How to Roast a Pumpkin and Make Pumpkin Purée

I cannot believe it's been over a year since my last post! I also can't believe I never got this particular topic posted. Every year I roast at least one pumpkin so that I have a freezer stash of pumpkin purée to last me through the year and sate my pumpkin obsession. At least once every year I tell someone about the process of doing it. Four years ago, I took pictures of the step by step process. And yet, somehow, I still managed to lapse on writing it out to share.

Well, I'm finally going to do it! This year is the year! And now we can share our love for pumpkins just in time for Thanksgiving festivities!

So, first thing's first. We need to get a bit of misconception out of the way. Here's a truth bomb for you: all pumpkins are edible. Yep, that's right, from the tiny Jack-be-Little pumpkins to the huge monstrosities that seem ready to convert into a carriage to whisk a future princess off to a ball. Despite this little factoid, most from-scratch bakers limit themselves to the pie pumpkins which are small and thick walled and often require a feat of strength to prep them before they can cook 'em up.

It's not surprising though, the principal reasons provided for favoring pie pumpkins over others are the fact that pie pumpkins have more natural sugar making them sweeter and the larger the pumpkin is, the more water content it contains. The thing is though, by only selecting pie pumpkins to work with, you are volunteering for a serious workout and likely spending more money on the process than is necessary given the smaller yield provided by these little fruits. The reality is, since most pumpkin goodies have sugar in the recipes, the extra bit provided by the pie pumpkin is not even worth mentioning. Creating a savory dish? You can always sweeten it if needed, but then it'd be counter-productive. A decent fine mesh strainer can solve the excess water content issue easily. Yes, it takes more time, but if we are talking bang for your buck, the best bet is to get the largest pumpkin you can get that will fit on your pans and in your oven. Pro tip - if you, your friends, or your neighbors use pumpkins for Halloween decorations, they often remain in good enough condition afterward to go ahead and roast as long as they haven't been carved or decorated.

Ok, so, let's get started! Once I'm ready to get going, I like to give the pumpkins a scrub in the sink, just to make sure any dirt or critters that may have been on them from the outside are washed away. Next you are going to want to cut the pumpkin into roughly equal halves. Cut around the stem, so it will be on one of your halves.

Next, you'll want to scrape out the innards. I've used all kinds of tools, but honestly, those cheap little scrapers that come with the pumpkin carving kits are pretty fantastic for this job. Just keep a trash can near by so you can dump it right in. Because you aren't digging into the insides of an intact pumpkin (like when you carve it), this task is less messy than you may think.

After your pumpkin halves are cleaned out, you'll want to place the pumpkin halves face down on a foil lined cookie sheet. Your cookie sheet must have sides because the moisture from the pumpkin will drip down and can make a big ol' mess. You'll need sided pans to keep it in check. This moisture helps to steam the pumpkin while it cooks though, so it's a good thing to have it there.

Place the cookie sheets in the oven and roast (bake) the pumpkin at 450° for 45 min to 1 hour depending on the size of your pumpkin. Larger pumpkins or those with particularly thick walls will need to roast a bit longer. Typically, the part towards the top will pull away from the skin and drop to the cookie sheet leaving a funny shaped bubble. It's ok if the skin on that bubble gets a bit dark or even burned looking - after the flesh separates from it, it cooks up pretty fast. You'll know your pumpkin is done if a fork slides into the fleshy part like butter - smoother than butter really, especially if that butter is cold... In any case, if you don't want to handle the pumpkin to try to get a fork into the underside, you'll know it's done because the top of your "bubble" is getting dark and the edges of the pumpkin where it rests on the foil are dark. Ovens vary, so you may need to adjust time or temp if yours runs particularly hot or cooler than most.

Once you pull the pumpkin out of the oven, you'll need to let it cool enough that you can handle it, so take a break for 30 minutes or so. You may be able to flip each side over and scoop out the flesh, but in most cases after roasting, you can peel the skin right off and discard it. Same goes for the stem, it typically pulls right off. The fleshy part then takes a whirl in the food processor until smooth.

At this point, if you have a medium to large pumpkin, you'll want to strain the extra liquid off by placing your purée in a fine mesh strainer over a bowl for 20 minutes or so. If you choose not to strain it, you may yield more total purée, but then you may have to adjust recipes to avoid batters and such from being too runny. I didn't strain mine for the longest time and just worked around any watery issues. By straining ahead of time, I don't have to worry as much, though sometimes I then forget I need to add water to certain recipes. Oops.

After straining is complete, I measure out two cups of purée and place them into a quart sized freezer bag. This process is neater if you prop the bag in a large cup folding the top of the bag over the top of the cup to keep it in place. Two cups is roughly the size of a can of pumpkin purée, so this makes it easy to follow recipes that call for one can. I typically will then freeze these flat. To use them, I can pull the bags out of the freezer the day before or even several hours before I need to use them. They defrost amazingly quickly.

And that's it. Amaze your friends with your thrifty ways! Seriously though, a medium sized pumpkin can yield 4-5 quart sized bags turning a $4 pumpkin into 4-5 equivalent cans of pumpkin at 80¢ - $1 a piece. You may yield more or less, but it's a decent savings, especially if you grab your pumpkins on sale, pick up leftovers from local pumpkin patches looking to get rid of extras, or take your neighbor's "old" decorations off their hands. Offer up some pumpkin goodies as a trade and everybody wins!

Why I DIY: Seasoning Mixes

A sampling of my seasoning mixes. I know the Sharpie writing on the
jar doesn't look nice, but it actually makes washing the jars
easy as it comes of in the wash but has good staying power
with normal handling.

The other day I was attending a four year old's birthday party and my sweet friend was bragging on me and all the homemade things I make. One of the things specifically that came up was seasoning mixes. And I received a legitimate question (ok, two) from some of the attendees that were listening in: Why make your own? and How long do they last?

Now, to be honest, I hadn't given it much thought specifically. Most of the time I just roll seasoning mixes into a lot of the other things I make at home with my standard reasoning of: if I can make my own, why buy it? The second part to that is typically that in a lot of cases, you can make things from home for a lot cheaper than buying it. While this isn't always the case, usually making your own means losing more time than money. Also, prepackaged items are notorious for having preservatives (mostly artificial) to prolong shelf life which pinpoints the purpose for the second question about how long they last.

Let's delve into this a little deeper...

I never actually make veggie broth. This mix is a stand-in
for bouillon when I'm out.

When I was young I remember my mom having a well stocked spice cabinet. There was almost never an ingredient she didn't have. And while she didn't always make everything from scratch (even I don't do that), she still had the ability to do so in more than enough situations. It was always something that I wanted to make sure I established in my own home and I slowly but surely added herbs and spices to my collection. Certainly the big ones like garlic powder, chili powder, and oregano were some of the first along and usually purchased in larger containers. As a young adult with my own place, I did have some seasoning mixes that I purchased. Convenience was certainly a factor, but also, some of the more obscure seasonings I may not have had. Also, to be honest, in some cases, it never occurred to me to even try to make my own. There was almost that voice in my head saying this was a proprietary blend only available through manufacturers. It wasn't until I got much more into homemade foods that I really began to look closer and realized, "hey, I could make these."

I think the bug first hit me when I started my foray into pumpkin baking. Anyone who knows me knows I go gaga over almost anything pumpkin. I was looking forward to roasting my very first pumpkin for pumpkin purée and thus, I was looking for various recipes for pumpkin pie (among other pumpkin goodies) and realized that some called for pumpkin pie spice while others called for a variety of individual spices. While at first it seems like I should go for the premade spice mix so I didn't end up buying six different spices, I felt I didn't want to limit myself when it came to which recipes I could use. After all, looking at the ingredient list of pumpkin pie spice revealed that it actually had a selection of those other spices in it. That meant, that if I bought the individual ones, I could mix my own pumpkin pie spice and still have the other ones to add to my spice collection to use in other dishes.

A new batch of fajita seasoning prior to mixing it up.

After this revelation, it was like falling down the rabbit hole. One thing lead to another and another. In reality, I'm still working on using up some of my old (really old, but more about that later) mixes and either doing without or replacing them with homemade mixes, but most of the time, I make up the mixes myself. Now, if I run into a recipe I want to use that calls for a mix or a package, more often than not, I go searching for a recipe for the mix (assuming I don't already have it) rather than just buying it outright. After all, with as well stocked as my spice cabinet is, I probably have most of the ingredients I need anyway. If not, it's an opportunity to add a new one or two.

So let's go back to the inquiries that were presented to me. Why do it? and more to the point I'm getting to, how long do they last? I will be the first to admit that I don't care much for expiration dates. It's a bad habit, I know. That being said, I can't say I've noticed a decline in flavor of my spices since nine times out of ten I season to taste. Given that spices don't really go rancid or start growing things (obviously there are exceptions), I tend to keep them way longer than recommended. It hasn't killed me yet. I'm not saying everyone should do this, but it's a bad habit I will fully admit to. Granted, I've been known to toss several that get all caked up and chunky, but this is more an issue of humidity than it is the product actually going bad. Regardless of my bad habits though, making my own mixes actually helps me do a better job of keeping my seasonings "fresh." Because I'm using things I have on hand, it actually increases the turnover rate of my seasonings. Most of my mixes are for things I use on a regular basis, so I'm frequently mixing up new batches. I can't say that any of them have actually gone bad. While this was never a reason I started to make my own mixes, as I talked with the party goers, it became and awesome perk I hadn't even realized existed.

So, that's how it goes around here. I may as well use what I have on hand, right? Not to mention bragging rights. I like the bragging rights: Hey, I made that! =D

Ok, so, what you may be looking for after reading or skimming or skipping my blathering entirely, is some recipes. Well, I'll share them. I don't want to take credit for any of them since I didn't develop these recipes. Most came from books, blogs, and Pinterest. I'll add links to the appropriate ones that I can to give proper credit.

Here is a list of some of the most common mixes I use. If you are interested in another one that I didn't list, just let me know and I'll be happy to add it.

Barbecue Rub (came from a cookbook from a friend. I don't know the book.)
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c sweet paprika
3 Tbsp black pepper
3 Tbsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp hickory-smoked salt or more coarse salt
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp cayenne pepper
(Keeps for 6 mo in airtight container according to the book.)

Cajun Blackening Seasoning Mix (by Flavor Mosaic)
Great with fish and chicken.

Celery Salt (seriously, why buy this?)
Equal parts celery seeds and salt. Grind the celery seeds if desired.
1/4 c celery seeds
1/4 c salt

Fajita Seasoning Mix 
(adapted from Budget Bytes Oven Fajitas recipe to create a bulk mix)
1/2 c chili powder
1/4 c paprika
4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
8 tsp sugar
4 tsp salt
1/4 c corn starch
Mix well. Keep in airtight container. Use 3 Tbsp of mix per batch (for recipe linked above) or season to taste.

Italian Seasoning Mix (by Heavenly Homemakers)
Technically a mix for Italian dressing but also makes an easy go-to for spicing up Italian dishes. Bonus, the link above includes a recipe for Thousand Island dressing as well if you are interested.

Pumpkin Pie Spice (by My Baking Addiction)
I like this one because it has a more rounded out mix of ingredients. Some lack allspice, ginger, and/or cloves which I think is odd.

Montreal Steak Seasoning (from Field Guide to Herbs & Spices by Aliza Green as found on Chowhound)
This is my go-to steak seasoning. I absolutely love it. I use it most often on beef and venison roasts, but of course, it's great for steaks.

Taco Seasoning (by Kelly the Kitchen Kop)
Note: I tend to halve the amount of salt used for the whole jar recipe. I typically will salt my ground beef as I cook it and then I can always add more to taste.

Enjoy!