Freeze, store and preserve pumpkin!
Hokkaido, butternut, summer squash, muscat or spaghetti squash – when the leaves begin to change colour in autumn you know it’s time for the hotly anticipated pumpkin season. The wide range of shapes, colours and weights these giants among vegetables come in aren’t their only impressive feature; they also come in a diverse selection of flavours and consistencies. To preserve the taste and freshness of a pumpkin it’s important to store it correctly. Learn how to freeze and store pumpkins to enjoy them for longer.
The key points
- Cooked and raw pumpkin can be frozen.
- Remove the hard, inedible skin before freezing (apart from Hokkaido).
- Raw pumpkin cut into pieces keeps for up to 12 months in the freezer compartment.
- You can also freeze pumpkin that has already been prepared, such as pumpkin soup, puree or pie.
- Keep whole, undamaged pumpkins fresh in a cool, dark and dry place (over 10 degrees Celsius) for between three and six months, depending on the variety.
- Store cut up pumpkins in your fridge and consume quickly.
Freezing pumpkin – enjoy for longer
Freezing pumpkin – the most effective method of long-term storage. There are a few things to be aware of.
First of all, you should work out what kind of pumpkin you have. Some types of pumpkin, like the Hokkaido, have an edible skin that is rich in vitamins, whereas the skin on other varieties can be hard and not very pleasant.
Using a potato peeler is one safe and efficient way to peel a pumpkin before freezing, although some pumpkins with very hard skins will usually need a knife. Cut your pumpkin into two halves. Pumpkins can be very firm so we recommend using a large, sharp knife and making sure that you have enough space to exert controlled pressure with both hands.
Remove the stringy, seed-filled insides with a sturdy spoon – children generally love this task. To use as much of the vegetable as possible, separate the seeds from the fibres and skin, and dry or roast them. Pumpkin seeds keep for several years in an airtight container in a dry environment.
Pumpkins can be frozen when they are raw or cooked. Not sure which pumpkin dish you want to make yet and just want to replenish your stocks? If you want roast pumpkin, it might be worth cutting it into appropriately sized strips.
If you’re not sure what dish will tempt you in the future, you can also cut the pumpkin into rough cubes or strips and then freeze them. The larger the pumpkin pieces the more space you’ll need in the chest freezer. To stop the pieces clumping together it’s worth placing the pumpkin pieces on a tray and freezing them in your freezer compartment for half an hour. You can then place them all in an airtight container. A raw pumpkin can keep for up to 12 months when frozen.
Cooked pumpkin can also be frozen. Soups and pumpkin puree can be pre-cooked to save space in the freezer – cook the chopped pumpkin for about 20 minutes. After this, puree it and, if you’re making a soup, season to taste. Even pumpkin pie that has already been made can be frozen and brought back out at a later date.
Be aware that freezing can change the consistency of the pumpkin’s flesh. To minimise this effect avoid slow thawing as this will likely lead to a mushy consistency. If you want to keep a firmer texture, put your pumpkin pieces directly in the hot oven, pan or boiling water. Pumpkin puree and soups can be heated up on a medium heat and will be ready in just a few minutes to enjoy or prepare further.
Storing pumpkin
If you haven’t cut up your pumpkin yet, you can easily store it in your cellar or any cool and dark place, like a cupboard. This shouldn’t be too cold, however, and should not be a damp environment as pumpkin is prone to storage rot.
Overview of storage areas:
- In the fridge compartment of an appliance at around 7 °C and low humidity, a pumpkin will stay fresh for 13 days
- In the EasyFresh safe from Liebherr at around 7 °C and low humidity, a pumpkin will stay fresh for around 16 days
- In the larder compartment of a Liebherr fridge at around 12 °C and low humidity, a pumpkin will stay fresh for up to 60 days
- At a room temperature of around 20 °C and low humidity, a pumpkin will stay fresh for around 40 days
If you don’t have a cellar compartment in your appliance, you ideally shouldn’t put a pumpkin in the fridge.
An intact pumpkin skin acts as a protective shield during storage and means that hardly any germs get through. However, if there is obvious damage to the skin, you should eat, preserve or freeze the pumpkin right away.
To store a whole, ripe pumpkin, you should first shorten the stem to about an inch. The pumpkin should also be fully ripe and not be washed beforehand, as the moisture could make it go mouldy quickly while in storage.
Have you grown a pumpkin yourself and harvested it too early? Let the heavyweight vegetable harden and ripen somewhere airy. The pumpkin is ripe when the stem has a woody, dry structure. The skin should also be hardened.
Store mature pumpkin in a cellar or cupboard at low temperatures for between three and six months, depending on the variety.
Consume smaller pumpkins or pumpkin that is already cut up as quickly as possible and store it in your Liebherr EasyFresh safe until then – the pumpkin keeps here for up to 16 days. To protect the cut edges from cross-contamination or drying out, place a beeswax cloth over them or place the pumpkin on a plate or in a box with the cut edge facing down.
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