Trading tips for gutting, transferring, and carving the real thing.
By Flak
#5901
This is the second year in a row where I've been plagued by stringy pumpkins. They're the worst! I break the little details so often it's not even worth doing patterns anymore. I wonder if I'm just bad at picking pumpkins or this is some kind of pandemic. I have a half-finished PM Dead Head downstairs because I keep breaking off teeth or his jaw or whatever, especially when I go to remove a chunk. A string will come with it and easily take out a nice little detail I thankfully managed to carve in with my limited skills. I hate stringy pumpkins!!!!!

/rantoff
User avatar
By Kittie
#5915
Scrape the insdies thinner. . that is what I ususally do. Oh and soak them a bit in water. Makes them softer.
By brittney867
#16422
I have the same problem Flak. Happens to us all I guess.

How thin do you scrap the walls Kittie or anyone else that reads this. I'm afraid that I might scrap them too thin and waste the pumpkin.
By Joey
#16429
I usually go for about an inch thinkness, it's good for stringyness like has already been said. The way I manage to know it's an inch thick is you get your design on, the find a spot that's going to be cut out, and stick a saw or some pokey thing straight through until you can feel the end on the other side. Then you hold where the saw is on the outside and pull it out, then measure from your finger to the tip and then you know how close you are to the thickness you want and can adjust accordingly.

I actually picked up a neat poker tool a couple years back that has a mark an inch in, so it saves all the measuring :D