Making and Canning Homemade Pumpkin Puree

Step 1

Wash the pumpkin with warm water and use sponge if needed to get any dirt off (you don’t want the dirt accidently getting into puree).

Step 2

Using a sharp knife, cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and scrape out the pumpkin pulp. (Keep the seeds refrigerated until you’re ready to toast them!)

Step 3

Cut the pumpkin into any smaller sizes, cubes or rectangles, peel with a thin knife, cut into 2” cubes and add to a large pot. (You might need couple pots.) Add cold, warm or hot water (cold will take longer to get to a boil) about 2” below pumpkin cubes – it doesn’t have to cover all the pumpkin.

Step 4

Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, lower the heat to low and cook for 1 hour or until you can easily pierce the pumpkin cubes with a fork. (prolonged cooking will remove bacteria, if any, for prolonged storage)

Step 5

STERILIZING JARS and LIDS: While pumpkin is cooking, preheat the oven to a 215°F. Wash jars and lids with a warm soapy water. Place the jars into the oven on the center rack upside down and dry them for 20 mins or until completely dry (20 mins always works for me). Remove hot jars with pot holders onto kitchen towel – keep them upside down to prevent any lint from getting inside the jars. Boil lids in a medium pot for 4-5 mins. Drain the water and transfer hot lids to a kitchen towel to dry while pumpkin is cooking.

Step 6

Once pumpkin is cooked, drain most water (water will keep running little by little, but drain the huge flow) and set the pumpkin to cool a bit so you don’t blunt the blender knives. Once cooled, using a blender or a food processor, puree the cooked pumpkin in batches until applesauce consistency (1-2 mins in blender worked great). Remove any remaining water from the pot and pour the pureed pumpkin back into the pot. Do it fast to avoid major splashing.

Step 7

Bring the pumpkin puree to a boil over low heat and cook/boil for another 10-15 mins. (Puree will start boiling almost right away, but the way to know when it’s really boiling is when the puree has huge bubbles, the top of the lid is all splashed up and the pot is really hot). Spoon pumpkin puree into jars. Wipe the rim with a paper towel to make sure it’s free of any puree and tightly close each jar right away (but not too tight that the jar can’t handle).

Step 8

Cover jars with couple kitchen towels until completely cooled – it might take a day.

Step 9

Pumpkin puree can be used right away, stored in cooler temperature, refrigerator or freezer for up to a year.