First time with fresh pumpkin - help, please

[Guest]

I am making real pumpkin puree. Yum! I have a few questions -

 

1. I'm going to freeze a bunch. Does the pumpkin need a certain amount of headspace? (If so, how much?) I recently had some jars of cucumber juice burst because I didn't leave enough - still tasting that in our ice/water maker. :glare:

 

2. When I make recipes calling for canned pumpkin, is there a general rule of thumb for converting? I know one time I made a recipe my mother-in-law gave me. I made it with store-bought canned pumpkin and it came out terrible. She informed me it was because I was supposed to use fresh pumpkin. So, I'm figuring maybe there is some kind of rule to follow?

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

I should probably differentiate that these are NOT the moldy pumpkins that I reference in my other thread. :D

[Amira]

I generally use my own purée in place of canned pumpkin with no changes to the recipe, although sometimes my purée can be a little more watery than canned. I drain it a little in that case. Puréed vegetables don't need as much extra space when you freeze them as more liquid things, but you'll still need some space. I usually freeze mine in ziplock freezer bags because it's impossible to stuff them so full that they'll break (at least, I can't do it).

[Guest]

I generally use my own purée in place of canned pumpkin with no changes to the recipe, although sometimes my purée can be a little more watery than canned. I drain it a little in that case. Puréed vegetables don't need as much extra space when you freeze them as more liquid things, but you'll still need some space. I usually freeze mine in ziplock freezer bags because it's impossible to stuff them so full that they'll break (at least, I can't do it).

 

Thank you! I think I'll be experimenting a lot this year, but at least I know I'm not way off...

[Amy in NH]

What I do:

 

1. Cut the pumpkin in half. Scrape out the seeds (Optional). Place the halves on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until tender. You can put a pan of water in the oven too, for some moisture. The roasting will keep the puree from being watery.

 

2. When they're soft, let them cool and then scrape the pulp out of the shell. Most likely, it'll be more like pulling the shell off the pulp. If you left the seeds in, you can easily remove them now. Mash with a potato masher.

 

3. Fill a muffin pan with the puree. Put the filled muffin pan in the freezer until the pumpkin is frozen. Remove from freezer and dip the bottom of the muffin pan in a 9x13 pan with warm water in it to loosen the pumpkin. It should only take 30 seconds to a minute to loosen them; you don't want the puree to defrost.

 

4. Dump the muffin pan over so that the frozen pumpkin falls out. Place the pumpkin chunks into a ziplock freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to use it. Using my muffin pans, each pumpkin chunk is 1/3 C.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Amy in NH

[ApronMama]

I strain mine before I freeze--its closer to the consistency of canned that way. I set a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth over a bowl and dump the puree in. After a couple of hours, you can pack the pumpkin. Yes, you will need 1/2-1" headspace

[OrganicAnn]

I froze my in zip lock bags last year. I drained off the extra water, but my pumpkin was a little more watery than canned. I used it in a pumpkin muffin recipes in the same amounts as I would canned and it came out fine.

 

I wonder if your MIL was just using that as an excuse?

 

Also leave head space when freezing anything in a jar.

[blakereese]

I should probably differentiate that these are NOT the moldy pumpkins that I reference in my other thread. :D

 

 

:lol: Good to know. :lol:

 

 

 

What I do:

 

1. Cut the pumpkin in half. Scrape out the seeds (Optional). Place the halves on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until tender. You can put a pan of water in the oven too, for some moisture. The roasting will keep the puree from being watery.

 

2. When they're soft, let them cool and then scrape the pulp out of the shell. Most likely, it'll be more like pulling the shell off the pulp. If you left the seeds in, you can easily remove them now. Mash with a potato masher.

 

3. Fill a muffin pan with the puree. Put the filled muffin pan in the freezer until the pumpkin is frozen. Remove from freezer and dip the bottom of the muffin pan in a 9x13 pan with warm water in it to loosen the pumpkin. It should only take 30 seconds to a minute to loosen them; you don't want the puree to defrost.

 

4. Dump the muffin pan over so that the frozen pumpkin falls out. Place the pumpkin chunks into a ziplock freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to use it. Using my muffin pans, each pumpkin chunk is 1/3 C.

 

 

:iagree: I do something like this. I love freezing things in muffin portion sizes. :D

 

Now I am SO hungry for something pumpkin. :glare:

[Guest]

3. Fill a muffin pan with the puree. Put the filled muffin pan in the freezer until the pumpkin is frozen. Remove from freezer and dip the bottom of the muffin pan in a 9x13 pan with warm water in it to loosen the pumpkin. It should only take 30 seconds to a minute to loosen them; you don't want the puree to defrost.

 

4. Dump the muffin pan over so that the frozen pumpkin falls out. Place the pumpkin chunks into a ziplock freezer bag and freeze until you are ready to use it. Using my muffin pans, each pumpkin chunk is 1/3 C.

 

That is SUCH a great idea!

 

Thanks for all the tips, I did leave headspace, hopefully enough!

[PrincessMommy]

I generally use my own purée in place of canned pumpkin with no changes to the recipe, although sometimes my purée can be a little more watery than canned. I drain it a little in that case. Puréed vegetables don't need as much extra space when you freeze them as more liquid things, but you'll still need some space. I usually freeze mine in ziplock freezer bags because it's impossible to stuff them so full that they'll break (at least, I can't do it).

 

:iagree:. I've never made changes between canned and fresh/frozen puree.

[mom4him]

I generally use my own purée in place of canned pumpkin with no changes to the recipe, although sometimes my purée can be a little more watery than canned. I drain it a little in that case. Puréed vegetables don't need as much extra space when you freeze them as more liquid things, but you'll still need some space. I usually freeze mine in ziplock freezer bags because it's impossible to stuff them so full that they'll break (at least, I can't do it).

:iagree: This is what I do.

[Mom-ninja.]

I actually roast the whole pumpkin without cutting. I hate trying to cut raw squash. I read that tip in a cookbook once. Just place the entire squash in the oven. When it's a bit softer you can then cut in half and continue to bake, or you can leave it whole the entire time. Much easier.

 

Love the idea of freezing in muffin size though. Great tip.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I roast mine in the oven too, as described above. After scraping/pureeing, I weigh it out into 15- and 30-oz increments and put them into freezer bags. I find that a lot of pumpkin recipes are designed around either a 15- or 29-oz can of pumpkin. I never drain mine and haven't had any trouble swapping it out for canned.

 

But frankly, the whole process is not really worth it to me. . . I'd rather just keep canned pumpkin on hand. :D I only do it when I have a pumpkin laying around that I don't want to go to waste.