Preparing
your pumpkin?

Pumpkins - Preparing Your Pumpkin for Carving

If you are going to carve your pumpkin you need to prepare the pumpkin to help prevent the pumpkin from going bad early. The extra time take to carefully prepare the pumpkin before carving will insure that the carved pumpkin can be displayed as long as possible. To prepare the pumpkin:

• 1. The Pumpkin will need to have a lid cut from either the top or the bottom. The lid should be cut around the stem but if your pumpkin isn't sitting upright well you can try turning the pumpkin upside down. Sometimes this will help to correct the problem. Another reason to turn the pumpkin upside down is some designs will look better on the pumpkin if it is upside down. The lid needs to be a circle or other shape cut out of the top of the pumpkin. This lid needs to be large enough that you can easily fit your hand down inside the pumpkin and scoop out the inside. We suggest at least a 5" hole but if your pumpkin is large enough a bigger lid is nice. When cutting the lid you will want to angle the knife so that the sides of the lid are tapered. The top of the lid should be larger than the bottom. This will keep the lid from falling down into the pumpkin.
• 2. The lid will then need to have the bottom cut off so that you have a smooth surface. You will need to cut off the stringy flesh that attaches to the seeds. You will not want any seeds or fleshy material hanging from the lid.
• 3. Now you will need to remove all the fleshy part and seeds from inside the pumpkin. You may want to keep the seeds in a clean bowl for later use to make roasted seeds.
• 4. After removing the stringy flesh and seeds take a large spoon or ice cream scoop and scrape the insides of the pumpkin. You will want to make the inside sides and bottom smooth and uniform.
• 5. After removing all of the insides of the pumpkin you will want to take a dish cloth dipped in clean dish water and wipe off the whole outside of the pumpkin. You don't want to leave the pumpkin wet. You just want to wipe away any bits of pumpkin, dirt, or other items.