More on Processing Pumpkins

A couple of years ago I wrote about processing pumpkins.  My method wasn't very sophisticated.  I haven't tried putting the whole thing in the oven yet, but I have improved my approach to cutting the beasts. I think it was Erica Strauss, of nwedible.com, who gave me the idea.  I made an initial cut, then used a rubber mallet to finish the job.

First I removed the stem area, Jack-o'-lantern style.  Then I started the knife and hit the knife at the top of the blade/base of the handle.  It took a few taps to get most of the cut done on one side; I just rotated it as I went.  No seeds fell out as it was almost inverted.  I did the same on the other side, then split it open and processed as usual--face-down in a baking dish with some water, 45 minutes at 450.




I think the only way easier would be the whole-bake approach.  That would simplify cutting it, but then there'd be a hot steaming mess with seeds still inside.  It is comparatively easy to pull those out when the flesh is still hard.

This process was a success.  It took about 15 min to bisect and  clean each pumpkin rather than 20 minutes (or more) just to cut it.  It was a lot less tiring and dangerous, too.