How To Can Pumpkin Step-By-Step - Lady Lee's Home

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In this post, we will learn how to can pumpkin. Pumpkins are a low acid food so we will have to use a pressure canner, but don’t let it scare you! I’ll show you step-by-step how easy it is to can your pumpkins using a pressure canner so you can enjoy your harvest (or the pumpkins you got throughout the season) year-round.

I love canning. It’s definitely a process but I love that I can preserve something in a way that I am not dependent on electricity to keep it. I think jars of homemade canned food are a beautiful thing to look at, but what I love most of all about canning is that there is no need to remember ahead of time to thaw the food. It’s just there on the shelf waiting for you to use it.

But, to be honest, my least favorite thing to can are vegetables. I like my vegetables firm and crunchy and fresh, but, most of the time, the canning process involves cooking them and they turn mushy and/or soft. Not my favorite texture when it comes to vegetables. However, with pumpkins (or tomato sauce, for example) it doesn’t really matter since I most likely am going to use what I can to make a puree.

How to Can Pumpkin…

BUT! We can’t can pumpkin puree (we can freeze pumpkin puree but not can it). The National Center for Home Food Preservation states that “only pressure canning methods are recommended for canning cubed pumpkin”. This is honestly not a big deal because the cubed pumpkin inside the jars is going to be soft, so when you want to use it you just get the cubes out of the jar and mash them to make a puree. Super simple.

Table of Contents

• What Kinds of Pumpkins Can We Can at Home?
• Kitchen Tools…
• How to Can Pumpkin Step By Step…
• Storing Home-Canned Pumpkin Jars…
• How to Use Home Canned Pumpkin…
• Frequently Asked Questions…
• More Pressure Canning Tutorials…

What Kinds of Pumpkins Can We Can at Home?

All of them! Let’s get one thing clear… You won’t hear me telling you to use this kind or that kind of pumpkin. I honestly don’t care if my pumpkins are pie pumpkins or a cheap carving pumpkin. I love them all! A pumpkin is a pumpkin and I turn red when someone tells me that they tossed their pumpkin because it wasn’t a pie pumpkin.

• Pie pumpkin – these are the smaller pumpkins that we find at the grocery store during the fall. It’s denser and has fewer seeds. Usually, it’s the recommended pumpkin for baking.
• Jack-O-Lantern pumpkin – these are the larger pumpkins that we see at the stores during the holiday season. Their flesh is not as dense as the flesh of the pie pumpkin and they are usually sold for carving and decoration but again, I have used them plenty of times for cooking or baking.
• All the rest – if you’ve ever flipped through a seed catalog, you know that there are a million varieties of pumpkins that you can grow in your home garden. If they are edible, they can be preserved by following this tutorial (just a note here, you should know that you can also follow this tutorial to can butternut squash).

Kitchen Tools…

• Large cutting board
• Knife
• Vegetable peeler
• Large pot
• Pressure canner
• Ladle
• Quart jars
• Lids and rings
• Paper towel
• Canning utensils

How to Can Pumpkin Step By Step…

Step one – prep the pumpkin for cooking. Start by inserting your knife at the top of the pumpkin and cutting around the stem to remove it…

Next, cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds. Pumpkin seeds are amazing so don’t throw them away! Check out my post about 15 amazing health benefits of pumpkin seeds, and check out how I roast my pumpkin seeds for a yummy fall snack or make a delicious pumpkin seed butter.

Now, use the vegetable peeler to remove the skin of the pumpkin. I am usually able to remove most of it before I start cutting the pumpkin into smaller pieces. As you cut it, keep peeling until you are able to remove all of the skin.

Step two – cook the pumpkin. Keep cutting and peeling until your pumpkin is cut down into 1” cubes. Now, add them to a pot and cover with water. Place your pot on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, let the pumpkin cook for 2 minutes. Then turn the heat off and remove the pot from the burner.

Step three – pack the jars. Wash your jars, lids and rings with hot water and dish soap (there is no need to sanitize them). Use the canning funnel and a ladle to fill the jars with the cubed pumpkin leaving about an inch of headspace.

Then fill the jar with the pumpkin cooking water leaving one-inch headspace. Next, use the bubble remover to remove air bubbles by scraping it along the inside of the jar.

Lastly, clean the rim of the jar with a damp paper towel, center the lid, and close the jar. Repeat this until all of your jars are ready for processing.

Step four – process the jars of pumpkin in the pressure canner. Fill your pressure canner with about 2-3” of water (I use a Presto canner. If you are using a different canner, make sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions). Set the canner on the stovetop and turn the heat to high. Bring the water to about 140 degrees F. Now, place the jars on the rack in the canner and close the lid.

At this point, keep the weight off of the vent. Let the heat build-up inside the canner until steam starts to escape from the vent. Let the canner vent steam for ten minutes.

After ten minutes of venting, place the weight on the vent and watch the gauge. Once it reaches 11 psi, adjust the stovetop heat to keep the pressure (if you are using a weighted gauge canner use the 10 lb weight). Process quart jars for 90 minutes and pint jars for 55 minutes. Remember to adjust the pressure according to the table below if you live above 1000 feet in elevation.

Once processing is done, turn off the heat and let the canner cool slowly back to room temperature (this may take a couple of hours). Once the dial shows 0 pressure, open the lid but don’t remove the jars just yet, let them stay in the hot water for about ten minutes. Then, use the jar lifter to remove the jars from the canner and set them on a kitchen towel on the counter to cool completely overnight.

Storing Home-Canned Pumpkin Jars…

Make sure that your jars have been sealed before you store them by pressing on the center of each jar. If there is no movement there it means that the jar is sealed and ready for storage. I usually remove the rings because they rust over time and make it hard to open the jar months later, and then wipe my jars. Store at room temperature in the pantry or a kitchen cabinet. Home-canned pumpkin should last up to 18 months on the shelf.

How to Use Home Canned Pumpkin…

Home canned pumpkin is soft and ready to be mashed and turn into a puree. You can use it to make any dish that calls for a pumpkin puree. Here are some favorites…

• Low Sugar Pumpkin Bread
• Pumpkin Cheesecake With Ginger Crust
• Mediterranean Pumpkin Soup
• Pumpkin Yellow Curry
• Find more ideas in my collection of 47 pumpkin recipes

Frequently Asked Questions…

Can I can pumpkin puree instead of cubes?

No, you can not. Puree can’t heat evenly and isn’t safe for canning at home. Always can cubed pumpkin.

Can I water bath my pumpkin instead of processing it in the pressure canner?

No. Pumpkin is a low acid food and the only safe and approved way of canning it is in the pressure canner since it can reach higher temperatures that will kill botulism spores.

How much pumpkin fits in a jar?

It’s hard to say exactly. It’s said that 16 pounds of pumpkin make 7 quart jars. I find that if I puree the cubes in one quart jar I get two cups of pumpkin puree. I hope that this gives you a little bit of an idea…

Do I have to boil the pumpkin before canning?

Yes, pumpkin is canned hot packed so you want to boil the cubed pumpkin for two minutes before packing the jars. This is called blanching and it helps to preserve the taste and color of the food.

During the pressure canning my jars lost some water and now the pumpkin is sticking out of the liquid, is that ok?

As long as your jars are sealed it’s ok if the pumpkin is not covered by water completely. It should last just as long on the shelf.

My canned pumpkin is brown… Why?

When pumpkin turns brown after processing it usually means that you processed it at a too-high temperature. The sugars in the pumpkin caramelized during the canning process. Your pumpkin is still good to eat, in fact, some people really like the taste of it caramelized.

Pumpkins are filling and healthy for us. You can easily can enough pumpkin to last you from one Fall to the other. I know that they are kind of a Fall thing, but I personally don’t see any reason not to make pumpkin bread for breakfast in February! I also add my pumpkin to many delicious soups throughout the year. I hope that this tutorial was helpful!

More Pressure Canning Tutorials…

• How to Can Milk
• Canning Pea Soup
• How to Can Peppers
• How to can Meat

Continue to Content

Ingredients

• One large pumpkin
• Water

Instructions

1. Prepare your pumpkin by removing the stem, peeling the pumpkin, and cutting it into one-inch cubes. Add the cubed pumpkin to a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let the pumpkin boil for two minutes.
2. Wash your jars, lids, and bands with hot water and soap. Add about two inches of water to your pressure canner (or follow manufacturer direction here), set it on the stovetop, turn the heat to high and bring the water to about 140 degrees F.
3. Use the canning funnel and a ladle to fill the jars with the hot cubed pumpkin. Next, scoop some of the hot water the pumpkin was cooking in and add to the jars, make sure to leave about an inch of headspace. Use the bubble remover to remove bubbles, use a damp paper towel to clean the rim of the jar, center the lid, and close the jar with the band finger tight.
4. Set the jars in the pressure canner and close the canner (make sure that the weight is not on the vent at this point). Pressure will start to build in the canner and steam will start to escape from the vent. Let the canner vent steam for 10 minutes. Set the weight on the vent and watch the dial. When it gets to 11 psi, adjust the stovetop temperature to keep the pressure at 11 psi (if you are using a weighted gauge canner, use the 10 pounds weight). Remember to adjust pressure if you live higher than 1000 feet in elevation (adjustment table in the notes below). Process quart jars for 90 minutes and pint jars for 55 minutes (processing time starts when the canner reaches the desired pressure).
5. Turn the stovetop heat off and let the canner cool back to room temperature slowly. This may take a couple of hours. When the dial shows 0 pressure, open the lid of the canner but don't remove the jars just yet. Let them stay in the hot water for 10 minutes or so. Use the jar lifter to remove the jars from the canner and set them on a kitchen towel on the counter to cool completely overnight.
6. Check that your jars have been sealed by pressing on the lid of each jar. If there is no movement there, it means that the jars are sealed and ready for storage. Remove the band (because it rusts over time and makes it hard to open the jar down the road), wipe the jars, and store at room temperature for up to 18 months.

Notes

Make sure to adjust pressure if you live above 1000 feet in elevation...

Frequently Asked Questions...

1. Can I can pumpkin puree instead of cubes? No, you can not. Puree can’t heat evenly and isn’t safe for canning at home. Always can cubed pumpkin.
2. Can I water bath my pumpkin instead of processing it in the pressure canner? No. Pumpkin is a low acid food and the only safe and approved way of canning it is in the pressure canner since it can reach higher temperatures that will kill botulism spores.
3. How much pumpkin fits in a jar? It’s hard to say exactly. It’s said that 16 pounds of pumpkin make 7 quart jars. I find that if I puree the cubes in one quart jar I get two cups of pumpkin puree. I hope that this gives you a little bit of an idea…
4. Do I have to boil the pumpkin before canning? Yes, pumpkin is canned hot packed so you want to boil the cubed pumpkin for two minutes before packing the jars. This is called blanching and it helps to preserve the taste and color of the food.
5. During the pressure canning my jars lost some water and now the pumpkin is sticking out of the liquid, is that ok? As long as your jars are sealed it’s ok if the pumpkin is not covered by water completely. It should last just as long on the shelf.
6. My canned pumpkin is brown… Why? When pumpkin turns brown after processing it usually means that you processed it at a too-high temperature. The sugars in the pumpkin caramelized during the canning process. Your pumpkin is still good to eat, in fact, some people really like the taste of it caramelized.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases (there is no change in product cost or charge to you! Thank you for helping me support the blog).

• Ball Mason Jar-32 oz. Clear Glass Wide Mouth - Set of 4
• Cuisinart 766-26 Chef's Classic 12-Quart Stockpot with Cover, Brushed Stainless
• Norpro Canning Essentials Boxed Set, 6 Piece Set
• Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 6Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 0g

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