Canning Pumpkin | How to Can Pumpkin - Binky's Culinary Carnival

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Canning Pumpkin | How to Can Pumpkin

Canning pumpkin helps us capture the flavor of fall, so we can enjoy pumpkin even when it's not in season.

Course canning

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 55

Total Time 1 25

Servings pints

Calories 43kcal

Cost $6

Wash your jars and lids with hot, soapy water. Rinse well. Step up your pressure canner with the amount of water recommended by the manufacturer. Turn your heat to low. Place the clean jars in the canning pot to warm. Heat the lids in warm water if your brand of lids recommends it.
Wash the pumpkin skins well on the outside.
10 cups pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin
Cut the pumpkins in half carefully. A large meat cleaver and a hammer will make quick work of this task.
Scrape out the seeds and the stringy stuff, botanically the endocarp.
Place the cut-side down on your cutting board.
Cut one-inch wide slices, as shown in the photo above in the article.
Use a paring knife to cut the skin off of your one-inch slices.
This is the easiest way we’ve found to peel it.
Cut each slice into one-inch cubes after peeling.
Heat a large pot with clean water to blanch the pumpkin cubes. Boil the water.
boiling water
Get another clean pot boiling to fill the jars. Don't use the blanching liquid.
Once boiling, add pumpkin cubes in batches and blanch the pumpkin for 2 minutes, using a spider tool to remove the pieces and add them to your warm jars, leaving a one-inch headspace.
Fill the jars with clean, boiling water, leaving the one-inch headspace.
Wipe the rims of the jars clean with a damp paper towel.
Center the lid on the jar. Secure the bands finger-tip tight.

Choose pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins.

Size: Opt for small to medium-sized pumpkins, typically referred to as “sugar” or “pie” pumpkins. They usually weigh between 4 to 8 pounds.
Flavor & Texture: These pumpkins have a sweeter flavor and smoother, less fibrous texture, making them ideal for canning.
Flesh Thickness: Sugar pumpkins have denser flesh, yielding more pumpkin per pound than larger carving pumpkins.

Pro tips

Important! Do NOT mash or puree the pumpkin before canning it. The pumpkin puree will not heat evenly, and the heat from home canners may not kill all of the botulinum toxins, potentially causing illness. If you need purée, you can purée it for a recipe when you need it.
Use this canning recipe for any fall or winter squash. Butternut, acorn, blue hubbard, turban, etc., all can beautifully.
If you can pumpkin at too high of a psi or for too long, you may get some brown caramelization because the sugars have caramelized. It’s not necessarily a bad thing with pumpkins. It can actually taste good.
Pumpkin is a low-acid fruit/vegetable and must be pressure-canned! DO NOT use a water bath canner, it will not get hot enough to kill botulinum toxin.

See serving suggestions in the article above!

Altitude Adjustment for Canning Pumpkin

Dial Gauge canner Pint jars – 55 minutes Quart jars- 90 minutes

0-2000 feet above sea level 11 pounds per square inch

2001-4000 feet above sea level 12 psi

4001-6000 feet above sea level 13 psi

6000+ feet above sea level 14 psi

Weighted-gauge canner Pints- 55 minutes Quarts- 90 minutes

1-1000 feet above sea level 10 psi

1000+ feet above sea level 15 psi