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Garden Gate:  pumpkin obsession  |
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mscountrygirl
True Blue Farmgirl
552 Posts
Michelle
Lucedale
Mississippi
USA
552 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 03 2014 : 1:47:29 PM
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Am I the only one obsessed with puuting as much pumpkin up as possible? I hate to see them go to waste after Im done decorating with them.
It all comes back to the ground!
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2014 : 3:19:30 PM
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LOL! Nooooo... You are NOT alone, Michelle! We LOVE pumpkin here in our home, and I've already preserved several pumpkins (and squash) by dehydrating them and grinding them into powder - or, as a dear friend calls it, "pumpkin dust". When reconstituted, it's absolutely delicious and tastes as fresh as the day it was picked! By dehydrating it, I can get a few pumpkins into one small quart jar, then I vacuum-seal the lid and it's good for a loooooong time! I never lasts, though - we gobble it up by spring, for sure! :) Have fun and enjoy your orangy-golden goodness! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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mscountrygirl
True Blue Farmgirl
552 Posts
Michelle
Lucedale
Mississippi
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2014 : 6:12:20 PM
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Neverthought of drying it. How cool!
It all comes back to the ground!
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texdane
Farmgirl Legend Chapter Leader Chapter Guru
4658 Posts
Nicole
Sandy Hook
CT
USA
4658 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2014 : 11:50:22 AM
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I never thought of drying it, either. Nini, how do you use it after it's dried?
Farmgirl hugs,
Nicole
Farmgirl Sister #1155
KNITTER, JAM-MAKER AND MOM EXTRAORDINAIRE
Chapter Leader, Connecticut Simpler Life Sisters
Farmgirl of the Month, January 2013
Suburban Farmgirl Blogger
http://sfgblog.maryjanesfarm.org/ |
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mscountrygirl
True Blue Farmgirl
552 Posts
Michelle
Lucedale
Mississippi
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - Nov 05 2014 : 11:59:11 AM
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I have cut, peeling and either roasted or boiled an entire 15lb pumpkin! I don't know what kind it was, maybe a Cinderella but the flesh was awesome and very thick. I have 2 smaller ones that will get used this weekend. What kind of time does it take to dehydrate a pumpkin Nini?
It all comes back to the ground!
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2014 : 04:01:56 AM
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Good morning, girls! Sorry! Somehow I missed your posts yesterday!
Lisa emailed to ask how I dehydrate pumpkin as well... Here is basically what I shared with her:
First, I just steam the pumpkin in the oven. Please keep in mind if you have a better way of cooking your pumpkin, that's fine. I just find this the best way to cook it soft without adding any extra water and losing a bunch of nutrients. To oven steam, cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, place each half upside down on a cookie rack and prick the skin with a fork or knife a few times. Place the rack on top of a broiler pan, add water to the pan, then bake at 350 degrees until soft. The baking time just depends upon how big the pumpkin is. I usually start checking it at 30 minutes, then about every 15 minutes, give or take, thereafter. When done, remove from the oven and let cool.
When easy to touch, remove the skin. It's okay to do this hot, cool or cold - it doesn't really matter. You can then puree the pulp at this point, but I usually let the pumpkin sit covered in the fridge overnight so more liquid will separate from the pulp. The liquid can be used in recipes or frozen for reconstituting the pumpkin later.
Puree the pulp in your blender or food processor. I use my Ninja - works great!
If you have the non-stick sheet inserts for your dehydrator (Paraflexx for the Excaliber, or the round fruit roll-up trays for the Nesco, etc.), line each tray with those (in the Excalibur, the liner goes on top of the white plastic screen). If you don't have the sheets, then just use a sheet of parchment on top of the screen - that is what I have been using for the past couple of years and it works just fine. The only thing about using the parchment is that when it's dry, the paper will buckle a little bit under the pumpkin, so it may take a little while getting the dried pumpkin off of the paper... but it will be fine, honest.
Scoop some pureed pumpkin onto the sheet or parchment, then smooth out as evenly as possible. The thinner the layer, the faster it will dry. I've done a thick layer and a thin layer - the only difference is drying time. Put your trays in the dehydrator, set to the vegetable setting (I think 130 - 135 degrees, maybe? If you don't have that on your machine, let me know and I'll pull mine out to check for you.). Let dry until crispy dry. Again, the thickness of the pumpkin going in determines how long it will take to dry. Just be patient - you want it dry, dry, dry and crispy. I usually check after 24 hours. When you take it off of the sheet, it should >snap< when bent. If you spread it on very thick, you might end up with a more bendy/flexible piece of dried pumpkin pulp. That's okay. You can continue to process it as follows; it just won't grind up very fine.
When dry and crispy, simply grind it into a powder in your blender, food processor or coffee grinder. I have a Ninja, so that is what I've been using. When you grind it, grind it as finely as possible, but don't worry if there are some larger, chunky pieces. When you reconstitute it, they will just be bigger chunks of pumpkin, and you can always just run the whole thing through the blender again if you want. (I used my hand blender last time and it worked to perfection!)
Store the "pumpkin dust," as our friend Todd calls it, in an airtight container. I store mine in canning jars and vacuum-seal them with my FoodSaver. I want to say I can fit 3+ pumpkins into a pint-sized jar - NO KIDDING! You'll be amazed!
To rehydrate, use 1/4 cup pumpkin to 1 cup boiling water = 1 cup pureed pumpkin. Add the water, stir well, let it sit for a while. It rehydrates fairly quickly, but the longer you leave it, the thicker it gets. You'll be amazed at just how fresh it smells and tastes - it's as if you've just plucked it off the vine! YUM-O!!! WAY better than canned or frozen!
OH! Nicole - almost forgot to answer you! When reconstituted, you can use it in any recipe that requires pureed pumpkin. We've used it to make pies, muffins, pumpkin bread and dump cake, but I'm sure it can be used in pumpkin soup and any other squash recipe, really. I'm planning to make my own baking mixes with it, too... Just haven't had time to play around with it yet! If it works out well, I'm lining the cupboard shelves! :)
Here is a link to my post with pictures from last year in Sharon's (a.k.a. Calicogirl) strain "How Did You Save Money This Week?" in the Nifty Thrifty Forum... It's found on page 10: http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/snitz/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64224&whichpage=10 'Hope it helps!
Have fun! Keep me posted!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Edited by - Ninibini on Nov 06 2014 2:03:33 PM |
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Garden Gate: pumpkin obsession |
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pumpkin obsession
