Hard work awaits us on the kitchen counter every autumn: a large, heavy fruit with a thick, firm skin. Almost every squash needs to be peeled, and some home cooks are put off by that. With a few tricks, the skin is quickly separated from the pulp.

Peeling pumpkins is a major feat for many

A pumpkin is not just a pumpkin

The gourd family is large and produces fruit of various shapes. Not every squash has to be freed from a hard shell before preparation. For example, the popular Hokkaido has a soft, edible skin. The equally popular butternut has a somewhat idiosyncratic shape that can be managed with a few tricks and tips when peeling.

Wash or wipe the bowl

Pumpkin fruits get heavy and mostly lie on the ground due to the weight as they grow. Before peeling, the whole fruit should be rubbed under running water with a vegetable brush.

Alternatively, very large, unwieldy fruits can be wiped with a damp cloth.

Remove the shell from the butternut

  1. Lay the butternut, as this squash is called in German, flat on a large cutting board and cut in half with a serrated knife. The lower, thicker part should be slightly larger.
  2. Now cut off both ends.
  3. Place the top half upright on the cutting board.
  4. Hold the butternut firmly with one hand as you use sawing motions to cut the shell off, working from top to bottom. This half consists only of fruit pulp and can be used completely for the preparation after peeling.
  5. Place the bottom half upright on the cutting board as well and divide into four.
  6. Remove the core casing.
  7. Line up each quarter and slice off the skin from top to bottom as previously described.

tips

You don't have to use a very large butternut all at once. A pumpkin half can be stored unpeeled in the refrigerator for a few days.

Peel round pumpkins

When peeling a round pumpkin fruit, you can proceed in different ways:

  • remove skin from whole squash
  • Peel the pumpkin wedges one at a time
  • peel baked pumpkin

The second variant is particularly useful when only part of the fruit is needed at a time. The rest can be stored unpeeled for a few more days.

Remove the skin from the whole squash

To peel a whole squash, you'll need a large cutting board and a large heavy knife or long serrated knife.

  • Decapitate the squash on both sides
  • Place the fruit cut-side up on a cutting board
  • Cut off the peel piece by piece from top to bottom
  • Move knife back and forth and apply pressure
  • keep it close to the fruit

Peel the narrow wedges of pumpkin

  1. Cut a straight piece from both sides of the fruit.
  2. Place the squash on a large wooden board and cut the portion you want to cook immediately into several wedges.
  3. Remove the core with a spoon.
  4. Using a vegetable peeler or a sharp knife, peel off the peel from each column one at a time.

Peel the baked squash

A peel that has been briefly heated in the oven can be easily removed from the pulp.

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Meanwhile, cut the squash in half and remove the core.
  3. Heat the pumpkin halves in the oven for a few minutes until the flesh has darkened slightly.
  4. Wait for the squash halves to cool, then peel off the skins.

Conclusion for fast readers:

  • Fruits: Are shaped differently; have a thick shell; need to be peeled
  • Exception: Hokkaido shell is soft and edible; does not have to be removed
  • Butternut: Halve in the middle; cut off ends; Peel halves separately
  • Tip: Half an unpeeled pumpkin can be stored in the fridge for a few days
  • Whole squash: cut off both ends; place cut side on cutting board
  • Whole pumpkin: Using a knife, peel the skin off all around, working from top to bottom
  • Pumpkin wedges: cut off ends; Cut the required part of the fruit into wedges
  • Pumpkin wedges: Peel the wedges one after the other with a vegetable peeler or a small, sharp knife
  • Baked Pumpkin: Halve and deseed; Bake at 180ºC until the flesh darkens
  • Baked Pumpkin: Let cool slightly; pull off the shell

Category:

Vegetable garden