Dehydrate Fresh Pumpkin To Use All Year!

by Texas Homesteader ~

When you dehydrate fresh pumpkin you can fit a whole pumpkin in a tiny ½-pint canning jar! And unlike storing pumpkin puree in the freezer, dehydrated pumpkin can set right on your pantry shelf in a sealed jar, it uses no additional energy to store.

Come see how easy it is, y’all!

(Note: Some links in this post will take you to other related articles for further information. But links preceded with * are affiliate links. If you click and buy something I could receive a tiny commission.)

Fresh Pumpkin Harvest

My garden often provides a very robust pumpkin harvest. When the season was over I harvest all those pumpkins and bring them inside before the first frost.

But when providing that garden pumpkin begins with planting the seed, you make sure none is wasted! I decided to cook & dehydrate the pumpkins so I can store ’em in my pantry & use them all year long.

How To Cook Fresh Pumpkin In The Oven

Cooking fresh garden pumpkin is simple.

- Cut the pumpkin in half , scoop out the seeds and membranes.
- Place pumpkin halves cut-side down in a large roaster
- Add 2 cups of water & place the lid on top (This will steam the pumpkin to cook it.)

- Cook @ 350ºF for 45 minutes or until soft

To save on utilities I often only turn the oven on for the first 30 minutes & then turn it off & let the pumpkin stay in the hot oven to soak up the residual heat until it’s cool to finish cooking.

Can You Cook Pumpkin In A Solar Oven?

Oftentimes if the sun is out I’ll use my Solar Oven to Cook The Pumpkin. I use a covered enameled pan and need to cut the pumpkin into smaller pieces to fit with the lid on. But the procedure is the same.

- Cut pumpkin into quarters or smaller to fit in pan
- Scoop out seeds & membranes
- Add 1-2 cups water and the pumpkin pieces and add pan cover & place in solar oven

It’s almost impossible to burn it in the moist environment of a solar oven, so I just put it out there for a couple of hours or so until it’s cooked soft.

Then I continue by making the puree.

How To Make Pumpkin Puree

When the pumpkin’s cool I pull the roaster from the oven & scrape the pumpkin meat from the shell.

You can use a heavy spoon but I prefer to use a large flat ice cream scoop. The scoop is heavy duty & there’s no fear in bending it if I get a little carried away scooping.

Does anyone else get a little heavy-handed when scooping pumpkin?
No? Just me? Alrighty then!

Now I place that cooked pumpkin into my *Ninja Blender. (have I mentioned how much I love that thing??!!)

The Ninja will blend it all into a flawless smooth pumpkin puree in no time flat – no lumps!

Can You Dehydrate Cooked Pumpkin Puree?

You betcha! Dehydrating pumpkin puree is so easy!

I plop about 2 cups onto each *Non-Stick Dehydrator Sheet for my Excalibur Dehydrator trays and spread it all smoothly.

You’re basically treating this puree the same as you would for Fruit Rollups.

When all the puree has been smoothed onto trays I put them all into my *Excalibur Dehydrator and set the temp to 125 degrees.

Depending upon how thinly you’ve spread the puree, it needs to dehydrate for about 12-14 hours.

After the top of the puree is dry enough I peel off the sheets of dried puree and flip them over to make sure it dries properly on the underside too. Then I let it dehydrate for a few hours more.

How Long Does It Take To Dehydrate Pumpkin Puree?

For me to fully dehydrate my pumpkin puree it took about 12 hours, but your dehydrator and even the relative humidity in your home could make your time slightly different.

You’re looking to dry the puree until it’s completely dry & brittle, crisp enough to break up easily.

How To Easily Powder Dehydrated Pumpkin

I break up the pieces and drop them into a *coffee grinder that I reserve for grinding herbs & such into powder. A couple of pulses will grind the chunks until they’re once again perfectly powdered – no lumps!

Now that it’s dehydrated and powdered that whole pumpkin doesn’t even fill up a tiny 1/2-pint canning jar!

How To Rehydrate Dehydrated Pumpkin Powder

When it’s time to rehydrate my pumpkin powder into puree I’ll simply boil some water (4:1 ratio water to pumpkin) and stir in some pumpkin powder.

Some say it needs 15-20 minutes standing time to rehydrate. But in my experience (I suppose because I’ve actually powdered it) my dehydrated pumpkin powder rehydrates in minutes right as I’m stirring in the boiling water.

BOOM! Pumpkin puree!

It’s a no-waste way to make sure that delightful pumpkin harvest is fully used.

Making & Using Pumpkin Puree

There are several different ways I make and use pumpkin puree.

So if you love pumpkin but don’t have room in your freezer for all that puree, go ahead and dehydrate it!

~TxH~

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8 thoughts on “How To Dehydrate Fresh Pumpkin To Use All Year Long”

Stephanie at

This is such a good idea. I tried it out last week and it came out great! I put a freshness packet in the jar just in case it was needed. I think I’m going to try this with kale, broccoli, and some other veggies and make my own greens powder.

Reply ↓
1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  It sure makes it easy to make (and USE) fresh pumpkin in future months. And since RancherMan’s about to fill up our freezer, space in there is limited. Works great for us too. ~TxH~
  
  Reply ↓
Nana at

With four to one ratio of the mix would that be equal one can of store bought pumpkin? Or do you need to double the amount?

Reply ↓
1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  It’s easy to rehydrate & use your dehydrated pumpkin. Simply rehydrate 4 parts water to 1 part pumpkin – to whatever amount you desire. (a 15-oz can of pumpkin puree is just under 2 cups. The larger 29-oz of pumpkin puree is about 3.5 cups) ~TxH~
  
  Reply ↓
Nana at

Nancy, I have been trying to read up the directions on rehydrating the pumpkin powder but my I pad won’t let me. I don’t know what I am doing wrong but I would like the directions so I can dehydrate my purée from the freezer. Can you help, please?

Reply ↓
1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  Yessum, From the dehydrating pumpkin post: “Now I plop about 2 cups onto each *Paraflex Sheet for my Excalibur Dehydrator and spread it all smoothly. You’re basically treating this puree the same as you would for Fruit Rollups.
  
  When all the puree has been smoothed onto trays I put them all into my *Excalibur Dehydrator and set the temp to 125 degrees. The pumpkin needs to dehydrate for about 12-14 hours. So for convenience sake, if I’ve cooked the pumpkin during the day & pureed it at night I can turn the dehydrator on when I go to bed and let it do it’s thing all night. That’s a lot of hands-off time and I’m lazy, errrr I mean efficient that way!
  
  In the morning I peel the sheets of dried puree and flip it to make sure it dries properly on the underside too. Then I let it dehydrate for a few hours more. All in all about 12 hours for me, but your dehydrator and even the relative humidity in your home could make your time slightly different. You’re looking to dry the puree until it’s crisp enough to break up.
  
  But for me it’s about 12 hours in the dehydrator until the puree is completely dry & brittle.
  
  I break up the pieces and drop them into a *coffee grinder I reserve for just this task. A couple of pulses will grind the chunks until they’re once again perfectly powdered – no lumps!
  
  Now that it’s dehydrated and powdered that whole pumpkin doesn’t even fill up a tiny 1/2-pint canning jar!”
  
  Reply ↓
Nancy at

I wonder if it would be good to put some seasonings in it and make like a fruit roll-up. The little sugar pumpkin my other granddaughter brought home from school was Soo sweet, I don’t think it would need any sugar. Or make your own pumpkin spice oatmeal, with your powder….hmm I saved seeds from all the pumpkins so I may try it out this year.

Reply ↓
1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I made apple fruit rollups for the first time last fall with my aunt’s apples and they were delicious. I’d planned to make ‘pumpkin pie rollups’ just as you mentioned, adding the seasonings, etc. But RancherMan’s not a fan of pumpkin pie so I’d be eating them all myself. Hummmm…. I still plan to make some this fall & share ’em with the grandbabies to see how they like ’em. ~TxH~
  
  Reply ↓

~Texas Homesteader~

Working To Provide For Ourselves On Our Texas Homestead

How To Dehydrate Fresh Pumpkin To Use All Year Long

Fresh Pumpkin Harvest

How To Cook Fresh Pumpkin In The Oven

Cut the pumpkin in half , scoop out the seeds and membranes.

Place pumpkin halves cut-side down in a large roaster

Add 2 cups of water & place the lid on top (This will steam the pumpkin to cook it.)

Cook @ 350ºF for 45 minutes or until soft

Can You Cook Pumpkin In A Solar Oven?

Cut pumpkin into quarters or smaller to fit in pan

Scoop out seeds & membranes

Add 1-2 cups water and the pumpkin pieces and add pan cover & place in solar oven