a pumpkin related question

[ratcreature]

Can you freeze pureed pumpkin okay? Because buying a whole pumpkin is much cheaper than buying pumpkin segments per kilo, I now have to deal with something of a pumpkin surplus, and it would be convenient if it was possible to freeze it in manageable portions once I pureed it. Last year when I bought a whole pumpkin I just had two very much pumpkin-themed weeks, but this year I'm wondering whether I couldn't freeze some. (I don't use my freezer much beyond storing vegetables I bought frozen, so I have no experience with freezing fresh vegetables.) I like pumpkin pie, and also soup and such, but not necessarily all pumpkin all week, and you can't buy pureed pumpkin in cans here (at least I have yet to see it offered anywhere), so if it froze well, that would solve two problems.

Also, I need to dust more diligently (or at all really *embarrassed look*). I'm working on a painting and dust motes keep sticking to my wet paint. Yikes.

Comments

[grimmhill]

Yes, it freezes quite well. We feed small amounts to our cats as a source of fiber, and fixing one big batch is what we do, although we freeze it in ice cube trays so that the defrostable portions are more appropriate. For your purposes you could probable use freezer bags. Just make sure it freezes thoroughly in your freezer.

Here through the network page of my reading circle. Hope you don't mind me chiming in.

[ratcreature]

Thanks!

[kyriacarlisle]

Here via network as well - yes, absolutely: all the winter squashes are very freezable. If you ever eat pumpkin or squash in chunks, those will freeze, too; start by freezing them on a cookie sheet or plate, then bag them (so they'll stay separate).

[ratcreature]

I rarely eat it in chunks, and my freezer isn't very roomy (really just a freezer box below the fridge), so I think I'll stick to pureed pumpkin in bags, but it's good to know that it freezes okay.

[brownbetty]

You can freeze most vegetables, although stay away from potatoes, as they go wonky, and some of them need to be blanched first. (Which is to say, definitely pumpkin.)

[ratcreature]

Normally I don't bother, because my freezer is small, and I don't tend to buy large amounts of fresh vegetables, and just use them up, but the pumpkin is a bit on the large side for that. But it's good to know it freezes okay.

The only preserved pumpkin you can buy here is pickled chunks for some reason. I have no idea why people eat it *pickled*, but then the same is true for beets, which for years I thought were horrible because I had only encountered them pickled, which I don't like, even though I eat them raw, cooked or baked and like the taste.

[astridv]

Yeah, it works fine, we do it all the time.

[ratcreature]

Thanks! It's good to know that it freezes fine. I'm always puzzled why you can buy pickled pumpkin chunks here (though I have never actually known anyone who eats these), but not canned pureed pumpkin, which seems so much more useful.

[bluemeridian]

I wish I liked pickles more, considering people will pickle anything and it is the sort of thing that keeps well! Sadly, I barely eat cucumber sweet pickles, let alone pumpkin.

Freezing is what I'll be doing with my pumpkin at some point. I cut it up, roast it until it's soft, puree it in the food processor, and freeze it in containers. It keeps really well that way so you should be fine. :)

[ratcreature]

Yes, that's what I did tonight, roasted and then pureed it.

I like cucumbers pickled, and I also eat the pickled salad thing where you have root vegetables in juliennes (like carrots and celery root) pickled, but that's about it. Some things that are pickled I've never even tried, like pickled eggs.

[maire]

Here's what I do.

1. Put the whole pumpkin in the oven until it's cooked through. This means I don't have to cut it up while it's hard. I can't believe the effort I used to go to peeling and chopping before cooking!

2. Let it cool down until it's comfortable to deal with.

3. Chop up (often with a spoon) and puree the flesh. Dispose of the skin and seeds.

4. Put the puree into flexible silicone icecube/mini-muffin trays and freeze until solid.

5. Move the puree-cubes to a freezer bag or sealed container in the freezer.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. I cut it up before roasting (didn't peel it though), and kept the seeds for roasting and eating separately as snack. I love pumpkin seeds, so I have no idea why others throw them out, and then I pureed and froze the pulp in freezer bags in small portion sizes I'm likely to use (I don't have mini-muffin trays, or anything like that), except for the amount I'm going to use today or tomorrow for a pumpkin pie.

[vehemently]

Here via network. I roasted a pumpkin this weekend too! And am saving the seeds to roast, probably tonight, with salt and cinnamon. They're just delightfully crunchy.

FWIW, I don't think it's necessary to puree pumpkin before freezing, unless you intend to use it for something puree-oriented later. I roasted the pumpkin in chunks, peeled it after roasting, and then just mashed it enough to make sure it was cooked through before decanting it into serving-sized Tupperwares, which went into the freezer. I usually use pumpkin in things like quiche or risotto or white bean soup, so puree consistency is unnecessary.

This early in the season (for us), I was roasting a pumpkin no bigger than two man's fists together, so got only 3 cups of flesh from it. They'll be considerably bigger two weeks from now, and I agree, too much pumpkin to use up all at once without freezing at least some of it.

[ratcreature]

My favorite way to eat pumpkin is in pie (though everybody here thinks me weird for eating that), so for that puree is necessary, and it works in soup too, which is the other thing I eat with pumpkin.

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

yup, if you want a different set of instructions just google freeze pureed pumpkin

http://debbie-henthorn.suite101.com/how-to-make-homemade-pumpkin-puree-a74195

[ratcreature]

Thanks for the link!

[droolfangrrl.livejournal.com]

the deal is you can't freeze it raw, but cooked it freezes well.

[jimandblair.livejournal.com]

whatcha. There's instructions out there, but (for your info) I generally make batches of stuff like roast butternut squash soup and filo pastry lentil and munchkin squash and I freeze portions. The squash family seems to freeze really well. Just don't defrost a previously cooked vegetable stored in your freezer and use it in a dish you're cooking and then refreeze the resultant meal.

[ratcreature]

Thanks. I never freeze meals, so that's no danger. My freezer is only really large enough to store some frozen vegetables and the occasional pizza.