When good pumpkins go bad...
See this bad boy? He's magnificent. He's also getting a little soft in places, so it's time to dispatch him! You can store pumpkins long term if you keep them in a cool, dry place, but mine are in my sunroom and the temps in there have gotten a bit warm since I started adding my seedlings to the room. They need heat - Mr. Pumpkin here needs cool, so he's about to get really really cool...if you follow. If not, I'm going to put him in the freezer. Haha.
First things first. Wash him and preheat your oven to 300 degrees. Grab the biggest roasgin pan you have and put it near your cutting area. Once he's all cleaned up, we can cut him up. The goal is to cut him into manageable hunks. Some people dice them up into little pieces, but I don't have the patience for peeling 100 little chunks of pumpkin after it's done cooking.
To me, the easiest way to cut a pumpkin is to cut wedges - kind of like cutting a pie or round cake, around the stem. Cutting through the stem is the hardest part, so I cut wedges around it so I avoid cutting through the stem at all. Once I've cut all the pieces off, I just cut any "meat" off of the bottom of the stem. There's usually not much there.
Cut off the stem.
Using a large spoon, scrap each section to remove the seeds and the loose stringy bits. Save the seeds - I'll explain why later - just throw the whole mess into a large bowl.
Place all your wedges into your baking pan and bake in the oven for 2-3 hours. You'll know it's done when you can stick a fork in it an the flesh falls away from the shell easily. Don't let it get too brown, you just want it cooked. Don't add any water or oil or anything else to the pan. The pumpkin makes it's own moisture.
Once it is done, take out of the oven and let it cool. You will need to be able to hold it in your hand. Peel the flesh away from the skin and put the flesh in a clean bowl. You can compost or throw away the peels.
Place the pulp in a strainer and allow to drain as it cools completely. You can press down to help the process.
Next, use an emersion blender to pulverize the pulp. I like to leave it in the strainer while I do this, so additional moisture can drain. If you don't own an emersion blender, you can use a blender or food processor, just make sure you drain off any additional liquid before moving on to the next step.
The pulp will start off quite stringy, but once it's processed should be much smoother with no visible "strings".
Now you're ready to put into freezer bags. I use my FoodSaver, but freezer baggies will work fine. Fold the edge of the bag down, to keep the edges clean, and scoop 2 cups PLUS 1 tablespoon of pulp into each bag. Remove as much air as possible and seal.
Each baggie is now equal to one 15 ounce can of pure pumpkin or pumpkin puree. Neat right? I got 5 "cans" of pumpkin from this one large pumpkin! What a cost savings! Plus it was fun and the pumpkin was a beauty that I was able to use for décor during the fall!
And the seeds? Well, I just KNOW you want to plant these bad boys! If you want to roast them, that's fine too, but to save them to plant, you will need to rinse all the pulp off and select the largest seeds. Avoid the ones that feel "flat" - they may not have a germ in them (the germ is the bit that sprouts). Select the ones that are a little bit plump. The bigger the seed the better the chance of germination. Save more than you think you'll need, and lay them out on a towel or sheet. Store in a cool, dry place and let them dry out for about a week. Then you can store them in an envelope or in paper towels in a baggie until you are ready to plant them!
I have some pie pumpkins (they are small orange pumpkins with enough "meat" to do a single pie - generally) left to process, but that's for another time. They are still in good shape, so they can wait.
