Monday, November 14, 2011

How much puree will this pumpkin make?

It seems like every recipe I find that calls for Pumpkin Puree list the amount as 'one 15 ounce can'. Very rarely do I find puree measured in cups. I have a zillion pumpkins that were grown to be eaten! Here's how I make puree. How many 15 ounce cans do you think are in this pumpkin?

15 pound, 2 ounce Cinderella Pumpkin
Here it is, cut in half so you can see the size of the seed cavity
I scraped out the seeds and cut it into quarters

Put it in a pan, flesh side down and added a little water so it would not burn. Next time I think I'll cook it skin side down. I want to bring out the sweetness by roasting instead of steaming. 

Cook it at 350 or 400 degrees until done.

Scrape the pumpkin out of the shell, put it in a food processor and process, process, process.
I had to do this in batches.

Put the puree in a cheesecloth lined strainer to drain the liquid out of the puree. You want a dense mush instead of a watered down mush.

See the liquid coming out? Lots of liquid.
Finally, hang the cheesecloth to get the last bit of the liquid out. It's quite amazing to see the amount that is still in there at this point. 

Okay - so, how much do you think this ball of pumpkin puree weighs? Remember, it was originally a 15 lb, 2 oz beauty. Leave your guesses in the comments section. In the next post, I'll tell you the answer!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. This is almost like a google interview question. Based on the coffee cups, I'm guessing it is not as heavy or as much as it seems in the photo. Maybe 4 lbs so 8 cups?? Thanks for this. My aunt always made her pies with home made pumpkin puree, but I was never quite sure how to do it. Boil it, bake it, roast it, braise it? Braising might have an interesting result. Maybe with a little rum? You are like an eco-genius.