I learned that the best pumpkins are the Fairytale type heirloom pumpkins. Much sweeter and a very pretty deep vermillion color inside. These photos are from last year. I was pointed to them by the Filipino produce man who said they are the ones that are used in his country and that they taste the best. He was right.

Eileen

I've never cooked a fairy tale pumpkin, but never had a bitter pumpkin. for "pumpkin" from scratch I cook squash, either hubbard, Marina del chiogia or even butternut.
But I mostly always use Libby's canned pumpkin and never had any of the "yuck" factor you describe....what brand did you use?

Like Lindac, I use Libby's canned pumpkin and don't understand the "yuck" either? It's unsweetened, of course, in the can so it won't taste like pumpkin pie until you've added sugar, eggs, spices, & condensed milk.

/tricia

Eileen,

I meant to mention how much I love that picture! I snagged it and used it on my desktop all last fall and even into the winter. Very nice shot.

/tricia

I also use canned pumpkin but a couple of years ago there was a "pumpkin shortage". That year I planted "sugar pie" pumpkins and canned them in chunks. Now I open a jar, drain them and mash them up. If I want a thicker puree, I drain in a strainer with cheesecloth for an hour or two. It's much lighter orange than the canned pumpkin, which I understand is actually squash anyway.

I've never had a bitter pumpkin, although I've had a few very tasteless and bland ones.

Annie

I have used Libby's brand canned pumpkin all my life, never had a problem with off tastes.

Nancy

The canned pumpkin doesn't have to taste good by itself. It will become good when baked with other ingredients

I did a side by side unseasoned tasting of the pumpkin I cooked and the Libby's from a can. The canned stuff tasted brackish for lack of a better word. Sugar, cream, and loads of spices cover a lot of sins apparently. The pumpkin I cooked tasted bright and fresh and a bit sweet.

I agree, butternut is a good substitute for pumpkin. The Lumina variety of white pumpkins is supposed to make good pies. I think any of them are better than canned unless it's canned Annie's. ;)

Thanks Tricia! I haven't seen any Fairytale pumpkins yet this year but I haven't really looked. Trader Joe always has them and I haven't been there in a few weeks. I'll probably cook two or three this year and freeze the puree.

Eileen

I've used the Libby's brand canned pumpkin before. It was thick but it wasn't bitter. I'm in NY so I've only found two types of pumpkin in the grocery stores. The carving pumpkins and the small baking pumpkins. I think i'll try Lindac's idea and try the pie with butternut squash. I've looked all over the internet and haven't found much regarding bitter pumpkins so I may have gotten a bad batch. Thanks everyone for your feedback :)

Libby's pumpkin isn't actually "pumpkin".

A lot of professional and home chefs swear by canned pumpkin for its convenience and consistent flavor and texture. But we recently learned something rather surprising about this pantry item...

It turns out that some canned pumpkin is actually - gasp! - squash. Some manufacturers make "pumpkin" puree from one or more kinds of winter squashes such as butternut, Hubbard, and Boston Marrow, which can be less stringy and richer in sweetness and color.

But before we start crying fraud, it is interesting to note the rather fuzzy distinction between pumpkins and squashes. There are three varieties of winter squashes: Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, and Curcubita moschata. C. pepo includes the gourds we traditionally think of as pumpkins, such as the kind used for jack-o'-lanterns. Hubbard and Boston Marrow squashes fall into the C. maxima category, while C. moschata includes butternut squashes as well as the Dickinson pumpkins used by Libby's, the producer of most of the canned pumpkin in North America.

I rarely use pumpkin for my "pumpkin" pies. I use banana squash.

barnmom - I also captured that brilliant shot you took of your Fairytale pumpkin and was glad to be reminded of it...soon to be resurrected on my desktop, as well.

seagrass

I've used the Libby's brand canned pumpkin before. It was thick but it wasn't bitter. I'm in NY so I've only found two types of pumpkin in the grocery stores. The carving pumpkins and the small baking pumpkins. I think i'll try Lindac's idea and try the pie with butternut squash. I've looked all over the internet and haven't found much regarding bitter pumpkins so I may have gotten a bad batch. Thanks everyone for your feedback :)

I've used the Libby's brand canned pumpkin before. It was thick but it wasn't bitter. I'm in NY so I've only found two types of pumpkin in the grocery stores. The carving pumpkins and the small baking pumpkins. I think i'll try Lindac's idea and try the pie with butternut squash. I've looked all over the internet and haven't found much regarding bitter pumpkins so I may have gotten a bad batch. Thanks everyone for your feedback :)

I love hubbard squash and I'll bet it is one of the main squashes they use in canned pumpkins. I rarely eat hubbard squash though because the darn things get so big! But of course that's what would make them great for the canned squash application!

Anyhow, back to the question at hand. Year before last I got a LOT of bitter squashes, and I couldn't figure out if I just got bad ones or what. After doing some research and I think I even posted here, I came to the conclusion that the bitterness was the result of drought. Even if they are watered some, drought can cause all kinds of bitterness in vegetables. I would not be surprised if bitter squashes will be common this fall due to the US drought in many of the squash growing places.

Here's an excerpt from a Cooperative Exension article on drought and squashes, and the link below that.

"A common problem found in zucchini squash (Cucurbita pepo) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is bitterness, and it can be very frustrating to gardeners who find the vegetables too bitter to eat! Both cucumber and zucchini are members of the Cucurbit family, which also includes pumpkins, melons, squash and gourds. All cucurbits produce a group of chemicals called cucurbitacins, which cause the vegetables to taste bitter; the higher the concentration of cucurbitacin, the more bitter the vegetable will taste. In commercially cultivated cucumbers and zucchini squash, the amount of cucurbitacin is in such a low concentration that it usually cannot be tasted and, aside from bitterness, this chemical does provide other attributes such as the musky scent of cantaloupe.

Mild bitterness is fairly common in cucumbers resulting from higher levels of cucurbitacin triggered by environmental stress, including high temperatures, wide temperature swings or too little water. Uneven watering practices (too wet followed by too dry), low soil fertility and low soil pH are also possible stress factors. Over-mature or improperly stored cucurbits may also develop a mild bitterness, although it is usually not severe enough to prevent gardeners from eating them."

Here is a link that might be useful: Bitterness in squash and cucumbers

Thank you -- I usually freeze batches of pumpkin and squash for baking. However, this Fall I had several batches of very bitter pumpkins. I think they might have been the gathered from the volunteer vines that grew in my flower beds and didn't get much water. I just hope I didn't include any more of them in the previous batches I have already frozen.