Puumkin Leather

[aficion]

I was given a nice medium sized pumpkin. I have no dehydrator and wondered if I should try making pumpkin leather in my electric oven. Anyone tried this or similar? Any tips or other suggestions? tia.:)

[j2ponies]

Yes, you can dehydrate most anything in the electric oven. When I was growing up,my mother dried everything outside on a piece of metal roofing on legs, covered in cheesecloth. Wonderful foods. I dry things now in the oven. Asthmatics should not eat commercially dehydrated foods with sodium dioxide in them. It is a danger. Always check ingredients. Now, doing it ourselves we bypass all that. I liked the backpacking chef.com...He has wonderful recipes,info. Hope this helps..Happy dehydrating....

[Slo-go'en]

I would imagine all you have to do is run it through a food processor to make a slurry like is used for making pumpkin pie. Then spread that out thiny on a cookie sheet and dry it.

Sounds a bit vile to me, as I'm not a fan of Pumpkin...

[FarmerChef]

I would imagine all you have to do is run it through a food processor to make a slurry like is used for making pumpkin pie. Then spread that out thiny on a cookie sheet and dry it.

That's what I was thinking. Would you want to add sugar to it before doing this? I was trying to think of a way to make a no bake pumpkin pie on the trail. If you do this in the next few days, please post back what happened.

[Teacher & Snacktime]

I imagine baking a pumpkin pie on the trail is no big deal....just carry that 7lb cast iron dutch oven in your pack....

[tiptoe]

I'd roast the pumpkin first (cut in half, scoop out pulp and seeds, saving the latter to toast). Place halves cut side down on a lightly oiled cookie sheet at bake at 350 degrees until the pulp softens. Let cool and scoop out the flesh. This can be frozen for pumpkin pie or dehydrated into fruit leather that's delicious on the trail. Here is s link to one recipe; if you google you'll find more.
http://herbangardener.com/2010/03/14/homemade-pumpkin-pie-fruit-leather-2/

[Rocket Jones]

Add a little cinnamon, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice to the mix before you dehydrate it.

[j2ponies]

visit the backpacking chef.com. He has so many wonderful recipes.also has pumpkin pie, how to make the leathers, bark . He eats like a king~and healthy~on the trail. You'll love his food ideas. Unless this pumpkin is the only thing you're interested in. I'm interested in all things food..yum....

[wannahike]

Test your oven first to see how low you can keep the temp. You want to try to keep the oven around 135-150 degrees, preheat for a few minutes at lowest oven setting, turn off and then keep a close eye on it. Sometimes just the light in the oven is enough to keep the temp up. You need to stick something in the door to keep it slightly ajar so you have air circulation. I used to use a wooden spoon handle. Spread the pumpkin as thin as possible. Do cook it first because when you re-hydrate it is ready to use.

[j2ponies]

I agree,wanna hike , some say temps.of 120,some,135-150. I guess some foods need a little different degrees..Did you ever look up something you wanted to make and find so many different recipes of doing it?.. funny,huh...I agree that you should cook your pumpkin and flavor it the way you like,just like it was going to be put in the pie, then smooth the slurry on the cookie sheet and into the oven with the door ajar~~~When it is dry,you can use it on the trail to make the pie,or just to snack on as it is...good stuff...makes me want to go buy a pumpkin..Think I will..
I love this site. To share other's opinions and way of doing things..good tips and just plain fun ideas. Thanks,everyone...Happy Trails....