We can Pumpkin and squash in order to enjoy our harvest year round, without the worry of checking on the squash of pumpkins to make sure they have not gone bad. Canned pumpkin can be used to make pumpkin pie and other squash dishes.
Ingredients:
Pie Pumpkins
Water
Step 1: Wash the pumpkins and peel off the skin.
Step 2: Cut the pumpkins open and remove the seeds. For a pumpkin spice seed recipe click here , for regular pumpkin seeds click here. Save the seeds for future recipes and discard the dark and stringy pumpkin guts.
Step 3: Cut the pumpkins into small cubes.
Step 4: Place pumpkin cubes in a pot, fill pot with water and bring them to a boil. Boil for 2 minuets.
Step 5: Pack the pumpkins into jars and dump the remaining liquid on top. Leave 1 inch of head space.
Step 6: For this next step is is ABSOLUTELY necessary that you use a pressure cooker. Not using a pressure cooker puts your food at risk for becoming contaminated and causing various food-born illnesses. Do not attempt to can pumpkins, or any squash, with a normal caner bath.
Every pressure cooker is slightly different so I am not going to give directions specific to pressure cooking here. I have two pressure cookers and they way they work is extremely different. Make sure you read your manual.
What I can tell you is that if you are using quart jars you will want 15lbs of pressure and to process them for 90min. If you are using pint jars you will still want 15lbs of pressure, but you only need to process for 50 min.
Step 7: Remove jars from pressure caner and let them sit out for 12 hours. After 12 hours press your finger in the center of the lid. If it pops in and out then the jar did not seal and you will need to use these pumpkins within a week. If the jars did seal you can store and enjoy year round.
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