[cheshirecheese]

Sadly, I don't have room to grow my own pumpkins (well, I do, but if I did I wouldn't be able to grow anything else!!).  I therefore bought one from Sainsbury's at the weekend to do various things with.  I'd picked it up from the front of the store, but as I was walking through the veg aisles I realised that I'd picked up a 'bog standard' one for Hallowe'en priced £1.50, but they also had 'culinary' pumpkins ... they were literally a third of the size but priced at £2!!  

Is there REALLY such a difference?  I imagine the one I bought probably has a higher water content and is maybe slightly more fibrous, but come on ...!!!!  I made a gorgeous pumpkin & sweet potato casserole topped with goats cheese (demolished in a blink by all concerned), and roast pumpkin with thyme with our lamb on Sunday.  The rest is destined for pumpkin pie plus cubed for the freezer (pumpkin soup etc.), and I'm very happy ... is this just another supermarket try on, or is the quality of 'culinary' pumpkin genuinely better?

[arugula]

I would have thought the only difference in the world of squashes is that not all gourds are edible. I guess the one you picked up was a standard orange pumpkin. It sounds like a marketing ploy.

[cheshirecheese]

It sounds like a marketing ploy.

My thoughts exactly!!   

[Yorkie]

Funny you should ask that.  I was reading only earlier today (can't for the life of me think where) that there are two types of pumpkins: sugar, and another (can't remember the name they gave them either, it's been a long day  ).

Essentially the flesh in the sugar ones was smoother and sweeter, thus much better for cooking.  The pumpkins were smaller and, I think, a darker orange colour.  The other type (farming??) was much more stringy in texture and larger / lighter.  Much better for carving patterns out of.

[cheshirecheese]

Essentially the flesh in the sugar ones was smoother and sweeter, thus much better for cooking.  The pumpkins were smaller and, I think, a darker orange colour.  The other type (farming??) was much more stringy in texture and larger / lighter.  Much better for carving patterns out of.

Thanks, Yorkie - interesting you were reading about this very subject!  And yes, the smaller one was definitely darker, but at the end of the day any squash is fairly bland so you're going to spice it up a bit ... I therefore don't really believe there'll be that much difference in flavour once you've finished adding herbs and/or spices.  I had no problems with stringiness either.  For my purposes (roasted, soups, veggie stews and pumpkin pie), cheap and cheerful is absolutely fine!! 

[Debz]

As you say, pumpkins are all pretty bland.  I had a carving pumpkin that was going a bit bad at the top so I cut the nasty piece off, roasted the flesh, cubed it and put it in cake with ground mixed spice and a cream cheese frosting.  A lot of very favourable comments from my colleagues.

[compostqueen]

I grow lots of different varieties of culinary pumpkins. Some are much, much better than others flavour wise

I use some for mashing, some for rice dishes, some for baking, one specifically for jam, and  the ones that keep their shape for curry and stew or roasting round the meat. It's no good using a masher for a curry. Horses for courses an all that 

So I would disagree, they are not all the same    The supermarket is offering a wider range to meet the demands of keen cooks, I assume.   I expect that like me there are folks who despair that pumpkins only appear at Halloween and all the flesh gets chucked 

[Trillium]

You can eat any of the pumpkins, but the sweet culinary ones are superior for cooking with their finer, sweeter flesh. It's like using a prime roast of beef compared to stewing beef.

Lots more info: http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/perfect.html

[Debz]

What ones would you recommend growing CompostQueen.  I could grow some at my sisters next year.  She's got plenty of space.

[Trillium]

My own particular favourite is Ichiki Kuri - resembles a small pumpkin but very fine, sweet flesh and quite prolific.

[mumofstig]

Uchiki Kuri is one I grow each year - as well as Thelma Sanders, both are very reliable......... they are medium sized, not huge monsters 

[allotmentann]

I grow lots of different varieties of culinary pumpkins. Some are much, much better than others flavour wise

I use some for mashing, some for rice dishes, some for baking, one specifically for jam, and  the ones that keep their shape for curry and stew or roasting round the meat. It's no good using a masher for a curry. Horses for courses an all that 

So I would disagree, they are not all the same    The supermarket is offering a wider range to meet the demands of keen cooks, I assume.   I expect that like me there are folks who despair that pumpkins only appear at Halloween and all the flesh gets chucked 

I too would like to know which ones you grow please Compostqueen as I am on the look out for varieties to grow next year. I have bought Uchiki Kuri seeds already based on recommendations by Mos and Trillium. Are there any that taste good but don't need a hack saw to get into them? I have grown lots of Hooligans this year, I love them. Very potatoey, but nightmare to get at the flesh.

[mumofstig]

They need to grow hard skins for storage, even courgette skin gets harder with storage.

The thinner skinned ones just don't store very well - they're the ones called summer squash simply because that's when you have to eat them

Try Golden Nugget - it's a fairly small sweet squash you can eat as soon as it's orange when the skin is still fairly soft - but again it will harden if you try to store it. It's bushy rather than a huge trailing vine so good for smaller plots

[compostqueen]

I roasted a Winter Festival for tea yesterday with a host of other veg but I singled it out for a taste test following this conversation. I have to say it was very good indeed.  I like this one cubed in rice dishes too

Uchiki kuri is a good one, stores well and makes good eating

Some are indifferent so I don't bother with them except for one which is only good really for making jam or feeding to sheep and that's Jaune Gros de Paris. The resultant "marmalade" is bright golden yellow 

I always grow Crown Prince, fab for curry as it holds its shape and keeps well.  Baby Bear is a good one - it's sweet and you can roast its naked seeds.  New England Pie is another fave.  Thelma Sanders is beautiful to behold, prolific and makes ok eating if a tad bland for me. A belter for me is Muscade Provence - good all-rounder this one and it keeps

The slicing of them is difficult so you need a good axe. I use a Chinese type cleaver and a tea towel to protect my hand.  I cut them into smaller chunks then use a potato peeler to remove the flesh, or you can go down the whole side of them with a very sharp knife but this doesn't work very well if they're grooved as many of them are

[Trillium]

Jaune Gros de Paris. The resultant "marmalade" is bright golden yellow 

Wow, that must be a sight to behold, dotted around the fields   

For cutting winter squash, I went through my supply of large knives and found a handled one that does the job well. Always used a cutting board as the blade will come down hard, but once you get going, you find a rhythm to getting the hard skin off.

Easiest way is to simply slice the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, place flesh side down on greased baking trays and bake for about 30-45 minutes. Then it's dead easy to scoop out the baked flesh for whatever recipe you want.