Pumpkin cleaning rules
Many housewives are wondering whether the pumpkin should be peeled before eating it. It all depends on the dish. If the fruit is baked or stewed, there is no need to peel. After heat treatment, the peel can be easily separated with a knife. If the pumpkin is to be used differently, there are several ways to clean it.
Pumpkin cleaning rules
Fruit preparation
Like any other vegetable, pumpkin is first cleaned of leaves, adhering earth and other debris. Then it is washed under running water. Examine the fetus for foci of decay, which will need to be removed with a knife. Dry with a towel or paper napkins.
Depending on the size, the pumpkin is cut in different ways:
- when cutting small fruits, it is important to consider the size of the vegetable. If the fruit is small, it will be enough to cut it into 2 halves without touching the stalk;
- if the autumn beauty impresses with its mass and volume and is not easy to cope with, then with a sharp knife it is necessary to cut off the top and bottom. After that, cut the fruit into wedges like a watermelon.
Cleaning the pumpkin from the inside
The next step is to remove the pumpkin pulp with seeds. This point is no less important, because it is impossible to cook a delicious dish without cleaning the vegetable from the inside. After the fruit is prepared and cut into halves, the core needs to be processed.
You can use a tablespoon for this. Gently clean the pulp threads along with the seeds. Some housewives carry out this procedure by hand. Try, perhaps this method will be more convenient for you.
Seeds do not have to be thrown away, regardless of the variety. You can wash them in a sieve, dry them and eat them. They are a source of valuable vitamins, zinc and other useful substances.
Peeling
We pass on to cleaning the sun fruit from the hard crust. The less time the fruit lay, the thinner and softer its rind.
If, when you press on the side of the vegetable, a slight dent remains, then there will be no problems with cleaning. If you feel that the peel is hard, tough, it means that such a pumpkin has been lying for a long time, but this does not mean that it has deteriorated and should not be eaten.
Thin-skinned pumpkin
Thin skin is easy to peel
If you are lucky and get a variety of fruit with a thin skin, then the half can be easily processed without cutting into pieces using a vegetable peeler. For convenience, the half can be divided into wedges and cut off the crust in short strokes from top to bottom. In this case, be sure to hold the fruit with your hand.
Tough-skinned pumpkin
If you come across a vegetable with a hard crust, it doesn't matter. There are several ways to peel a tough pumpkin. The most popular methods are:
- using the microwave. In the selected clean and dried pumpkin, make shallow cuts in the rind with a knife. Place the vegetable in the microwave. For the best effect, it can be pre-wrapped in cling film or put in a bag. If the fruit is large, it is better to cut it into pieces. At maximum power, you need to warm up the vegetable for 2-3 minutes.Then you can easily peel off the peel with a knife;
- in the oven. Cover the baking sheet with foil or parchment, if necessary, cut the vegetable, put it with a cut down and place in the oven. For a small fruit, 10 minutes at a temperature of 200 ° C will be enough. If the vegetable is larger, then to soften the skin, you need to hold it there for 15-20 minutes. The main thing is not to overexpose, otherwise you will get a baked pumpkin dish. When the fruit has cooled, you can easily cut off the softened rind with a knife.
Another way to clean
There is another known method for softening the crust - soaking the product in water. It is necessary to take the culture and place it in water at room temperature for several hours. After such manipulations, you can easily remove the pumpkin peel. But there is an opinion that when soaked, the pulp loses its aroma.
If your product is purchased, chances are good that a regular peeler can handle it. If the instrument is sharp and with a good handle, the process will not take you more than 5 minutes:
- cut the pumpkin and clean the cavity;
- put half of the fruit on the cut;
- peel the peel from top to bottom.
In order not to suffer from peeling the peel, first find out what kind of pumpkin your pumpkin belongs to. Having chosen the right option for removing the skin of a vegetable, you will do everything efficiently and quickly.
Storing peeled pumpkin
If you have not used up all the fruit at once, you can put the remaining, unpeeled pieces in the refrigerator. You do not need to remove the pulp with seeds. Due to this, you can extend the time of their use in food. The shelf life of a vegetable with this method is several days.
If there is already half of the pumpkin without a peel, you can put it in a cool place, but you do not need to wrap it in a film or put it in a bag, because this can lead to mold.
With this method of storage, the edges of the vegetable can lose moisture and become sluggish, but this is not a problem. This defect can be easily corrected with the same knife.
You can store the peeled pumpkin in a frozen state. To do this, it is enough to wrap the pieces of vegetable in foil or put in a bag.
To make any dish, the pieces do not need to be defrosted, it is enough to remove them from the freezer and immediately start the cooking process. This is very convenient, especially when the time for preparing a treat is limited.