Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:04 pm
#3451
Fall is here, and with it has come the season for carving and cooking pumpkins. I am one of those picky people who can't call a pumpkin pie truly, 100% homemade if it contains canned pumpkin (or uses a pre-made crust, but that's beside the point). Hence, I like to make my own pumpkin pureé.
As you may know, a lot of recipes that call for pumpkin, specify a sugar or pie pumpkin. My problem is that most grocery stores and produce shop/stands in my area fail to properly label thier pumpkins. Often times I'll see a pile of large "jack o'lantern pumpkins" along side a bin of small un-named pumpkins. Most tell me that any small pumpkins is by default a sugar/pie pumpkins. However, I'm not fully convinced of this.
Isn't the sugar/pie pumpkin a separate species of pumpkin? My experience has told me that carving species pumpkins are generally wetter inside and very slippery. And that sugar/pie pumpkins, because they contain higher amounts of sugar, are dryer and stickier inside.
Does this hold true? Are the two varieties of pumpkins one in the same, or different species? Is there any other way to tell, aside from cutting it open?
As you may know, a lot of recipes that call for pumpkin, specify a sugar or pie pumpkin. My problem is that most grocery stores and produce shop/stands in my area fail to properly label thier pumpkins. Often times I'll see a pile of large "jack o'lantern pumpkins" along side a bin of small un-named pumpkins. Most tell me that any small pumpkins is by default a sugar/pie pumpkins. However, I'm not fully convinced of this.
Isn't the sugar/pie pumpkin a separate species of pumpkin? My experience has told me that carving species pumpkins are generally wetter inside and very slippery. And that sugar/pie pumpkins, because they contain higher amounts of sugar, are dryer and stickier inside.
Does this hold true? Are the two varieties of pumpkins one in the same, or different species? Is there any other way to tell, aside from cutting it open?
Last edited by Black Mage on Sat Sep 23, 2006 11:14 pm, edited 5 times in total.