Can you freeze pumpkin?

[Sackville]

If I chop up my pumpkin, can I freeze the raw cubes to use later? How long will they keep in the freezer? Thanks for your help!

[HeatherFeather]

I have never frozen raw chunks, but I have definitely frozen cooked, unseasoned mashed pumpkin with no problems.

[Dee514]

I agree with Heather on that. I've never frozen the "chunks", only the cooked, pureed and sugared (according to my pie recipe) pumpkin...which I measure out into 2 cup containers for freezing. I defrost it before mixing in the spices, eggs and cream for pies.

[Chrissyo]

I have frozen thin slices of uncookded pumpkin after I have blanched them for a minute in boiling water, then refreshed them in iced water.

The slices were the thickness of the diameter of a standard lead pencil.

I used the slices in a chickpea and pumpkin curry. They went a bit mushy around the edges but the pumpkin was great in the curry. I just partly thrawed them and then threw them into the chickpeas along with the curry paste.

I do freeze a lot of pumpkin that has been cooked and mashed.

Have you even cooked pumpkin in a beef stew? I have and frozen the left overs..the pumpkin retains it's texture and shape just like the other vegetables in the stew. So I don't think you should have too much trouble freezing pumpkin. But you have my wondering now.. so we have just just blanched and refreshed chunks of pumpkin and put it in the freezer. I will thraw it out over the weekend to see if it works ok.

Thanks for bringing this up.

[Sackville]

Thanks for your tips. I will be particularly interested to hear how your pumpkin works out ChrissyO. I want to freeze it in cubes because I don't know what I will use it for, and I might not want mashed pumpkin in a few months time....

[Dee514]

Hi Friedel,
The following links are from Michigan State University's Cooperative Extension Service...I hope you find them helpful.
Pumpkin Facts
Storing Pumpkins
Freezing Pumpkin
Canning Pumpkins - Cubed

[cheerfully]

how can I freeze raw pumpkin[/recipe]

[DEEP]

[quote="cheerfully"]how can I freeze raw pumpkin[/recipe][/quotte]

Simply put, the answer is yes. However, you are surely to run into some major problems with texture with the end result. Back few posts someone states a case of "pencil thin" slices being frozen with an OK outcome. I have never heard of anyone having success with freezing without cooking first, and even then you will come out better going ahead and preparing the pumkin for later use after cooking.