, but it still makes great pumpkin filling for pies.

A tip, make extra pumpkin pie filling so that you have about a cup of filling left over. Add 1/2 cup flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, and about 2 tbs. cooking oil. You now have a great waffle batter that will have the same flavor as pumpkin pie. It's a great way to use pumpkin or winter squash for those who won't eat the veggie. Serve hot, with egg nog or vanilla ice cream.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

[sparrowgrass]

Pretty Jack-o-lantern pumpkins do not make good pie--they are too stringy and watery. Buy a pie pumpkin, or do what I do--use butternut squash.

Commercial canned pumpkin is made from a kind of big squash that most people wouldn't recognize as a pumpkin.

From About.com: You can also use winter squash as a substitute for cooking pumpkins. These tend to be the related species, Cucurbita maxima, (pumpkins are C. pepo), which has a harder shell and stores longer. Butternut squash, in particular, shows up in a lot of old recipes as an alternative. Most commercial canned pumpkin is actually some type of C. maxima squash, like ‘Dickinson Field’.

[Andy M.]

There are several brands of canned pumpkin that are nothing but pumpkin in a can. The ingredient list is just one word - pumpkin.

Several taste tests I have seen/read demonstrate that taste testers could not tell the difference between a pie made with fresh or canned pumpkin.

[Goodweed of the North]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy M. There are several brands of canned pumpkin that are nothing but pumpkin in a can. The ingredient list is just one word - pumpkin. Several taste tests I have seen/read demonstrate that taste testers could not tell the difference between a pie made with fresh or canned pumpkin.

I agree with your statement. I use canned pumpkin all the time. It's much easier to work with. But I had to make a pie from fresh pumpkin, just because I had to be able to do it. I'm all about re-inventing the wheel.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North