Baking with Fresh Pumpkin

I love baking pies with sugar pumpkins,they are wonderful You can follow all the same recipes as with canned pumpkin and these fresh pumpkins are well worth the effort.

1. I cook with "field" pumpkins all the time. It's a great way to use uncarved halloween pumpkins (assuming the squirrels don't get them first). I make about 80 mini-loaves of pumpkin breads for annual Christmas gifts with my halloween pumpkins, and they always get rave reviews. 2.Drain your frozen puree so that it's the same consistency as canned puree.. If you do decide to freeze your pumpkin puree be sure to thaw it over a cheesecloth or a really thick bundle of paper towels (I usually place the cloth in a pasta strainer and then sit it in the sink) for at least a couple of hours. You may need to bundle all the puree up inside in the cloth and then wring the cloth out to really remove all the water and get the puree back to its original consistency.

I love using the sugar pumpkins for pies. It makes the best pumpkin pies I have ever had. Takes a bit of time but so worth it...

I find that sometimes home made pumpkin puree is more watery that canned. When this is the case, I place my puree in a fine strainer and let the excess moisture drain out.

I made a pie with fresh pumpkin and it did not taste the same as pie with canned pumpkin. I know I did not grow sugar pumpkins in my garden. Can I add sugar or something to my fresh pumpkin so the pie will taste right? When I made pumpkin bars with fresh pumpkin, everything turned out fine.

An even better way to cook the pumpkin for a pie is to cut the pumpkin in half like two bowls and bake them with cream, spices and sugar in them. This makes a nice moist, mellow mixture once the flesh is scooped out that only needs eggs to be turned into pie (and you don't have to use yucky canned milk products!)

Those Big Pumpkins we get where I live are not stringy at all!! And they are dark in color too!! I use them for pie, soups, steamed, baked! My fresh pumpkin pie is made with 1 small size sweet potatoe (sometimes I even add a carrot or 2) and only 1 or 2 eggs. The sweet potatoe gives it a sweeter taste, along with the cinnamon and cardamon. Another wonderful addition is to use organic soy milk in place of the egg for those who don't want so many eggs. I put the organic soy milk into the Pumpkin SOups sometimes for a yummie reach flavor,along with onion,cardamon, cinnamon, carrot, sweet potatoe and garlic!!A soup packed with Vit A and super for Flu & COld prevention! Freezes great too! Cooking some in the oven right now!!!

Save yourself the hassle and buy a can of pumpkin!

lduran79, your probably need to 'cook down' the pumpkin puree you've made. Let it slowly simmer on the stove until it gets thick enough that the spoon makes a path through it. There is an excellent recipe for Stewed Pumpkin in Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ignalls Wilder. It's also reprinted in the Little House Cookbook. The cookbook says the stewed pumpkin should take about FIVE HOURS of cooking to get to the proper consistency. I happen to have a sugar pumpkin in the oven right now, baking is much easier.

To bake pumpkin, I've always put the whole pumpkin right in a 275 oven for an hour and a half. Then, let cool and pull the stem off(sometimes the skin peels off too)cut in half or quaters and scoop out the seeds/stringy pulp. You're left with pumpkin that you can smooth nicely in the blender for pies, what have you.

When swapping fresh pumpking for a 15oz can...How much pumkin is that?..Im guessing a cup and a half?..I wish i had a scale...can some one help

@ beethoven1798, I would use a measuring cup with ounces on it. A cup and a half would be 12 ounces.

is there anything that CAN be done with the stringy insides? the "guts"?

I want it too be less fat, so I exchange the oil to apple sauce, makes it nice an moist too. Perfect. Cuts fat almost by 75%.

Hello any one that Mite know this dose and now how to make min Pumkin pie.do I put less milk in it to make them Let me know

Thank you so much for these instructions. I tried to cook and use fresh pumpkin last year and it didn't turn out too good, but with these instructions, I look forward to trying again. My sister and I always have the holidays together and I do the cooking. She has high restrictions on sodium and potassium, as well as many other things due to kidney failure, and I try to find ways to stay away from additives. I am excited to give fresh pumpkin another try!!!

I just cooked all my pumpkin using "steamer bags" After I cut and gutted the pumpkin, I microwaved each batch in large steamer bags for approx 8 mins. Then I scooped the "meat" into a bowl and ran it through a food processor. Even though I bought "sugar pumpkins" most of the meat is a yellowish color. Only one of the pumpkins I bought turned out to be as dark and sweet as I expected. So as I was pureeing each batch in a food processor, I added a couple drops of food coloring. I'm sure cinnamon and brown sugar will help them darken as well.

I like using fresh pumpkins since I have them left over from my fall decorations. They usually stay freh in the yard or in the garage when freezing weather hits until right after Christmas. Except for this year I have five of my meduim pumpkins rotting on me. Anyway, I wash the pumpkins that I will cook. Take a huge sharp knife and cut the pumpkin into 4 or 5 inch pieces. I peel each piece and place them in a single layer in a top part of a steamer. I have the kind of steamer that has a base pan for water and two pans on top with holes in the bottom and a lid. ( I may try this without peeling the pumpkin.) Steam for 10 minutes or more depending on the thickness of your pumpkins. You could use any orange colored flesh winter squash, Lakota squash is so very sweet tasting. I use a food processor to make a smooth consistency. If you don't have a food processor, cut pieces across the grain to break up the stings, smash up with a potatoe masher. You can eat this as a vegetable with butter, salt and pepper, and with brown sugar and cinnamon. Here is how I figured out how much I need for a recipe which calls for cans of pumpkin. Look on the cans of pumpkin at the store for the serving size information. For example the 29 oz. Libby's pumpkin has 1/2 cup servings with 7 servings per container. Do the math. It comes to 3 1/2 cups. Also I freeze my pumpkin in freezer bags in a single layer of the 4 or 5 inch chunk pieces. When you thaw them out, they have a lot of water in them. It is easier to squeeze out the water while they are in chunks. But I have been known to sqeeze out too much water and the food processor could not move them. I had to put back some of the water. I hope this is very helpful to some.

I used fresh pumpkin 15oz with a box of spice cake mixed and baked muffins and added a recipe I found an Allrecipies for a walnut crust topping. We are diabetics so I substituted brown sugar for Alterna brown sugar. Nobody new the difference. I love the recipies here.

Fresh pumpkins make the best pumpkin soup too! I use summer squash (crook neck)onions, white pepper and yellow bell peppers - stir in cream or sour cream!

Using the "guts": You can use a fork to separate the seeds from the strings and then roast the seeds (yummy). The strings can be composted or chopped and fed to animals (wild or farm animals).

Thanks for ALL the pumpkin information....I am new to this and hated to just put the pumpkin in my compost...

We never carve our Field Pumpkins, we live in a condo with an indoor entry, so we just paint ours. Thus I am left with 5 whole pumpkins every year. I always cut them in half and roast them in the oven, then use the puree for all kinds of recipes. My family LOVES pumpkin bread. Even though they are not sugar pumpkins, my recipes always turn out great.

Wow, what great advise and comments. I also had several halloween pumpkins that I cooked down and pureed and froze. I planned to make breads and cookies with them. Then I throw out the cut up skins for the wild animals. We live in the country and we have plenty of little late nite vistors. Thanks so much for all the comments and suggestions.

There is nothing wrong with "field" pumpkins! We use them every year and my family LOVES all my pumpkin recipes. The secret is to make sure you get everything pureed enough.

This year I tried using the Microwave to cook my fresh pumpkin. After trying several different methods, (halved with skin on, pieces with skin on, and then halved and peeled) I finally found that the best method was to peel off the skin then cut the pumpkin into small chunks. I microwaved batches in a serving bowl for about 10-12 mins., stirring every 2 mins. to make sure the pumpkin was evenly cooked. The best part of this method is that the microwave took the excess moisture from the flesh and I ended up with pumpkin as thick as canned, with no further bother. After pureeing the the cooled cooked pumpkin, I used 2 cups for each pie. I followed the Libby's recipe, because that's the pie that my family likes. I have in years past added the flesh of a medium sweet potato for a really rich flavor, but also amended the recipe with an extra egg and a bit more of the spices, and no extra sugar... This makes a deep dish pie that is a little more filling, but oh so satisfying! And this was with field pumpkin. In the past, I have found that the use of the small sugar pumkin resulted in a darker richer pumpkin taste, but sometimes they just aren't available! Next, I plan to try the microwave method when cooking some butternut squash for some Christmas pies!

I have been using fresh pumpkins for about 15 years to make pies,and they always turn out to be delicious.After i scoop out the pulp i put in a strainer and press out as much water as possible so that it won't be too watery.It works.

I can't get sugar pumpkins in UK, I do well to get field pumpkins. I always use the boiling process and never peel them until after boiling as it is so much easier. I put pumpkin in blender and puree it. Then drain, drain, drain..I will leave it for hours or over night in fridge in strainer. I then freeze it. Never have any problems using it in recipes and when thawing out don't lose hardly anything as so well drained. Fresh pumpkin is so much nicer but does have a bit of different taste as nothing added to it!!

Don't confuse weight for volume. A 15oz can of pumpkin puree is measured by weight NOT by volume.

Instead of pumpkin I use Sweetmeat squash. It taste much better than the canned pumpkin, also use half & half instead of canned milk. I always enjoy baking the sweetmeat and then can it, I can use it like yams. I buy my squash from the store which get them from Oregon since I live BC, being a diabetic so I have to watch the amount of sugar that I put into the pie filling, which is usually half of Splenda and regular sugar.

I always STEAM my fresh pumpkin rather than baked. It's MUCH quicker...only about 25 minutes. After it's steamed the flesh practically drops out of the "skin". My family loves the taste of fresh pumpkin rather than the can pumpkin. I'll never go back to that canned taste again!

Did you know that butternut squash is actually a cultivar of the pumpkin? In fact, in Australia, they call it "butternut pumpkin." Though the shape and skin color are different from what we typically call pumpkins, the orange flesh of the butternut squash is delectable and makes a fantastic pumpkin pie. It has a very small seed cavity and a much higher percentage of edible flesh compared to field pumpkins. The butternut squash, once peeled and diced, can be steamed and pureed and it's excellent in any recipe calling for pumpkin puree. As to canned pumpkin, Libby's uses a cultivar, the Dickinson Field Pumpkin that is exclusive to Libby's. It's higher in sugar, it's more flavorful, it has a lot more flesh for its size, and it is softer and less stringy, once cooked, than a jack-o-lantern type pumpkin. It has redder skin and flesh, and is smaller and squatter. Their canned pumpkin makes a better pie than any other brand I've used. Sugar pumpkins from the supermarket will do better than a jack-o-lantern type pumpkin for pies or other pumpkin desserts, and steaming them will produce a much better result for pureeing than baking or roasting.

A 15-ounce can of pumpkin has almost exactly two cups of pumpkin puree in it. It's a close enough equivalent for pie making. Don't confuse fluid ounces which measure volume (8 fl.oz.=1 cup) with avoirdupois ounces which measure weight (16 oz.av.=1 pound). There's an old adage of "a pint's a pound the whole world round," but that simply isn't true at all. 16 fl.oz. of water actually weighs 17-1/8 oz.av. And other substances, such as pumpkin puree, aren't the same density as water.

I prefer to bake the pumkin rather than boil. Last time I did boil, the puree came out too watery.