This step-by-step tutorial will teach you about Canning Pumpkin safely in a pressure cooker. Preserving pumpkins give you so many recipe options – pumpkin puree, pie filling, or even pumpkin butter.
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A few hours spent pumpkin canning will keep you out of the stores looking for those (always!) dented cans of pumpkin. Home-canned pumpkin cubes give you so many options for baking and cooking amazing dishes.
Can You can Pumpkin In a Water Bath?
Sadly, no. The density of pumpkin puree is too thick for the home canner to safely heat to the core and kill botulism spores. Yikes, just don’t go messing around with that.
Nor are you able to safely can pumpkin puree in a water bath or pressure canner. I’m sorry, these things are just not safe for the home canner.
If you’re not down with canning pumpkin cubes or don’t have a pressure canner, you can totally freeze pumpkin puree if you’d like. Make sure you use wide-mouth jars and don’t fill them too full. You can also freeze in these reusable silicone ziploc-style bags. or in 1-cup Souper Cubes.
If you already have your pressure canner out, you might consider canning beets, canning peas, canning potatoes, canning corn, canning chicken broth, or canning carrots, which are other recipes that cannot be safely preserved in a water bath canner.
Canning Pumpkin Supplies
Check out this in-depth post for a complete list of canning supplies.
You’ll need:
- Pumpkin (for best results, select those listed as “pie pumpkins”)
- Pressure Canner
- Large saucepan (I use my enameled dutch oven)
- Canning funnel
- Pint or quart canning jars (thrift stores are my favorite sources for these!)
- Slotted spoon
- New canning lids and clean rings
- Jar lifter
- Ball Blue Book of Home Preserving
- Cutting board
- Sharp chef’s knife and a paring knife
Pumpkin Canning – Step by Step
*I’ll walk you through it here with photos, and you’ll find a detailed and printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170 degrees F.
Wash your lids and set them aside in a clean place. You no longer need to simmer lids in water to keep them sterile. Woot!
Wash and dry the pumpkin and then cut it in half, slightly on one side of the stem. Remove the stem from the section that has it.
Remove the innards using a spoon. It’s ok to not get all the strings out of it; we’ll deal with it later. Pro tip: save the pumpkin seeds for making Pumpkin Seed Butter or White Cheddar Salted Pumpkin Seeds!
Lay one half of the pumpkin, cavity side down, and slice it like you’re slicing a melon. Repeat with the other half. Cutting it this way with the gooey side facing down prevents the pumpkin from sliding around, and keeps your fingers intact.
Place the slices onto a plate and microwave for 1 minute. This will soften the pumpkin to make the next step easier.
Using a paring knife, take one of the slices, cut the rind off of it, and then the inner side as well. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Repeat with the rest of the pumpkin.
Bring two pots of water to a boil. In one of the pots, add the pumpkin in batches and cook for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pumpkin and put them into warm and sanitized canning jars.
Use boiling water from the second pot and carefully ladle it over the pumpkin chunks, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Headspace is defined as the space between the top of the food and the top of the jar. Remove the bubbles from the jar (I use a plastic chopstick).
Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure it is free of any food.
Place a clean lid on the jar and tighten the ring to fingertip tight (tight enough that it won’t come off, but not so tight that the Hulk couldn’t budge it).
Lower your jars into the canner using a jar lifter. Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe (I call it the steam chimney). Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes.
Then put the pressure regulator (I call it the chimney cap) on top. Pretty soon, the air vent will pop up. That is a sign that you’re starting to build pressure inside the canner.
Pumpkin needs to be pressure canned at 11 pounds of pressure for 55 minutes (pints) and 90 minutes (quarts).
See the chart below for any changes to processing times.
When the dial gauge reaches 11 pounds of pressure, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at 11 or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cooking time. You’ll likely need to adjust the temp on the burner a few times depending on your stove.
When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping. Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid (Pro tip: I always use oven mitts when I take the lid off because the steam is crazy hot).
Let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs. Place jars on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed. You can reprocess them or store them in the fridge or freezer (only freeze jars that are wide-mouth).
Store in a cool dry place for up to 12 months.
How To Use Home-Canned Pumpkin
I use it in muffins, pumpkin bread, Pumpkin Spice Cookies, and Pumpkin Whipped Cream. In a pinch, you could use it in place of butternut squash in Spicy Vegan Butternut Squash Soup. For another savory option, try Baked Pumpkin Risotto.
If you would like to puree it for pumpkin butter, pie, or other baked goods, drain most of the liquid from the jar and puree. For ease, I just stick my immersion blender directly into the canning jar.
My preference is to do my pumpkin canning in pint-sized jars. The processing time is less compared with quarts, and once drained, a pint jar is about equivalent to a 15 oz can you’d buy in the store.
Canning Pumpkin Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- I have mentioned this a few times, but you must have a pressure canner to safely can these cubes of pumpkin.
- You may add spices or salt if you’d like, but doing so limits your choices on how to use it after it has been canned.
How to Can Pumpkin
Equipment
Instructions
- Wash and sanitize your jars. You’ll want to keep them warm to avoid having them crack when placed in the canner. You can fill them with hot water, or place them on a tray in the oven at 170 degrees F.
- Wash your lids with hot soapy water and place them in a clean bowl for now.
- Wash and dry the pumpkin and then cut it in half, slightly on one side of the stem. Remove the stem from the section that has it.1 small pie pumpkin
- Remove the innards using a spoon. It's ok to not get all the strings out of it; we'll deal with it later.
- Lay one half of the pumpkin, cavity side down, and slice it like you're slicing a melon. Repeat with the other half.
- Place the slices onto a plate and microwave for 1 minute. This will soften the pumpkin to make the next step easier.
- Using a paring knife, take one of the slices, and cut the rind off of it, and then the inner side as well. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Repeat with the rest of the pumpkin.
- Bring two pots of water to a boil. In one of the pots, add the pumpkin in batches and cook for 2 minutes.10 cups water
- Using a slotted spoon, remove the pumpkin and put them into warm and sanitized canning jars.
- Add 3 quarts of water to your pressure canner and put it on a burner set to high. Make sure there is a canning rack in the bottom of the canner.
- Use boiling water from the second pot and carefully ladle it over the pumpkin chunks, leaving 1 inch of headspace.
- Remove the bubbles from the jar (I use a plastic chopstick).
- Use a wet clean rag and wipe the rim of the jars to make sure it is free of any food.
- Place a clean lid on the jar and tighten the ring to fingertip tight.
- Using canning tongs, gently place the jars in the canner. Lock the lid. Soon, steam will start coming through the vent pipe.
- Allow the steam to pass through for about 10 minutes. Then put the pressure regulator on top. (see photos in post above to see this in action)
- Pumpkin needs to be pressure canned at 11 pounds of pressure for 55 minutes (pints) and 90 minutes (quarts).
- When the dial gauge reaches 11 pounds of pressure, reduce the burner temp to medium, and start your timer. The pressure must stay at 11 or (a little bit) above for the duration of the cook time. You’ll likely need to adjust the temp on the burner a few times depending on your stove.
- When the time is up, remove the canner from the burner and allow it to sit until you hear a distinctive “click” of the air vent dropping.
- Remove the pressure regulator and carefully remove the lid (Pro tip: I always use oven mitts when I take the lid off because the steam is crazy hot).
- Let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the canner and then lift them out with canning tongs. Place on a towel where they can sit undisturbed for 12 hours.
- After a few hours, to check for sealing, gently press down in the middle of the lid. If the lid has no give, it’s sealed. If you can press the lid in and it pops a bit, your jars are not sealed.
Notes
- Store in a cool dark place for up to 12 months.
- Save the seeds for making roasted pumpkin seeds.
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We ended up with five pumpkin from the family garden this past week. We don’t have a pressure cooker or canner. Instead we went with the freezer method. Thanks for the step-by-step instructions and photos!
Who-hoo! So glad it worked well for you Erin. And I’m certain that Davy added tons of value to the process…
I freeze our pumpkin mash in 1 cup lumps on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. The frozen lumps get tossed in a bag and off to the big freezer. By pre measuring them it is easy to take out the correct amount for the recipe. I used to do it in 2 cups measures because that was what I need for a pie but when I started making breads and cookies I needed different quantities.
I love that idea!!
Just listened to you on the Food Blogger Pro podcast. Good stuff. You site is awesome!
Hi and welcome Jill!
That’s great news! Thanks! I have about 17 squash from my CSA that I don’t know what do to with because my freezer is already full!
Hello –
I’ve been following this blog for some time. I am fairly new to canning and have only canned with a water bath. I have been considering purchasing a pressure canner for a bit. I have been reading on what can be canned and what cannot be canned, even with a pressure cooker. According to what I’ve read, you aren’t supposed to can pumpkin or squash. I’m now confused. From this post, it sound like you are able to can pumpkin squash as long as it is prepared as above and not puréed, correct?
Hi Rebecca,
According to the Univ of Georgia extension (kind of the grand poobahs in canning) and the book that came with my pressure canner both say you CAN can squash, but only in chunks and only with a pressure canner.
I want to plant pumpkins!! In Vegas they flower and then die 🙁
It wasn’t thaaat funny of a story 😉
Oh my. I cut into one pumpkin and I’m sweating. Can’t imagine doing all of this. I give you some serious credit.
The first pumpkin I thought “this won’t be so bad”. About halfway through the second one, I thought “I freaking hate pumpkins”!
lucky you to get so many pumpkins from three plants…my pumpkins did not fair so well and i only got two..but they got canned right along with and same as the blue hubbard squashes and the butternut squashes and the turbin squashes…good eating and lots of fiber.
What a GREAT idea! I’ve also got an idea for one of those pumpkins……every year, on Halloween, our family cleans one out and cooks dinner in it; ground meat, rice, mushroom soup, corn, and bake. Before serving, scrape the inside pumpkin off and mix all together…….FREAKIN YUMMY!