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To Dry Pumpkins for Pies
Pare the pumpkin, cut into thin strips and again into. slices. Spread out in a thin layer and dry in the hot sun or in a moderate oven. In the winter when wanted for use soak over night in cold water. Cook in the same water until tender and use the same as fresh pumpkin.
A preserving method rather than a dish: it turns a glut of autumn pumpkin into shelf-stable chips that reconstitute into pie filling. The whole thing hinges on getting the slices genuinely dry, not merely limp.
- "Moderate oven" does not mean 350F here"Moderate oven" will not serve you here -- for drying you want 135-150F with the door propped open so moisture escapes; a modern dehydrator set to 135F does the same job in 6-10 hours. A working baking oven at anything like normal "moderate" heat would simply roast the slices.
- Cut thinner than you thinkPeel, seed, and slice no thicker than 1/4 inch, in even pieces so they finish together. Thick or uneven slices dry on the outside while staying moist at the centre, which is where spoilage starts.
- Sun drying needs the right weatherIt works only in a run of hot, dry, breezy days with low humidity, on racks raised for airflow and covered with fine mesh against insects. Bring the trays in at night so dew does not undo the day's work, and abandon the attempt if the weather turns humid.
- Test for dryness properlyFinished slices should be leathery to brittle and snap or crackle rather than bend and feel cool-damp. Cool them fully, then "condition" in a loose jar for a week, shaking daily; any condensation on the glass means they need more drying time.
- Choose a pie pumpkinA dense-fleshed sugar or pie pumpkin, or any winter squash such as butternut or kabocha, dries and rehydrates far better than the watery, coarse-fibred field pumpkins grown for carving.
- Keep the soaking waterThe instruction to cook in the same water is not thrift alone; sugar and flavour leach out overnight, and pouring it away leaves you with flat, pale pumpkin. Simmer in that water until fully tender, then drain and sieve or blend.
- Expect a stringier pureeExpect a wetter, coarser puree -- rehydrated pumpkin tends to come out looser and more fibrous-seeming than fresh, so press it in a sieve or drain it in cloth before measuring for a pie, or the custard will not set cleanly.
- Yield and storagePumpkin is mostly water, so a large quantity of raw flesh reduces to a small weight of chips; measure the rehydrated puree rather than relying on a fixed dried-to-cooked ratio. Store airtight in the dark, and keep it frozen if you want the longest life.
Drying was the default way to keep pumpkin through a North American winter long before home canning became routine, and the practice is generally traced to Indigenous growers, who sliced or spiralled pumpkin flesh into strips and dried it on racks or hung it in braids. A household with an acre of squash had more pumpkin in October than it could eat and no freezer at all, and drying was the answer. Putting food by was simply part of cooking it.