I have a dumb question about making pumpkin pie...

[NewRVLady]

Use canned pumpkin!!!!!!!!!

an aside....my son's Design Company is redeveloping the container canned pumpkin comes in for a company
They want people to use it freely in OTHER recipes that might not use a whole can!!!.

Brilliant-right?

 

[littleblackegg]

Halloween pumpkins are NOT pie pumpkins. If you have a good farmer's market, you can find pie pumpkins. I agree that canned pumpkin is good to use. I would read the can labels and select the best reputable brand.

I agree. Carving pumpkins and pumpkins for pie are as different as apples and oranges! They are just not the same thing. Pumpkins for pies look like round squashes, almost, and probably won't even show up until the first week of November or so. Canned pumpkin is totally yum and fine for pies.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I also can make a killer, from scratch, pumpkin pie.

As long as you realize that Halloween Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are not pie pumpkins.
Pie pumpkins are very different.
And, good ones can be hard to find.

smallworld, can you, or somebody, post a link to 'sugar' pumpkins?

PS: I use the recipe from the Libby canned pumpkin, and adjust by adding brown sugar, and way more spice.
Everybody seems to love it!

 

[SmallWorld71]

http://bakingbites.com/2011/11/what-is-a-sugar-pumpkin/

According to this, sugar pumpkins/ pie pumpkins are the same thing.

 

[CPanther95]

Another vote for canned pumpkin. Some things are worth the extra effort - even if it is a subtle difference. Fresh pumpkin isn't one of those things.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I only buy the sugar pumpkins for baking the pies. I have never heard of using the regular ones. I don't think they would come out the same.

 

[marthachick]

I did pumpkin pie from scratch last year. Never again. I started out with a huge pumpkin, messed with the stupid thing forever and got like 3 cups of pumpkin. Never again. (And I'm a good cook/baker)

 

[leebee]

One year, just because, I decided to make 2 Thanksgiving pumpkin pies, one from scratch and one from canned. I used the same ingredients in both, just a different source of pumpkin. Nobody could tell the difference! At Christmas, I made squash pie (canned squash) and DH said he liked that "pumpkin" pie better than either of the ones I'd made at Thanksgiving!

 

[Gigi22]

I did pumpkin pie from scratch last year. Never again. I started out with a huge pumpkin, messed with the stupid thing forever and got like 3 cups of pumpkin. Never again. (And I'm a good cook/baker)

There's a lot less messing around if you just microwave the pumpkin whole. Wash the pumpkin, remove the stem. Slash the pumpkin with a knife several times. Weigh the pumpkin and microwave on high for 6-7 min. per lb. Cook until a sharp knife easily penetrates the skin. Let the pumpkin cool until you can handle it, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, remove the skin and puree or mash. Freeze.

You can also roast the seeds once you have cleaned them.

 

[CPanther95]

There's a lot less messing around if you just microwave the pumpkin whole. Wash the pumpkin, remove the stem. Slash the pumpkin with a knife several times. Weigh the pumpkin and microwave on high for 6-7 min. per lb. Cook until a sharp knife easily penetrates the skin. Let the pumpkin cool until you can handle it, cut in half, scoop out the seeds, remove the skin and puree or mash. Freeze.

You can also roast the seeds once you have cleaned them.

Or turn this handle for 8 seconds and dump......

 

[NHdisneylover]

Yet another vote for using good quality canned pumpkin. I have tried fresh many times and do not taste much difference and it is considerably more work. (and goodness yes do not use a carving pumpkin! You can roast the seeds from them, but they re not meant for pies)

and someone brought up Sweet Potato Pie. I love sweet potato pie and I love pumpkin pie but they do not taste even remotely alike to me.

 

[marthachick]

Or turn this handle for 8 seconds and dump......

Or just buy a good quality Bakery one. Yeah. I'm probably going to do that!

 

[Gigi22]

Or just buy a good quality Bakery one. Yeah. I'm probably going to do that!

I've made pumpkin pie from canned pumpkin. I don't notice a lot of difference in the taste, but the canned product has a much darker color, to me this is a kind of oxidized or stale look, so I make my own purée when I can. I have never found a bakery pie nearly as good as the one I make myself. My recipe is over 50 years old, there would be riots among my family members if I ever changed it!

 

[GaryDis]

I did pumpkin pie from scratch last year. Never again. I started out with a huge pumpkin, messed with the stupid thing forever and got like 3 cups of pumpkin. Never again. (And I'm a good cook/baker)

If it was huge, it was probably the wrong type of pumpkin. Pie pumpkins, aka sugar pumpkins, are small.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

Only use a fresh pumpkin if you want to make a huge mess and want it to take three times as long as it would if you opened the canned pumpkin. It's REALLY not worth all the mess and effort!

 

[marthachick]

If it was huge, it was probably the wrong type of pumpkin. Pie pumpkins, aka sugar pumpkins, are small.

It wasn't the bright orange Jack O'Lantern pumpkin. And when I say huge, I mean in comparison to how much I ended up with. It was one of the dull orange (almost a tan) ones. Just not a 6 inch sugar pumpkin. And none of our family is that crazy about pumpkin pie anyway, so I'all just stick to bakery ones.. We usually have 6 or 8 desserts for 20 people anyway, so it's not that big of a deal. We're good!

 

[CPanther95]

If you want to put in extra work, make your own crust. But don't bother unless you use real leaf lard like any decent baker does - not that nasty shortening/Crisco some people try and substitute.