Christine graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France, and she has worked at Cook's Illustrated and CHOW.com. She lives in San Francisco and loves teaching cooking classes. Follow her latest culinary escapades on Instagram.
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While baking with pumpkin can be as easy as going to the grocery store and buying a can of pumpkin purée, what if you were feeling ambitious and wanted to do the whole process yourself, starting with a whole pumpkin? Not all pumpkins are created equal and work well in cooking and baking, so here is a guide to help you pick and purchase the right ones.
What makes a good cooking and baking pumpkin?
Those big pumpkins you see at the pumpkin patch for carving into jack-o’-lanterns look appealing, but they’re the worst for cooking and baking. While yes, they are edible and you can cook with them, they’re very stringy, bland, and watery.
The best pumpkins for baking and cooking with are sweet, flavorful, and have smooth-textured flesh. In fact, pumpkin purée manufacturer Libby’s breeds their own Select Dickinson pumpkins for their extremely smooth texture.
When shopping for pumpkins, look for the ones usually generically labeled “sugar pumpkins” or “pie pumpkins.” Some specific names are Baby Pam, Autumn Gold, Ghost Rider, New England Pie Pumpkin, Lumina (which are white), Cinderella, and Fairy Tale. Cinderella and Fairy Tale pumpkins have hard, thick skins but still have delicious flesh inside.
Choose pumpkins between four to eight pounds, and don’t worry if the outside looks a little dull — as long as you don’t see any big bruises or soft spots, it’s fine. Pumpkins have a long shelf life and can keep for months at cool room temperature.
And if only the big carving pumpkins are available, choose a winter squash like butternut squash instead for the best results.
Once you have the right kind of pumpkin, you can treat it like any other hard winter squash: Roast it whole, steam it, or cut it into smaller pieces before cooking into soups and curries. For baking, make your own pumpkin purée by baking or roasting it before using in recipes, and don’t forget to save and roast those tasty seeds.
Pumpkin purée freezes very well, so make a big batch to save for another baking project!
Even types which are technically pumpkin-like winter squash
winter squash
Winter squash is an annual fruit representing several squash species within the genus Cucurbita. Late-growing, less symmetrical, odd-shaped, rough or warty varieties, small to medium in size, but with long-keeping qualities and hard rinds, are usually called winter squash.
, such as Amish Pie, Galeux D'Eysines (a French heirloom cultivar also called the peanut pumpkin), Jarrahdale, Turk's Turban, Long Island Cheese and Rouge Vif D'Etampes (Cinderella) can be used in cooking and baking.
When shopping for pumpkins, look for the ones usually generically labeled “sugar pumpkins” or “pie pumpkins.” Some specific names are Baby Pam, Autumn Gold, Ghost Rider, New England Pie Pumpkin, Lumina (which are white), Cinderella, and Fairy Tale.
The Jarrahdale is squat like the Cinderella and Long Island Cheese pumpkins, but has blue-green skin. Unlike other pumpkins where the flesh is stringy to some extent, the Jarrahdale pumpkins are not stringy at all, making it an incredible pumpkin for roasting.
Large field pumpkins, which are bred for jack-o'-lanterns, are too flavorless and stringy for baking. A medium-sized (4-pound) sugar pumpkin should yield around 1½ cups of mashed pumpkin. This purée can be used in all your recipes calling for canned pumpkin.
The sugar pie pumpkin, also known as sugar pumpkin, is a small pumpkin that is prized for its sweet and smooth flesh. This variety is specifically cultivated for its culinary uses, making it the go-to choice for homemade pumpkin pies, custards, and other delectable treats.
Look for pumpkins with firm and smooth orange skin and that feel heavy for their size. Avoid pumpkins with cracks and bruises. Whole pumpkins can be kept in a cool, dry place for several months.
Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins are perhaps the most iconic variety of all, widely recognized for their use in Halloween decorations. With their vibrant orange color and round shape, they're the go-to choice for carving spooky faces and other designs.
Gently squeeze or press your fingers into the fruit.Pay close attention to the blossom end, or bottom, and around the stem.A fresh pumpkin should be solid to the touch. Avoid ones that have soft spots or sunken areas, as decay has already set in.
Baking a large batch of pies from a jack-o-lantern pumpkin can bring joy to your neighbors and family. A true pumpkin pie lover cannot purchase a great pumpkin pie, so receiving one in the fall causes excitement among pumpkin pie fans.
Sugar pumpkins are also denser and contain allot less water than carving pumpkins, making them better for baking. Just because carving pumpkins are not ideal to roast and make into pies does not mean that they are not edible.
The claim is that these pumpkins have been grown specifically for pumpkin puree in cooking and baking, so the result is a sweeter and creamier product. Interesting. Of course, anything that's been canned will likely taste different than the fresh product.
We like butternut pumpkins best when they're roasted, but this hardy oblong variety is one of the most versatile options in the pumpkin aisle. Butternuts are a little sweeter, dryer and can be turned into soups, roasted with cinnamon or put to use in most cooked pumpkin dishes.
While the Jack Be Quick's are the tiny miniature pumpkins you most often see for decoration this time of year, most of us recognize them as being inedible; the other types are a bit tougher to recognize. Angel wing can come in green, yellow or orange colors and look much like a striped zucchini.
Large pumpkins that we traditionally think of as jack-o-lanterns aren't ideal for pie as they are very stringy and have a lot of seeds. There really isn't very much “meat” to the larger pumpkins. Sugar pumpkins, also known as pie pumpkins, are sweeter. They are also pretty small.
Heirlooms are perfect for decorating but they really shine when used in the kitchen they are all edible with very different taste. Description and how to use the pumpkins are listed by each pumpkin. I use many of them in my baking.
Introduction: My name is Errol Quitzon, I am a fair, cute, fancy, clean, attractive, sparkling, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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