Cooking and Freezing Pumpkin

Have you ever cooked pumpkins?

I do and it's very easy to do, and your baked goods or soups taste so much better.

Usually at this time of year, I usually buy several pumpkins for fall & Halloween decorations.  We never carve our pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns.

When I'm ready to cook my pumpkins, I select a couple of good ones, cut them up and clean them as well.

I cut up the pumpkin into medium size chunks, and place them in a huge pot.  Add a little bit of water (about 2 inches at bottom) and steamed them until the pumpkin is soft and easily poked with a fork; about 40 minutes.

Once the thoroughly cooked pumpkin cools down, I remove all of the peel.

Just so you know, the pumpkin releases lots of liquid.  So I put the cooked and peeled pumpkin chunks in a colander over a big bowl to collect liquid.  Toss liquid.

Once the pumpkin have released most of its liquid, I measure about 2 cups of the cooked pumpkin into freezer bags.  Two cups is the exact amount for most recipes.
I use the pre-measured pumpkin frozen baggies for pumpkin bread, pies, cookies, soups, and more; throughout the year.
I share some of these prepared frozen pumpkin baggies with Mom and family.
It has been years now that I have been doing this, and I have to say that I prefer my cooked pumpkin this way rather than canned.  The pumpkin baked or cooked goods have a fresher taste and lighter in color.
Try it!