I finished processing the last of the pumpkin patch pumpkins into puree last weekend and was surprised at what I ended up with! So I learned recently that there are two main categories for pumpkins/squash, some grown for looks and some for flavour. Turns out I got one of each at the pumpkin patch this year, and I was not expecting the colour difference.
The jar on the right labelled "Small Pumpkin" was a small jack-o-lantern type pumpkin. The jar labelled "Cinderella Pumpkin" I've actually learned is a fairytale pumpkin. They look wildly different, and taste very different too! The fairytale pumpkin is notably sweeter and I'll probably use it more for sweet baking than savoury cooking.
And on a canning note, I can understand now why there's no safe recipe for pumpkin puree. I've done this once before and didn't drain any water from the puree, this time I did. Got almost a cup of water from the small pumpkin and about seven cups from the fairytale. And I'm sure I could have gotten more if I let them drain longer. But there's really no way to make sure they're the same density, so I get that the inconsistency is not ideal for canning instructions. These jars are all in the freezer.
by knittingandjamming
3 Comments
This is really cool and would not have occurred to me! Also thank you for sharing about removing liquid. Awesome job!
I used some 1/2 cup and 1 cup silicone freezing molds for my pie pumpkin purée. I roasted the pumpkins and let them sit, weighted, in cheese cloth in a colander to strain out as much liquid as possible and then froze the purée. Looking forward to baking with it in a month or so.
I’ve done frozen pumpkin puree the past couple years! Works great. I didn’t take any liquid out and it always seemed normal for use later, just a tad runny. Works better in silicone freezer blocks than glass jars, but that’s just my preference.