Homemade Canned Pumpkin Puree
 

Has anyone made their own canned pumpkin puree and preserved it? I'm thinking just pumpkin, no added salts or flavors.

As in, carving my own pumpkin and scooping out the guts and slimy seeds? Nope! I tried roasting pumpkins seeds one time and decided I was no longer the Martha Stewart of post-Halloween pumpkin preservation of any kind.

My mother's neighbor has started growing pumpkins for her to cook with. She measures it into pie portions, puts it in a ziplock bag and freezes it.

You want to bake or microwave the pumpkin -- no added water! Just scrape off, maybe run through a sieve if the flesh was grainy. Use as canned pumpkin.

Edit: The best pumpkins for cooking are not the halloween pumpkins but you can use those too. Typically a cooking pumpkin is fairly small (10 pounds or under) and with a very thick rind.

My prefered choice is Kabocha Squash, which looks like a green pumpkin from the outside!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabocha

I've always used the Halloween pumpkins. I scoop out as much of the inner pumpkin as I can( I use an ice cream scoop) and then make a Jack-o-Lantern, or I cut the pumpkin into chunks and then microwave until tender. I wait to peel the chunks until after it cools a bit. Then I run it through my blender until smooth, measure 2 cups (the amount for 1 pie) into a zippy bag and freeze.
Sometimes it's more watery than others and I will drain a bit before freezing.
I've done this for so long my family doesn't like the grocery store canned stuff.

There's no reason that I know of that you couldn't pressure cooker can it if you wanted. Just follow the directions for your pressure cooker.

I always cook it down and let it cool, then freeze. I ***think*** I read somewhere that something about the thickness of pumpkin makes it iffy to can safely...at any rate, I read something about it long ago and that's why I freeze it, even though I can other things.
a quick google search says you can't can it safely...although there are recipes for canning chunks of pumpkin..you could do it that way and then cook it down when you need it.

Thanks everyone! I think I'll freeze it now. We have been given too many pumpkins!

The good thing is that a huge pile of pumpkins turns into just a good bit of finished product -- and a lot of rinds and stuff! I know goats love raw pumpkin, don't know if cooked is good for them, but if you have neighbors with piggies they might enjoy the scrapings.

And I can tell you pumpkins simply don't store well for most of us. A thick layer of hay is required so when it turns into mush you can scoop it up. Most varieties grown aren't specifically for storage.

I have a planting bed in front of my house that used to receive full sun, put a tiny little dogwood twig from my son's school fund raiser and over 20 years it now shades the area. But when it was small I had bulbs in the area for the spring and then I would put in a pumpkin plant or two. I love the big squash blossoms and the big leaves shaded over the barked area for the bulbs and kept the weeds out. Son loved having his own pumpkin or two. I'm a believer in mixing edibles into landscape.

Are you out of your gourd?

Just kidding. Go for it if that's what pumps your kin! (Okay, maybe should squash the attempt at humor and get back to a different kind of "patch"work.)

my son lives with me and he has taken over the vegetable garden for me. He is growing pumpkins now for the past couple of years. I bake mine in the ovenon low 200* for several hours (like 3 or 4) you can tell when they are done they kindof fall into themselves. and turn darker color. be sure to have them on a cookie sheet for the liquid. I puree them and freeze the ones he doesn't carve. Yummy

Haha! I love your sense of humor!

Sounds perfect. Not too much work! Thanks!

When I did the pumpkin for pies ,I baked the gutted pumpkin then put in a blender skin and all and blended it. The skin adds colour to your filling and unless you were told it was in there you wouldn't know. Saves on work also.....more time for sewing :)

My sister decided to grow pie pumpkins this year so I started looking to see how to can it. They say not to pressure can puree but leave it in chunks instead. So what we might do is bake it, then scrape the innards and freeze it. My sister still has one of my butternut squash in her basement from last year and its still good so she wants to take all her many pumpkins down there and see how long they hold up so we won't have to do much to them till we want to use them. She made a meal with a stuffed pumpkin using veggies, rice and meat baked right in the shell of the pumpkin. It was very tasty.

Iceblossom, good to know that pumpkins don't store well as my sister wanted to store her's down in her basement as my butternut squash is still doing great from last year's batch.

I just cook it, portion it out and freeze in zip lock bags just squeeze all air out

Hahaha made my morning!!!!

It is no longer considered safe to can pumpkin puree. Pumpkin should be canned in 1" chunks for consistency in cooking and only done in a pressure canner. Now I can my pumpkin, using instructions from the National Home Food Preservation website. To make my puree and remove as much water as possible I have started using my Kitchen Aide Mixer and the attachment for skins and seeding. It does the best even puree that comes out one end while pulling the water into a bowl on the other end. A perfect puree for pies. I have been canning pumpkin for years and have 7 sitting in the living room right now to take care of in the next week or so, after halloween with I can take a breath.

Here is the web page for canning pumpkin: https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_04/pum...er_squash.html

It's all a balance between humidity and temperature and other stuff -- your sister might have the perfect set up. But do put down a layer of something if you do try storing a pumpkin in case it doesn't go so well!

I think though that the timing of when we eat pumpkin pies tells us something, for me it is that they are best used up before the end of the year.

When I want to use a pumpkin or large squash, the first thing I do is wash it and put it into the oven on a cookie sheet with sides (I use the broiler pan which I saved from my old stove.) for about 45 minutes at 350º. Then I take it out, cut it in half and scoop out the innards. (Actually, these innards are edible and are very nutritious. Put them into the blender.) The outside of the pumpkin is now partially cooked and is easy to cut.
I put the two halves cut side down onto the cookie sheet with sides with about a cup of water and bake for about 45 minutes more.
Now it is easy to scoop the flesh from the shell.
I freeze mine in measured amounts to match what I make most. Cakes and pies!

Daisy Luther is the Queen of Preserving in my opinion and her web site is packed full of preserving all kinds of food to save money and to be prepared in case of an emergency. I looked at her site to see what she had to say about pumpkins and I think it will more than answer your question. https://www.theorganicprepper.com/th...vest-pumpkins/

I wash a sugar pumpkin or two, cut it up and remove the seeds. I put the (unpeeled) pieces in a large pot over a steamer basket and steam it till the pulp is soft. Then the peeling comes right off. I then mash up the pulp and freeze it in 2-cup portions (what my pie recipe calls for). When I want to use it for a pie, I put it I the blender with the other ingredients and blend to smooth out the "fiber". I used to try to blend it before freezing it, but had to add too much water to get the blender work. It is also very good for pumpkin bread.

Juliasb, that's what I read also about canning any type of squash which pumpkin is. I've baked to remove the skin, then cubed and placed into a freezer bag. Luckily I have 3 freezers at my disposable though my sister has only 1 so I may be putting all her pumpins in mine. I use most of mine for soup along with what veggies I pulled out of my garden. Nothing tastes better than home-made soup on a cold day. We just received our 1st snow last night, just enough to cover the lawn but melted on the walks. This morning we now have a bit of black ice to deal with.

Oh gosh...we must have 100+ pumpkins and squashes on the porch right now and some are going to have to be processed in order to keep through the year. I'm about to make a few freezer bags of pumpkin puree. It's easy. Just poke the pumpkin with a knife a few times and place it in a 350 oven until the skin is slightly browned and the flesh is soft and tender. Let it cool. Slice in half and scrape the seeds out, then scrape the cooked flesh into a bowl and allow it to cool completely. Store in freezer bags in the freezer. (Be sure to date the bags.) It's pretty much the same as canned pumpkin to cook with. I think it tastes better.

~ C

I agree...Kabocha Squash is amazing! Right up there with Delicata Squash!

~ C

juliasb posted my concerns about canning...

I cook them, mash them, and put them in the freezer. I've mostly used it for pies and cookies, but I want to try a soup eventually.