Wait! Don’t throw away that pumpkin. Cathy Isom tells you how to properly store your pumpkin now that Halloween is over. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
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If you were like me and never got around to carving the Halloween pumpkins, the good news is we can still use them as decoration for Thanksgiving.
Maybe you have a pumpkin variety that can be baked or pureed to use as a filling for a homemade pumpkin pie or a soup.
USDA’s Marketing Service spokesperson Dave Horner says storage is simple.
Storing, you can put in a mason jar and freeze it that way. It can keep up to 9 months to 12 months depending on how cold your freezer is. If it’s chunked pumpkin most people cook it first and then they chunk it they use a scoop and they go and scoop chunks out of it and you can take the chunks and put them on a baking sheet and then you can freeze it. And then once they’re frozen you can take them and put them in a freezer bag. That way they don’t stick to each other. And they’ll keep up to a year in the freezer. if you pack them up real well.
And even fresh pumpkins can be stored for up to two months under proper condition.
Keep them in a cool place like 50-55 degrees and 50 to 70-percent humidity.