Pumpkin on a raw food diet: how to properly cut and preserve it?

Why you should learn how to properly carve a hard-skinned pumpkin

Storage

One of the main advantages of such a pumpkin is, of course, the possibility of its long-term storage. Unpeeled whole melon can last for several months in a dark place at average temperature.

The main thing is to solve the problem of hard peel and remove it with minimal losses.

Taste and aroma

There is an opinion that pumpkins with a hard skin are unsweetened, require long cooking and, in general, are more used as feed. They are simply chopped with an ax into pieces of the required size and given to livestock.

However, this is not quite true. In fact, the pulp of hard pumpkin is not inferior to, and even surpasses, many varieties of soft pumpkin in terms of taste.

They cook and stew for the same amount of time, but sometimes the taste of the hard one is much better: sweeter and more rich. And what a pumpkin flavor!

How to determine readiness?

How to properly dry pumpkin seeds? The readiness of the seeds is determined as follows. Firstly, this is an appearance test. Roll the cooled seed in your hands. It should have a slightly yellow tint the outline should be clearly visible .

the transparent film should peel off from the seed . The color of the inside of the seed should be dark green , with white splashes.

If you taste the seed, remember that it should not be wet, have a specific taste and crunch on your teeth.

What you need to cut a hard pumpkin

Heavy knife

Similar to a cleaver or a broadsword, well sharpened, such a knife in one fell swoop will help solve the first problem - cutting the melon in half. After this, you can remove the seeds with a spoon or scraper.

You can also use a heavy knife to divide the pumpkin halves into slices, cutting it lengthwise or crosswise, depending on the shape.

Peeler

A potato and carrot peeler can do an excellent job of removing peels if you choose a larger one.

Like any other kitchen utensil, a vegetable peeler can be made of plastic or metal, with a narrower or wider blade, the length of which also varies.

So, we need a metal device, since the plastic handle is too fragile. Depending on which option (vertical blade or horizontal) we are more accustomed to working with, we choose a vegetable peeler.

The junction with the pulp is more pliable, but dragging a knife along a hard peel is a thankless task. When cooking, you still have to remove it, and you can also cut yourself.

small knife

If the pumpkin you come across is completely stubborn and the peel is not just hard, but literally wooden, you won’t be able to remove it with a vegetable peeler.

In this case, a small knife for cutting meat will come in handy. It should fit comfortably in your hand and be sharp enough. With this we will first remove the crust and then we can cut the pumpkin into cubes.

Cutting board

We choose it to match the vegetable. Anything that's not big enough will just get in the way, so size matters! Also, the board should be heavy and thick - in case the cleaver knife comes off. Isn’t it important for you that your furniture is reliably protected?!

Below we will give several options for cutting pumpkin vegetables, but since everyone’s varieties are different and they are united only by unprecedented rigidity, then in any case you will have to experiment in search of the optimal method.

Preparing the vegetable

How to dry a pumpkin for decoration? But in order to use this undoubtedly creative vegetable to create interior items and interesting design solutions, you need to properly prepare the pumpkin.

The most important step for this is drying. It is this that makes the pumpkin so tough that it can serve its owners as a craft for many years.

In our article we will tell you in detail about how the drying process itself occurs. How to prepare pumpkin for drying? It is very important to properly prepare the pumpkin for the drying process, and we are not talking about preliminary work before the process itself.

You can learn how and when to remove pumpkins from the garden in our other article.

You need to be very careful when choosing the pumpkin itself - after all, this is the key to proper drying. Not every pumpkin variety is suitable for making crafts from.

In special greenhouses, hundreds of decorative pumpkins , which are exactly suitable for the creations of masters.

Study information about varieties of decorative pumpkins and select them by appearance. As a rule, such a pumpkin has a more rounded shape and more pronounced bulges. The color of this pumpkin is even and brown.

Also, in addition to the fact that the pumpkin must be of a special variety, it must be completely healthy in order to adequately endure the drying process. First of all, such a pumpkin should be of a uniform color, without obvious signs of rotting or mold .

Also, the pumpkin must have a stalk . Unfortunately, drying is impossible without it. From the hole where the stalk connects to the vegetable during drying, juice may leak out and the whole process will be done down the drain. You should also evaluate the pumpkin by touch. It should not be soft, but rather more hard .

There should be no damage . Also, do not take a pumpkin that is too large to dry at home. Most likely, such drying will be doomed to failure.

The next step in preparing the pumpkin is your own, but at home. At home, you must carefully prepare the pumpkin for the drying process. To do this, clean the pumpkin from visible dirt by gently wiping it with a cloth. Now put the pumpkin in the shower and rinse it on several sides with slightly warm water. Do not apply too much pressure as this may damage the skin of the vegetable.

After the pumpkin is washed, pat it thoroughly with a towel, removing any wet drops. Leave the pumpkin for an hour in a dark and dry room , and then blot it again with a towel and dry it for another hour. When you feel that the top surface of the vegetable is completely dry , you can proceed to the next stage.

How to dry a pumpkin for crafts? You can dry the pumpkin either whole or in parts. Depending on what purpose you are pursuing from drying, decide on the type of pumpkin. If you want to cut a vegetable, cut the pumpkin into arbitrary pieces, after removing the seeds.

How to properly cut a pumpkin

Soak

For a number of varieties, soaking overnight is suitable. Fill the pumpkin with cold water, be sure to put pressure on top so that it is completely submerged, and let it stand for 10 to 12 hours.

After that, we wipe it and calmly peel it as if it were any of the soft varieties.

Cooking

If the pumpkin is small but stubborn, and you need to cook it urgently and there is simply no time to wait, then another, exactly the opposite method of cleaning will do.

Place it in boiling water and keep it on the fire for 15 minutes. Then pour in cold water like a boiled egg, wait another 5-7 minutes to cool, then drain and clean. In this case, the crust will fall off on its own, so there will be no difficulties.

Slicing

If the pumpkin in front of us is very hard, we need to cut it first. To do this, place it entirely on a cutting board and in one movement, but slowly and carefully, cut it in half.

Tools and devices

How to dry pumpkin? You can dry pumpkin using different means.

Depending on how you want to see the vegetable in the end, you can resort to various technical devices .

Many people dry pumpkin in the room , but few people know that this is a big risk .

During this time, the pumpkin may become moldy or begin to deteriorate. Therefore, it is better to leave the natural drying process and use new technologies.

Drying can be done either in the oven, in a convection oven, in an electric dryer or in a microwave oven. There are a lot of options - the main thing is to strictly follow the drying rules and then the desired result will not take long to arrive.

At what temperature should you dry pumpkin? Drying pumpkin can be done at different temperatures depending on the technique used in the process. So, pumpkin drying can occur at a temperature of 80 degrees in the oven .

The pumpkin should be in the center of the oven. You need to periodically turn the vegetable clockwise.

In an air fryer, the temperature of the pumpkin will be already 70 degrees. Drying in an electric dryer involves a temperature of as much as 80 degrees. The microwave oven accommodates a small percentage of the pumpkin, but it is dried at 600 watts.

The drying process in any of the above devices requires that the pumpkin be turned from side to side during the process to prevent the pumpkin from burning on one side.

Why you need to know how to properly carve a pumpkin

It is not always possible to leave a vegetable for storage in its entirety. There is a need to cut it up. To prevent the pumpkin from losing the beneficial substances contained in the pulp, it must be properly peeled and cut. If the pumpkin is properly cut and stored in an appropriate way, the prepared dishes will be tasty and nutritious.

Storing melons

One of the main advantages of pumpkin is its long shelf life. An intact melon can last in a dark, cool place for several months. However, if the fruit is already “opened”, it can be cut into small cubes and placed in the freezer for a long time. The hard skin must be removed with minimal loss. When stored in this way, the taste and beneficial properties will not be affected.

The harvested pumpkin crop can be stored in a dry basement with an air temperature within +12...+15°C. In such conditions, vegetables can remain until spring. They are laid out on shelves with a straw bedding. There should be a small distance between the fruits. The pumpkin can be stored in the room until the New Year if you put it in a dark place. The peel should be undamaged and the tail should be dry.

Important!

At the first signs of rotting, the fruits are removed from storage. But there is no need to throw them away. You can prepare a variety of dishes from spoiled pumpkin.

If the pulp cut into pieces is placed in plastic bags and placed in the freezer, it will be stored for 10-12 months. This pumpkin is useful for making soft puree or baby food. If the vegetable is large and it was not possible to eat it at once, the cut should be greased with sunflower oil and wrapped in cling film. In this form, unpeeled pumpkin is stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 14 days. If the film is regularly replaced, the remaining vegetables will last for a month.

Pumpkin taste and aroma

There is an opinion that the flesh of hard-skinned pumpkin is unsweetened, hard, and requires long-term heat treatment. Therefore, it is often used as livestock feed, after being cut into small pieces. In fact, many varieties of soft pumpkin are significantly inferior in taste to hard ones. It takes the same amount of time to cook them under identical conditions. But the taste of a vegetable with a hard peel is much sweeter and richer.

The pumpkin pulp is soft, juicy, non-fibrous, yellow-orange in color. It has a pleasant, pronounced aroma. Porridge, vegetable puree, soups, compote, jam, candied fruits, pies and muffins are prepared from the pulp. It is stewed with meat or potatoes. Even the smallest children love sweet and tender puree. It is given to babies as complementary food. Fresh salads and juice are made from nutmeg pumpkin. Delicious fruits are grown for sale or for personal use.

Storage

We have already talked about how to store pumpkin at home and how to store it in the cellar for consumption in our articles.

How to preserve a decorative pumpkin? If you want to use pumpkin not for the purpose of eating it, but for decorating the room, then you need to know a few very important rules.

Firstly, do not leave the pumpkin in a damp and humid room and, if possible, reduce contact with moisture to zero .

The pumpkin must be kept in a place where the temperature does not exceed 30 degrees and does not fall below ten.

How to store pumpkin crafts? It is necessary to cover them on top with some kind of coating in order to prevent spoilage of the vegetable.

What you need to carve a hard pumpkin

Pumpkin varieties suitable for long-term storage are distinguished by their rough skin. Sometimes it is as hard as a nut shell. During long-term storage, the peel hardens even more. Cleaning such a vegetable is very difficult and requires significant physical effort. Large-fruited varieties are especially difficult to cut. To cut hard-barked melon, you will need the following kitchen tool:

cutting board;
small knife;
vegetable peeler;
metal spoon or scraper;
massive knife.

Cutting board and large knife

Using a cleaver knife, you can cut the melon in half in one fell swoop. It is convenient to remove the fibers with seeds with a metal spoon or scraper. To make it easier to cut the vegetable into pieces, you first need to divide the halves into small chunks. They are cut lengthwise or crosswise using a heavy knife. You should act with extreme caution, because... It is easy to get hurt with a sharp bladed weapon.

Important!

Before cutting the melon vegetable, you should make sure that its position is completely stable.

Why leave the skin on?

Although there are much fewer recipes using all parts of the pumpkin, nutritionists advise not to remove the top layer, since it contains natural wax that helps fight parasites and mycoses inside the human body.

Tomato Evpator: description and characteristics of the variety

The whole pumpkin recipe is quite simple. The washed and seeded vegetable is cut into pieces and baked in the oven until the skin softens. You can serve with chicken, fruit sauce or eat separately. During cooking, the peel protects the fibers from complete disintegration and retains beneficial substances inside the pulp.

You can leave the peel on when preparing smoothies, and to make it easier to grate the vegetable, first freeze the pieces for 3-4 hours, then take them out and grind them into a paste using a blender. You can add a little flaxseed or kiwi, this will enhance the cleaning effect.

You can bake delicious cookies from the peel by first collecting and drying it, then grinding it into flour. This version contains a lot of sucrose, protein and silicon, which are beneficial for the female body. Some chefs make delicious jam and candied fruits from the peel, and offer recipes for compotes and aromatic tea.

How to properly cut a pumpkin

First, the pumpkin should be washed thoroughly, because... while growing, she lay on the ground. Dirty peels may contain roundworm eggs or residues of chemical fertilizers. It is recommended to cut vegetables with rough peel in the following ways:

Soak. The melon is placed in a deep container and filled with water. To ensure that the fruit is completely immersed in the liquid, pressure is placed on it. After 10-12 hours, it is removed, wiped with a dry cloth and peeled.
Cooking. If you don’t have time to wait, you can cook the pumpkin. You will need a large saucepan of boiling water. The vegetable is placed in boiling water and kept on fire for 15-20 minutes. Then it is filled with cold water and left for 5-7 minutes. The fruit prepared in this way is easy to clean.
Slicing. A very hard pumpkin is first cut into pieces. It is placed on a cutting board and cut in half in one motion using a heavy knife. Then the halves are divided into 4 and 8 parts. They are peeled and cut into cubes.

On a note!

The extracted seeds are cleared of fibers, washed and laid out in a thin layer on a saucer. They are dried at room temperature for 14-20 days. Pumpkin seeds can be used as food or stored until spring as seed.

When slicing melons, you should adhere to the following rules:

The pumpkin placed on the cutting board should be held with one hand.
The knife must be well sharpened. Otherwise, it may slip and hurt your fingers.
The pumpkin quarters, peeled and seeded, are cut into longitudinal bars 1.5-2 cm thick. The resulting strips can be left in this form. If desired, they are cut crosswise into identical cubes, the size of which depends on the recipe. The smaller they are, the faster they will cook.
To save time, the strips need to be stacked on top of each other and cut at the same time.

Soften the skin using the microwave

Wash the pumpkin and dry it with a clean towel. The pumpkin must be wiped after washing.
Make shallow cuts in the peel in several places. Before putting the pumpkin in the microwave, make several cuts with a sharp knife.
If the fruit is too large, cut it into two halves and remove the seeds with a spoon. The seeds from half a pumpkin can be easily removed with a tablespoon.
Place the pumpkin in the microwave after placing it in a bag, but you can do without it. If the vegetable is small in size, it may not need to be cut first. To soften the hard skin, you can place the pumpkin in the microwave.
Set the timer for 2-3 minutes, and once the time is up, remove the pumpkin. Thanks to the heating process, the skin of the vegetable will soften, regardless of its size, and you can peel it without much hassle.
Peel the vegetable skin with a knife. You can cut it into pieces or leave it whole. During the heat treatment, subject to the specified time period, the pumpkin pulp will remain cold. You can remove the skin from the pumpkin using a knife with a short blade.

How to prepare pumpkin for freezing

A properly cut pumpkin does not take up much space in the freezer. For quick freezing, only ripe fruits that are not affected by rot are selected. The pulp is prepared in the following ways:

prepare puree;
cut into small cubes;
grind on a grater.

The first option for preparing vegetables allows you to use the pulp right away. Other methods require preliminary heat treatment, because the pulp is kept fresh. By using the appropriate freezing method, you can prepare healthy dishes from the juicy pulp all winter. The shelf life of frozen vegetables is limited, so the date of preparation should be indicated on the packaging.

How to make pumpkin puree correctly

The shelf life of pumpkin puree in the freezer is no more than 10 months. It can be immediately added to casseroles, pies, cereals and other dishes. The semi-finished product is prepared as follows:

The melon is cut in half and freed from seeds.
To make puree, the pulp is first prepared in one of the following ways: boiled, baked, steamed or microwaved. The peel does not need to be removed.
To obtain puree you will need a blender, fork or masher. The pulp is scooped out with a spoon, then kneaded until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
The puree is distributed into containers: containers, special forms, plastic glasses. The filled container is placed in the freezer.

Important!

If the finished puree is stored in a container with a lid, it should be taken into account that when frozen, the mass will increase in volume. Therefore, there is no need to fill the container to the very edge.

Freezing fresh pumpkin

Melon can be frozen raw so that you can later prepare various dishes from it. This semi-finished product makes delicious pancakes, pies, porridges and side dishes. The preparation is made in this way:

The pulp is cut into pieces or grated.
The finished product is dried with a towel, placed on a tray and sent to the freezer.
After 2-3 hours, the frozen pulp is put into bags, then returned for long-term storage.

Instructions

Dried pumpkin: how to use? If you want to dry a pumpkin that you will use as a craft, you need to do your research carefully. How to properly dry a pumpkin for crafts?

Firstly, process the vegetable exactly as we wrote in the first paragraph. Then try to rinse the pumpkin under warm water, getting rid of any surface changes. Do not injure the pumpkin or cut anything off it.

After drying the pumpkin with a towel, leave it in a well-ventilated place for a day. These actions are the beginning of the drying process itself.

The pumpkin should be loaded into the oven itself at a time when the oven has not yet warmed up . The tray with the pumpkin must be dry. Remember that the pieces must be stirred constantly. If we are talking about a whole pumpkin, then turn it over.

Entirely

How to dry a whole decorative pumpkin for crafts?

There are only two ways - using various devices for this, or by simply waiting.

Let's talk about the first method. Pumpkin has been dried in the oven for a very long time, but drying a whole pumpkin is a very difficult task .

In order for the fruit to dry well and reach its proper condition, choose not too large specimens. Also, do not forget that such a pumpkin should be prepared in advance.

Now let's do the oven. Heat the oven to a temperature of approximately sixty degrees . Place special baking paper on a baking sheet and place the pumpkin. Turn the pumpkin over periodically, allowing each side to dry. Drying can take from two to eight hours depending on the size of the vegetable.

If your oven is not designed to accommodate such a large fruit, you can do it differently. After preparing the pumpkin, leave it in a dry and dark place . Check your pumpkin periodically to spot signs of rotting .

This is usually caused by high humidity or insects. As a rule, at home, without exposure to heat, pumpkin is dried for about three months .

For Halloween

How to save a pumpkin for Halloween? If you are cooking pumpkin for Halloween, you should remember that the pumpkin should start drying several months before the holiday.

You should also remember that to make a holiday pumpkin you need to select decorative varieties of pumpkin, but not hard ones , because otherwise you will not be able to cut anything from such a fruit.

How to dry a pumpkin for Halloween? Halloween pumpkins should not be dried out too much. The inside of the pulp should remain slightly moist . Therefore, it is recommended to prepare the vegetable not just three, but two or one and a half months in advance.

Bottle shop

How to dry bottle gourd? Bottle gourds are much smaller than regular and decorative ones, which means they dry much faster . To dry such a pumpkin, you need to place it in the oven for a couple of hours at a temperature of 40 degrees or leave it for a couple of months in a dry, dark room.

Quick ways

How to quickly dry a pumpkin for crafts? If you want to quickly dry the pumpkin, use a regular home hair dryer .

If your vegetable is small, a couple of hours to dry its crust with warm air.

Remember that you need to be careful . From sudden overheating, the crust may well crack.

Drying pumpkin is not such a difficult task, so don’t be afraid to do it at home . You are sure that the methods we have listed will be useful to you in the future for creating incredible crafts and things.

The post Decorative pumpkin for crafts and Halloween decor: how to dry it correctly? first appeared on Russian farmer.

]]> https://rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/dekor-podelki.html/feed3https://rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/semechek.html https: //rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/semechek.html#commentsSun, 03 Jan 2020 10:37:13 +0000https://rusfermer.net/?p=9364Many people have loved pumpkin seeds since childhood. They are incredibly tasty, and just as good as sunflower ones, they help keep your time and hands busy. And there are countless benefits in pumpkin seeds. The main element contained in this product is iron. Iron is an incredibly important substance that stimulates the heart, is a preventive measure against cardiovascular […]

The post How to dry pumpkin seeds in the oven, microwave and electric dryer? first appeared on Russian farmer.

]]>Many people have loved pumpkin seeds since childhood.
They are incredibly tasty , and just as good as sunflower ones, they help keep your time and hands busy. And benefits in pumpkin seeds. The main element contained in this product is iron .
Iron is an incredibly important substance that stimulates the heart and is a preventive measure against cardiovascular diseases. Also, increasing iron levels in the blood is an excellent way to prevent a number of diseases .

Show content
general information
Benefit or harm?
Basic Rules
Device selection
Temperature
How to determine readiness?
Storage

So how do you cut a pumpkin into cubes?

To prepare porridge, soups and baking, the pumpkin must be freed from peel and seeds and cut into equal cubes. This is done very simply:

Wash the pumpkin. This must be done, since the fruit lies on the ground during growth and becomes contaminated with soil. As a result, the peel may contain roundworm eggs and traces of chemical fertilizers.
Using a large knife, cut the pumpkin in half, and then cut each half into two more.
Using a spoon, scoop out the stringy insides and seeds from the pumpkin.
Using a thin, sharp knife, remove the skin from each pumpkin quarter.
Cut the quarters lengthwise into long slices 1.5-2 cm thick. Without the peel, the pulp is easily cut even from a very hard fruit.
In turn, cut the slices crosswise into equal cubes.

Video: carving a pumpkin quickly and easily.

What to do with pumpkin seeds?

We carefully remove the seeds from the fibrous core of the pumpkin and simply place them in a thin layer on a plate. Within 2 weeks at room temperature they will be completely dry. Then you can fry them in a dry frying pan and use them for food, or leave them until spring and sow them again so that beautiful yellow fruits will appear in your kitchen next fall.

How to preserve a pumpkin?

Ideal if you have your own home and have a cool, dry underground floor. Here, at a temperature of + 12-15 degrees, almost any pumpkin will be stored even until spring. They are laid out on racks on a bed of straw.

But these fruits can also be preserved in an apartment. Undamaged pumpkin fruits of many varieties are perfectly stored until the New Year and even longer at room temperature in a dark place. That is, you can simply put the pumpkin in a dry place in your apartment and cook it as needed. The main thing is to choose the right fruits for storage. The peel should not be damaged, the tail should be dry and long.

The pumpkins are laid out on straw so that they do not touch each other and checked regularly. Signs of rotting that have begun require immediate removal of the fruit from the storage area. There is no need to throw it away - it’s just that pumpkins that have begun to deteriorate are immediately eaten.

Cut up pumpkin can be stored in bags in the freezer, this is how pumpkin is frozen for feeding a baby, for example. This way it lasts up to 12 months.

If the pumpkin is large and you simply couldn’t eat it at once, do not peel the large pieces, grease the cut with vegetable oil, and wrap tightly in cling film. In the refrigerator on the bottom shelf it will not wither or spoil within 2 weeks, and if you periodically change the film, it will last even a month.

Steamed pumpkin in a steamer

An excellent version of a savory pumpkin dish can be prepared using a double boiler. All you need is pumpkin and salt. When serving, you can use sour cream and garlic.

Ingredients:

• half a kilo of pumpkin;

• sea salt to taste;

• sour cream;

• two cloves of garlic (optional)

Cooking method:

Prepare the pumpkin and place it in the middle rack of a steamer.

Sprinkle vegetable slices with salt.

Cook for 20 minutes.

Grate the garlic.

Place the prepared pumpkin on plates.

Mix sour cream with garlic.

Pour the sauce over the pumpkin or serve it separately.

Pumpkin for Halloween

DIY pumpkin jack-o-lantern Halloween is not a Russian holiday, but many use it as an opportunity to once again get together with a group and have a good time. What's Halloween without a pumpkin? So, how to make a pumpkin for Halloween.

Cut off the top and tail in a circle.
Using a spoon or even just using your hands, scoop out the pulp.
Using a marker, we draw the future toothy mouth and evil eyes on the peel.
Using a thin sharp knife, cut out pieces from the wall of the pumpkin along the marked lines.
Light a small candle and carefully lower it to the bottom of the pumpkin.
Close the cut with a lid with a tail.
We turn off the lights and are afraid together

Pumpkin for Halloween: video

Storage

How to store pumpkin seeds? This should be done in a dark and most importantly dry place. This is the key to preserving vitamins in them. themselves must be dry Do not store seeds in wet containers.

You can use canvas bags to store seeds

Drying seeds is not a very complicated process; on the contrary, it is fast, exciting, and most importantly delicious .

Therefore, prepare yourself some healthy vitamins for the winter and enjoy them with joy in the cold.

The post How to dry pumpkin seeds in the oven, microwave and electric dryer? first appeared on Russian farmer.

]]> https://rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/semechek.html/feed5https://rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/vyalenaya.html https:// rusfermer.net/forlady/hranenie/tykva/sushka-t/vyalenaya.html#respondSun, 03 Jan 2020 08:46:16 +0000https://rusfermer.net/?p=9339Pumpkin is an incredibly nutritious vegetable, rich in vitamins and microelements . A variety of dishes that can be prepared from pumpkin can decorate both everyday and holiday tables. If you don’t want to part with a tasty and healthy product even during the winter cold, you can prepare pumpkin for the winter. One of the best ways to prepare for the winter is drying - a process [...]

The post How to dry pumpkin at home in an oven and electric dryer: fashionable recipes first appeared on Russian farmer.

]]>Pumpkin is an incredibly nutritious vegetable, rich in
vitamins and microelements .
A variety of dishes that can be prepared from pumpkin can decorate both everyday and holiday tables. If you don’t want to part with a tasty and healthy product even during the winter cold, you can prepare pumpkin for the winter . One of the best ways to prepare for the winter is drying - a drying process that preserves all the taste and beneficial properties of the product.

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Composition and benefits

Basic Rules

Methods

In the air In the oven In an electric dryer

Recipes

How to store?

Read about storing pumpkin at home and ways to preserve it in a cellar or basement on our website.

What kind of fruit is this vegetable

Pumpkin has been known for more than 5 thousand years. The place of origin is Central and South America, where the ancient Indians began to use it. The fruit was brought to Russia in the 16th century.

The nutritional benefits of pumpkin can hardly be overestimated

There are many varieties of pumpkin. They differ in color and size, shape and purpose. There are decorative varieties whose pulp is inedible, but the unusual shape and color of the fruit can decorate a garden plot or winter garden. Some varieties are grown for livestock feed or for seeds. Currently, three species are most often cultivated:

large-fruited;
hard-barked;
nutmeg.

Large-fruited

The name of these varieties speaks for itself. The fruits are large in size and weight, and they are also the sweetest. In some varieties, the sugar content reaches 15%, which is more than the sweetest watermelon. The skin of these pumpkins is quite thin, and they are stored well in a city apartment.

The weight of this species can reach a hundredweight; there is a known case of growing fruits weighing more than 500 kg. The fruits are usually round or oblong. Inside there is a large cavity with seeds.

Read also: Parts of a butchered pork carcass

Large-fruited varieties include “Stofuntovaya”, “Titan”, “Kupchikha”, “Teschenka” and others. Varieties are resistant to low temperatures.

Some pumpkin specimens can reach several hundred kilograms

Hardbark

It is smaller in size than the large-fruited one and has a very hard peel, more like a nut shell. This species matures quickly. Already at the end of August - beginning of September they can be eaten. Hard-bark pumpkin seeds are the most delicious.

In addition to being eaten, they are also valuable as raw materials for making dishes. That's exactly why housewives don't like to deal with them so much - the hard shell - has found application in this area. The dishes made from it are light, durable and environmentally friendly.

The flesh of hard-rind pumpkins is looser and can be quite rough. There is a variety called “Spaghetti” with fibrous pulp that actually looks like spaghetti. Another interesting variety is gymnosperm. Pumpkin seeds of this variety do not have an outer hard shell and are very tasty. This variety is not stored for a long time due to the fact that the seeds can germinate inside the pumpkin itself.

When stored for a long time, the skin of the pumpkin thickens and hardens.

Muscat

This pumpkin is also called butternut. It has a bottle or pear shape. Almost all of it consists of bright orange pulp with a nutty flavor, dense and oily. There are few seeds and they are located in a small cavity in the thickened part of the fruit. Butternut squash is considered the most delicious and vitamin-rich of all types.

The dense, buttery flesh of butternut squash has a nutty flavor.

Its pulp is quite sweet, the sugar content can reach 11.5%.

This species belongs to the mid- and late-ripening species; it requires a warm climate for ripening. But there is nothing to worry about if the vegetable did not have time to ripen in the garden, it will successfully do so during storage.

Did you know that cucumbers, zucchini and squash also belong to the pumpkin family. These vegetables are eaten unripe; when ripe, they have hard seeds, thick skin and more fibrous pulp.

The housewife's headache is how to peel a pumpkin. This process causes especially many problems in winter, when the skin hardens even more due to long storage. But we are not used to retreating.

Methods

Typically, the drying process takes place outdoors or in an oven or electric dryer. You can learn how to dry a pumpkin for decoration and crafts in our other article.

On air

To dry in air, the prepared pieces must be placed on sieves in a place with good ventilation , where they will not be exposed to direct sunlight.

After a few days, the pieces must be mixed and left for another 2 days. After this, you can take it out into the sun, leaving the pumpkin in such conditions for 2 days. Air drying usually lasts 5-7 days .

If at the preparation stage you chop the pumpkin not into cubes, but, for example, into strips , then they can be dried by hanging them on a nylon thread.

You can learn how to dry a pumpkin right in your kitchen from the video:

In the oven

The process of preparing pumpkin is faster if you produce it in the oven. To do this, the prepared product is scattered onto a baking sheet in one layer and placed in an oven preheated to 80-85 degrees for half an hour.

Next, the pumpkin must be cooled at room temperature and put into the oven again, but at a temperature of 65-70 degrees . Leave for 35-40 minutes, cool and repeat the procedure.

How to make dried pumpkin in the oven sweet? You can learn how to cook oven-dried pumpkin with sugar in the video:

In an electric dryer

How to dry pumpkin in an electric dryer? The drying process in an electric dryer is practically no different from drying in an oven.

The prepared pumpkin should be placed on trays and the device should be turned on at maximum temperature.

After the pumpkin begins to dry out a little, reduce the temperature to 65 degrees and dry until tender.

Drying time and temperature conditions are different for each model of electric dryer. It is better to read the instructions for the electrical appliance.

About methods of drying carrots, peppers, apples and pears