Cooking PumpKins???

There is nothing dangerous or unhealthy about cooking big pumpkins. The reason they tell you not to is the taste. I make homemade pumpkin pie from fresh pumpkins every year and we also make pumpkin beer. I have cooked with both large & small. The smaller the pumpkin, the sweeter it is and the more flavor it has. Larger pumpkins have a very blah flavor or no flavor at all. Larger pumpkins don't have the deep rich color smaller pumkins have either. Happy cooking!

They sell "pie pumpkins" at most pumpkin patches. I haven't seen any at the store recently.
If you live up north, Rock Creek Farms on Hwy 287 in Broomfield has a bunch right by the area where you pay.

I have never heard that and I cook those pumpkins every year because homemade pumpkin pie is my FAVORITE thing on the planet. None of us have gotten sick or had any problems. I say enjoy!

Huh...first thing I thought was that she said that because the smaller a pumpkin is, the sweeter it would be. Kind of the same idea with any squash, really, like zucchini - you want to use those small because if you let them get too big they get woody and are a little bitter tasting. But I googled and couldn't find anything that said you SHOULDN'T use a big pumpkin to cook with. I found this on Southern Living's web site:

"Though canned pumpkin is usually used for pumpkin desserts and soups year-round, fresh cooked pumpkin can be puréed and used in any recipe calling for pumpkin. Smaller pumpkins are best for cooking, yielding sweeter and more tender flesh than the very large pumpkins.

A 5-pound pumpkin will yield about 4 1/2 cups of mashed, cooked pumpkin. One can of pumpkin, 15 to 16 ounces, yields about 2 cups of mashed pumpkin."

Hope that helps. If you are interested, I have a really good pumpkin bar recipe with cream cheese frosting that I usually make quite a bit (works great for bake sales because it makes a lot). Also, somewhere around here a recipe for a pumpkin toffee (I think) trifle dessert. I would really have to search for that one, but you are welcome to both if you would like. Good luck - I've never tried to actually cook a pumpkin before, I just always used the canned stuff so let us know if it works for you! C. :)

Your cute jack o' lantern is perfectly edible, providing, of course, that it is not moldy. I have been cooking and successfully eating pumpkins of all types, including many jack o' lanterns, for years and have not died yet.

Sugar pumpkins are a bit sweeter than bigger pumpkins and have denser flesh, which makes them more ideal for cooking than jack o' lantern pumpkins, but the jack o'lanterns are edible and quite delicious, too. And any of them taste better by several orders of magnitude than Libby's solid pack.

With all due respect, your friend does not know what she is talking about.

You can bake your jack o' lantern or you can use my preferred method of cutting it up and steaming it in a steamer-juicer, and then putting it through a food mill or pulverizing it in a blender.

Freeze or pressure can any leftovers. (Do NOT water bath can pumpkin. It is a low acid vegetable.)

M.,
I wouldn't suggest cooking the big pumpkin. It won't have any flavor and many of those have been grown with pesticides and other harmful chemicals. They are grown for carving and not eating. It you grew it yourself, you could eat it, it still wouldn't have any flavor and the texture is very stingy. There are the little Pie pumpkins that are grown for cooking. They have lots of flavor, are more tender in texture and ususally don't have all of the chemicals. Hope this helps you!! I love cooking pumpkins and freezing the puree for using at later times in the year.

I've cooked pumpkin before, but the big pumpkins aren't very good- very stringy and tough. There's a smaller variety of pumpkin, called a "pie pumpkin", and I've had better luck with that.

There's nothing harmful about the jack-o-lantern pumpkins at all though. Don't worry about the safety. In fact, part of the fun of carving the pumpkins at our house is collecting the seeds and roasting them. Seeds are always good, regardless of the size of the pumpkin.

I don't think there's anything bad about the big pumpkins. But they are going to be stringier and not taste as good. But they are a good source of seeds to roast.
The smaller pumpkins are going to have a better tasting, easier to work with meat. Your best bet is going to be one or two of those.

My Mom Always did but we would not carve our pumpkins til the day of or the day before Halloween so it was still pretty fresh. If you carve it now I would not recommend cooking with it but if you wait it should be ok. My Mom would boil it down and then freeze it and use it for soups, pies cookies etc... throughout the year (of course there were 6 of us so we had alot of pumpkin)

You can get pumpkins that are specifically grown for making pies, breads, etc. They are darker colored and smaller than the jack-o-lantern pumpkins. They are usually labeled so you know what kind they are.

Of course they are edible! Pumpkins are pumkins. The stores merely call them "Jack-O-Lanterns" for the kids and to confuse non-farmers!

If the skin is thick, cut in half stem to blossom end, remove seed for squirrels, and put upside down (pulp not showing) in a glass dish or pan covered with an inch or so of water. Bake 350 about 45 min until fork poked thru skin is easy and soft. Remove from oven, cool, scoop out insides, mash up, make pies or bread. Use electric beater.

If pumpkins are small, cut in small shapes and peel like potatoes. Cube, boil in water just like potatoes until fork tender. Pour off water. Mash and continue. You can freeze for up to a year for use later.

we make stew in a pumpkin every year- make sure you oil the outside ENTIRELY otherwise it will stick to the cookie sheet and tear when you move it

I can't say that nothing's changed, but 2 years ago I made homemade pumpkin pies from store bought pumpkins. I just got sick of all that waste. You eat it like other melon/squashes, peeled inside and out. To check for safety go to CDC and FDA websites. They are required to post any warnings regarding contamination/diseased foods. Also, if she knows what news station, their website probably has the story archived. Otherwise, I'd say Good luck & Enjoy! Pumpkins are hard to work with, but are more functional than people think!

Hi M. - I just looked up your question last week. You should be able to cook up your big jack-o-lantern but it wont be as flavorful as a pie pumpkin that has more sugar.

Do an internet search on "cooking pumpkin" or "pumpkin recipes" and you'll find there is a lot out there for you.

Every year we've set out one big pumpkin as decoration, then cut it up, peeled it, put it in a pot with some water, boiled until soft, drained and pureed it (I have a "wand" pureer), and freeze it by scooping 1/2 C at a time into muffin tins (or 1 C into large muffin tins), then pop them out like ice cubes into a ziplock bag. I use the pumpkin to make custard, pie, bread, muffins and pumpkin bars as well as adding to spaghetti sauce and soups. Pumpkin puree can substitute for some of the liquid in pancakes or drop biscuits too, or go into a regular bread recipe.

This year I discovered baking the pumpkins. I cut them in half, scooped out seeds (and saved them), put cut side down in a jelly roll pan with a little water to keep from scorching, and baked about 40-45 minutes or so. Then I scooped out the cooked pumpkin and pureed it in the food processor. It was darker in color and more "dense" than my boiled and pureed pumpkin, more like canned pumpkin. The seeds: mix with a little oil and sprinkle with salt, then bake at 250 until golden. Munch away!

I cook mine every year, and love them. Pumpkin muffins/bread is the best!
S.

The only real problem with cooking Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins is that they do not taste as good as other pumpkins and are VERY stringy. I like to use sugar pie pumpkins for cooking and I use them for all sorts of recipes. You won't get anyone sick if you use a Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin, but your soup might not turn out quite as good as if you had used a different type.

M.
you definitely can cook them. The better ones to cook with for flavor, are called sugar pumpkins. They are a bit smaller and a darker richer orange. I like to cook with these as they are a bit sweeter. But the large pumpkins are fine too. I grew up with my mom making a pumpkin rice casserole (cooked in the large pumpkins) every Halloween. Yummy. Good luck with cook'n the pumpkin!
E.

I pumpkin is a vegetable, like squash, originally grown for cooking. You should have no problems. Food made with fresh pumpkin, not the canned stuff, is the best!

Make it a GREAT weekend!

S.

There is nothing wrong with cooking pumpkins you got at the store (the jack o lantern style). I cook and eat them all the time in the fall. If you are going use a large one to make a pie with, cut it in half (with a an additional notch on the cut side to let out steam), place it cut side down on a cookie sheet or other baking pan and bake it at 350. The large pumpkins hold more water so as they cook it will release. use a basting tube to suck it up. Don't take it out of the oven before you do this...you don't want to burn yourself. You'll know when the pumpkin is done when it either collapses in the middle on its own or when you push on it slightly with a wooden spoon. I then scoop out the pumpkin for pie or soup!

I heard that the big pumpkins aren't meant for cooking because they aren't as sweet as the littler ones, that once they start to get big they lose some of the nutrients needed for cooking...?

I'll just add that pumpkin seeds are a great source of iron.

i've never heard anything like that, but i did try to make this stuffed pumpkin recipe once that was baked inside the pumpkin in the oven. it took hours and hours for the pumpkin to cook. so i would not recommend using the pumpkin for the baking container of any recipe unless it is a very small pumpkin.

Hi M.,
My mom has cooked down carving pumpkins for years and years, and I have done it the last 5 years. Neither of us have ever had any problems with them. We have used them for pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cookies, soup, etc. I have heard other people say that you're not supposed to as well. My only thought toward that is that I wouldn't cook down a pumpkin that has been carved a sitting on your front porch for a number of days. Growing up, we carved ours the day of Halloween, set them out for the evening trick or treaters and then my mom brought them in and cut them in 3-4 big pieces and stuck them in the fridge to cook them down the next day. No problems ever. Hope this helps!! Check out allrecipes.com for some great pumpkin recipes.

Blessings,
J. :)

If I'm doing jack-o-lanterns w/them, I carve them only a day or two before so no funk can get in them. My candle is in a holder, I don't cook the tops & I've made pumpkin soup, bread & pie out of them w/no problem. I prefer they color them but they're big enough that it's not cool anymore to color-we must cut. I rinse them before I cook them & the fact that I cook them for at least an hour, I figure gets rid of all of the funk. I think you'll be fine.

hi, I cook them every year. they are a little stringy and are not as nice as the smaller ones to use as pie, but you can use them. they make great pies and never have made us sick.

Nothing's WRONG with using Jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but they're grown merely for size. Other types of pumpkin are grown specifically for a better flavor, sugar content, etc. Like Sugar Pie pumpkins make the best pies.

But pumpkin is pumpkin! My husband's family always scrapes out the seeds, then scrapes out more flesh and cooks it. The jack-0-lanterns are thinner and easier to carve, and they get fresh pumpkin. So I adopted their method. I boil the pumpkin, drain, puree, and freeze it for Thanksgiving. Yum!

This year we grew our own, and planted pie pumpkins, too, so I'll have both kinds this time!

You absolutely can cook pumpkin the seeds are an awesome snack roasted and I love making pumpkin soup any time someone tells me vaguely they saw it on the news I am wary of what they just said. Have fun cooking your pumpkin!!!

Oh, I cook those pumpkins all the time. I love carving pumpkins for Halloween and the way I carve them, I make the walls very thin, so I have lots of pulp left over. I will also just buy a couple and just make pies out of them. Maybe your sister meant you shouldn't eat them after you've made a Jack 'O lantern.
Anyway, you can cook them just fine. The one thing you will probably need to do before making soup is to pre-bake them in the oven, the big pumpkins have heavier strings, which are easier to get out if they're cooked. MMm, I hope it turns out good, Pumpkin soup sounds yummy.

Actually, they can be cooked. They are just not as flavorful as the smaller pumpkins. In fact I cook them all the time.

The bigger the pumpkin gets, the less flavorful it is.

So, the big pumpkins I cook up and use in dishes that have a lot of spices and don't require as much "pumpkin" flavor. If you want more of the pumpkin flavor, use smaller pumpkins.

The smaller pumpkins are sometimes called "sweet" pumpkins because the have a better flavor and are sweeter than the bigger ones.

Yes, you can definitely cook with it! I make pumpkin pies with the big pumkins every year (and the big ones actually taste better in pie than the smaller "pie pumpkins" which usually make the pies way too sickly sweet). The only thing that you should be careful of is if you painted it or carved it then you don't want any of the paint to go into the pot that you cook the pumkin in, and if you carved it then there is more room for bacteria to get inside, but even that should cook out. Anyway, you should be just fine. :)

M.,

You will be fine to use that pumpkin. I have eaten seeds out of carving pumpkins my whole life. A friend and I just cooked a cheese dip in a pumpkin this past weekend. I would recommend lowering the rack down almost to the bottom because we 'browned' the top just a little too much!

Good Luck
C.