I just read about this and I did it very successfully--Wash your uncut pumpkins, then place on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 300 degrees, and cut a few X's on the top of each pumpkin. The directions said to cook for 1-2 hours until the side were soft. I cooked two--one was rather medium sized(think volleyball) but short and wide, and the other was taller and bigger.
I cooked them for about 1.5 hrs--the shorter one was very soft, and the larger rather still firm but cooked thru. I let them cool and cut them like butter into big slices, then easily separated the stringy goo and seeds w/ a knife, and then I just cut away the stiffer rind like you would a cantaloupe. It made a lot(!), and I let it drain in colanders over large mixing bowls.
I then grated it up in my food processor (fast), let in drain more, and then I made pumpkin butter in the crockpot, and gobs of pumpkin bread(yummy), and the excess I put into freezer bags, as 1 3/4 c. grated cooked pumpkin = a 15 oz can of bought pumpkin. Too much fun--I just bought two more at the store, as they are on clearance for 99cents each (!) as compared to 33cents/lb before Halloween! Try it!
I have a delicious recipe that is a stew you bake in the pumpkin, but if you can't do that. Just cook it in the oven, scrape out the pumpkin, & cut into smaller chunks & throw in with your favorite beef stew recipe (like the potatoes}. It really is yummy.
I tried all of that. Actually I cooked my pumpkin in the microwave - I read it on another post. After I scooped out the pulp I found it to be rather stringy. I tried to puree it in the blender but it did not work. So, unfortunately I threw it out. Perhaps the size makes a difference or the type of pumpkin.
I make pies out of my halloween pumpkins. It doesn't matter if the pumpkin is considered a pie pumpkin or not, the pies are always delicious. I love to make white pumpkin pies. Just cut the pumpkin in half, scoop the seeds out, place halves in a glass pyrex dish skin up hollow down in about 1" of water. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes maybe longer depending on the size of the pumpkin. The pumpkin is done when it's soft like butternut or acorn squash. When it cools you can scoop the pumpkin out of the skin with a spoon. I'll usually take the pumpkin fill up a 1 cup measuring cup and then use my fist to squeeze out the water. The pumpkin will have more water than the canned varieties do. When a lot of the water is squeezed out you can them use it to make pies, ravioli, soups or just add a little butter, brown sugar and cinnamon as use as a side dish. Here is my recipe for the fresh pumpkin pie that I make every year. Use an 8" DEEP glass pie pan.
28 oz of Fresh Pumpkin 1 Can sweetened condensed milk 2 eggs 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg 1 tsp. Cinnamon 1 tsp. Ginger 1 tsp. Ground Cloves 2 Tbs. Molasses
Mix all the above ingredients together and place in an unbaked pie crust. Cook at 425 degrees for 15 minutes with the edges of the crust covered. Then lower temperature to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes and bake with the crust uncovered. Check pie after 30 minutes, based on your oven you may need the extra 10 minutes- I cook in a convection oven.
Hopefully it is a fresh pumpkin less than a week old. Wash it with clear water, split it in several sections and put it in a pan with a small amt of water and bake it at 300 degrees until the pulp pulls away from the shell. Put the pulp in a strainer and let it drain for awhile and you have pumpkin for your baking. We use to get the kids pumpkins a few days before Halloween and that is what I did the next day after Halloween.
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