"I Just Found Out Canned Pumpkin Isn't Pumpkin At All, And My Whole Life is Basically a Lie"

[brooklynite]

My Recipes

Okay, I'll get to the point. I found out something extremely disappointing and concerning this week that has made me rethink most everything in my life, so I'd like to share a little PSA with the class:

Pumpkin puree is not pumpkin. It's squash.

Pumpkin puree: You know, the canned orange stuff that's lining the supermarket walls right now? The stuff you use to make all your favorite fall desserts that's labeled "100% pumpkin"?! Yes, well, it's actually made from 100% not pumpkin. The mix is made from a variety of winter squash (think butternut, Golden Delicious, Hubbard, and more). Libby's, the brand that produces about 85% of the country's canned "pumpkin" filling, has actually developed a certain variety of squash that they grow, package, and distribute to supermarkets across the country--all the while fooling innocent, trusting consumers into believing they're eating a pumpkin.

As it turns out, pumpkins can be fairly stringy and watery; certain varieties of winter squash make a richer, sweeter puree that works way better for packing the now-ambiguous flavor we all love into our favorite fall dishes. Additionally, the USDA is fairly lenient with gourd terminology in general, which is why it's perfectly legal to label a food product as "pumpkin" when, in reality, it's made from a different variety of squash. So it's all good now that there's an explanation, right? NO. It's not.

What I'm telling you is, you've basically been eating butternut squash pie, squash bread, and drinking SQUASH FREAKING SPICE LATTES this entire time.

[consider_this]

1. No wonder I hate it!

Betcha can't wait for the Kraft 'Pumpkin Spice' Mac n Cheese that is coming out soon. no lie!

[Sherman A1]

2. Nuthin' can be trusted anymore

just nuthin' .....................

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. A lot of Calamari isn't Squid.

It the same with Sea Scallops and Olive Oil.

It's outrageous!

[Beakybird]

12. Calamari is the new squid on the block.

[sweetloukillbot]

18. And Lobster

It's often langostino.

[northoftheborder]

4. Sorry, but I have never liked anything pumpkin flavored anyway!

[tblue37]

5. K&R. nt

[RainCaster]

6. What is the world coming to?

You have ruined pumpkins in a can for me.

[Wellstone ruled]

7. Libby makes both types of

canned Pumpkin. Real Pumpkin and Pumpkin Pie Filling which is Squash or squash pumpkin mix. Read the label.

[The Magistrate]

8. The 'Pumpkin Spice' Fad Gets Right Up My Left Nostril, Sir

The association of this sort of spice mixture with pumpkin pie, is a trifle. The spices employed were a standard usage of older cookery for meat and savory dishes, and remain so in the Middle East and other places, albeit often with the addition of some chilies now.

[Sentath]

21. Good old Powder Deuce

http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/douce.html

Or maybe Kitchen Pepper: https://savoringthepast.net/2017/02/02/kitchen-pepper-recipes/

[The Magistrate]

23. Thank You For The Links, My Friend

Some nice things there.

Tucked away somewhere I have a nineteenth century recipe for pork cake I occasionally threaten to try out....

[GoneOffShore]

42. I concur with your analysis.

[intrepidity]

9. I'm going to have to buy some now!

I love squash!

[fleabiscuit]

10. It may also contain a fly. nt

[BComplex]

15. LOL!!

No doubt.

[catbyte]

11. That's almost as bad as sawdust parmesan cheese. You can't trust anything anymore.

And I've tried using real pumpkin and it was always stringy or something. I could never get the texture right. Life sucks sometimes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Once upon a time, very long ago, I decided to make pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin.

I roasted it, cut it up, mashed the hell out of it, and like that.

Then I made it into a pumpkin pie.

It was good...........BUT it tasted just like the canned stuff!

So, ever since, I've used the canned whatever-it-is to make pumpkin pie. Nobody can tell the difference, plus IT'S A WHOLE LOT FASTER AND EASIER!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. I did that too, but it was a lot of work, and the result was stringy and watery.

The taste wasn't too bad but the texture wasn't right.

[dixiegrrrrl]

47. sweet potatoe pie is huge down here in the South land..

sweet potatoes steamed or baked, with a sauce of butter, brown sugar and a bit of orange juice, is heavenly.

The same for carrots.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

48. Blechh, I hate sweet potatoes. There's a heinous concoction that turns up

every Thanksgiving involving sweet potatoes, brown sugar and melted marshmallows. It's cloyingly sweet and inexplicably popular.

[LeftInTX]

54. I can tell the difference

Not crazy about sweet potato pie, but I will eat it. Always go for the pumpkin when available.

[dchill]

14. I'm okay with that, especially if...

"pumpkins can be fairly stringy and watery." Over a few decades of carving jack-o-lanterns, that's been my experience.

[Progressive dog]

16. The pumpkin pie taste is the spice blend

not the pumpkin itself. My mother in law made two "pumpkin" pies at every thanksgiving and Christmas. My father in law would not eat squash pie. The pies were both butternut squash, not from cans. The canned pumpkin has been squash for as long as I remember.

[BComplex]

17. Pumpkin pie is my favorite non-fruit pie.

Now it's ruined.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

38. Uh, hate to break it to you....

But pumpkins are a fruit.

[BComplex]

39. I thought pumpkins were a vegetable!

I'm really not well informed.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

40. Sorry.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181414295

[AmyStrange]

55. Well then, that makes tomatoes, cucumbers and green beans a fruit...

-

at least according to the following definition:

"According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 'Fruit, in its strict botanical sense, [is] the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant, enclosing the seed or seeds.' They also tend to grow from the flowers of the plants. That definition includes produce popularly thought of as fruit — including apples, bananas, and berries — but it also applies to beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives, avocados, and yes, pumpkin."

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/a21246075/is-pumpkin-a-fruit/
==========

[ret5hd]

19. NOT US!!! Every year after halloween we collect...

neighbors discarded pumpkins...flat white ones, knobby warty orange ones, regular ones, all different pumpkin varieties, sometimes 5 or 6 at a time in the dining room...

and we puree some, chunk some, freeze what we don't immediately cook. Pumpkin gets mixed into cakes, pastas, cookies, breads, pies, practically everything imaginable...all year long.

A 100% free source of vitamins, calories, and flavor. Think on that...100% free. We will be taking a walk through the neighborhood, see a pumpkin and ask:
"Hey! Can we take that?"
"Hell yeah, get it off my porch. Glad to be rid of it."
And we walk home with free food.

[halfulglas]

20. Not terribly surprised

One year when my kids were little I made pumpkin pie from one of the pumpkins we bought for decoration. It was so disappointing and didn't have a whole lot of flavor. So many of the processed food we buy, especially those marketed by the giant corporations have been adulterated over the years, but not just to make it taste better. Cost is the biggest factor with them. If you can get the same or "better" taste with less expensive ingredients that's the biggest driver for them.

But I forget what brand of pumpkin latte I had that left a very noticeable orange residue on the coffee cup sides and bottom.

[brooklynite]

28. Halloween pumpkins are.grown for color rather than flavor

For cooking, you want a pale “cheese pumpkin”

[central scrutinizer]

22. The big jack o lantern pumpkins are too stringy

There are varieties like Sugar Baby that make good pies. But butternut squash are the best.

[hunter]

24. Pumpkins are squash.

The pumpkins that go into cans happen to be longer and and lighter colored than decorative Halloween pumpkins.

Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are breed to look like jack-o-lanterns, not necessarily for eating or canning. Originally they were breed for their winter keeping properties, not as Halloween decorations. Other more flavorful squash varieties simply didn't keep as well.

Giant contest pumpkins are breed to be giants.

Pumpkin seed pumpkins are breed for fat seeds.

Pics of canning pumpkins here:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/your-pumpkin-pie-has-a-dark-secret-its-made-from-squash-1542731645

This is a false controversy.

Squash (Cucurbita) are native to the Andes and Mesoamerica and were domesticated thousands of years ago into many different varieties for many different purposes.

As is true of most long-domesticated plants it's difficult to discern the original phylogeny of the various named species.

[Wicked Blue]

25. It's still the best for dogs with diarrhea

That and lawn grass

[procon]

26. Pumpkins are a variety of squash.

Libby says their 100% Pure Pumpkin is made with only one ingredient⏤100% pumpkin and they exclusively use an heirloom variety, Select Dickinson Pumpkins, a strain of Pie Pumpkins.

You can make your own pumpkin puree using pie or sugar pumpkins which are in stores now. These pumpkins are different from the large field pumpkins, being smaller at about 3-4 lbs, and they are expressly for eating rather than decoration.

Cook a Whole Pumpkin - Instant Pot

A 4lb pie pumpkin will usually fit in a 6qt instant pot and yield about 2/3 cup puree per pound. One little pumpkin should be enough for 2 pies.

Put a cooking rack in the pot, the type with handles will be helpful lifting the cooked pumpkin out when its done. Place the pumpkin on the rack. Cut off the stem if necessary. Add 1 cup water to the pot. Lock the lid and set the pressure cooker to high and the timer for 12 minutes. Use the natural release.

Remove the pumpkin from the pot, it should be soft and fork tender. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds which you can roast for snacks. Scoop out the meat, cutting off any bits of peel. Place the pumpkin meat in a food processor and puree to a uniform consistency. Add a spoonful of water if needed. Use immediately for pies, cookies, muffins, cake or sweet bread. Can be frozen.

[relayerbob]

29. A - Not news, been known for a very long time. B - Pumpkin is a squash

[Paladin]

30. I give not a fuck.

Years ago I made an actual pumpkin pie, using actual pumpkin. It was nasty. Libby's and their 100% Pure Pumpkin in a can have by eternal devotion. Particularly around this time of year.

[jpak]

32. Here in Maine we have our local One-Pie brand canned pumpkin

Made from real pie pumpkins.

Finest kind

Yup

[Codeine]

33. Absolutely stupid article.

They’re all just different cultivars of winter squash. Same shit, different shapes and flavors.

[Sentath]

41. And they'll ALL crossbreed

Even the inedible ones

[whistler162]

34. At least it isn't Solyent Orange

[3catwoman3]

35. A Cook's Magazine from 1987 (which I...

...still have) has a suggestion for really tasty pumpkin pie filling - 2-4 TBSP of rum added to the mixture. The alcohol bakes off, of course, and leaves a subtle hint of the rum flavor - mmmm, mmmmm, good.

[MissB]

36. Sweet meat squash makes a good pie.

Love that variety. Roasted chunks as a side dish is simply sublime.

[applegrove]

37. And restaurant made plum sauce isn't made up of plums only. They add

canned pumpkin.

[GoneOffShore]

44. It would be very heavy if it was.

[applegrove]

46. They mix it with plum sauce.The pumpkins is not the biggest part of it.

Last edited Mon Oct 12, 2020, 01:26 PM - Edit history (2)

It just gives it mass and colour.

[GoneOffShore]

50. I was being a Spelling Freak and trying to make a heavy pun -

Plum vs plumb

Plum is only ever a noun (though it's a noun with adjectival tendencies). It's the fruit and the tree that fruit grows on (which, incidentally, is part of the rose family). ... Plumb as a noun refers to a lead weight that's attached to a line and used especially to indicate a vertical direction.

There's also the plombier in France who comes to fix leaks. Because they used to use lead - plumbum - for pipes.

[applegrove]

51. Oh my. My french immersion and dyslexia have me totally confused on how

to spell. LOL!

[GoneOffShore]

52. And now you fixed it! That means that my pun will sink.

[applegrove]

53. Ha!

[Maeve]

43. And none of the "world's largest pumpkins" are pumpkins, either

I'm from Circleville, Ohio, home (most years) of the Pumpkin Show and they are really big squashes as well. Hundreds of pounds of squash.
You want real pumpkin, buy a "pie pumpkin" at the store and make it yourself. And the spices are cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

[GoneOffShore]

45. You would enjoy the Fete des Courges that happen all around France in the autumn.

https://www.aixenprovencetourism.com/fr/fiche/38226/

[GulfCoast66]

49. Learned from my grandmother to make the perfect pumpkin pie. Throw out 2/3s of the pumpkin...

Replace with sweet potato.

[Phentex]

56. I feel like we go through this every year...

snopes has a version too.

Pumpkins are a type of squash so I'm not sure this is a big deal. The certain type of pumpkin that Libby's grows is still pumpkin.