Strain Your Canned Pumpkin Before Baking Or Suffer The Texture Consequences

One reason people often give for using canned pumpkin in preference to the home-cooked kind is because they fear the latter will be watery. Well, it seems canned pumpkin puree shouldn't be pointing any fingers (or tendrils), since it can be watery, too (especially the organic kind). Still, there's a workaround for this, which can also be used with homemade pumpkin puree: Just drain it (duh).

The low-effort method involves dumping the can into a fine-mesh strainer and letting it sit for a few hours over a bowl while gravity does all the work. However, if you're more hands-on, you can wrap it in paper towels or cheesecloth and squeeze it. (This method's a bit more wasteful since more pumpkin will stick to the wrapping material, plus you can't really re-use either the towels or cloth.) The reason why you want to lose as much moisture as possible is because excess liquid in the batter can make a cake dense or soggy and liable to sink in the middle while overly-moist cookies tend to be more cakey than chewy.

Another way you can rid your canned pumpkin of excess liquid while intensifying the flavor is to pre-cook it. Yes, it's already been steam-cooked as part of the canning process, but it may still have a somewhat raw taste and could also pick up some metallic flavors from the can. If you cook it, though, this will eliminate any of these flavors and reduce the amount of liquid without wasting a drop. First, open a can of pumpkin and put it in a pan along with any seasonings such as the ubiquitous pumpkin pie spice. Simmer it for about 6 to 8 minutes, at which point it should have cooked down to just a cup and a half in volume.

Yes, pre-cooking your pumpkin may add a few more minutes and an extra pot to wash, but it can make for extra-flavorful pumpkin pie and homemade pumpkin bread that's moist but not too heavy. If you're looking to expand your repertoire, you could also put it to use in single-serve pumpkin pie snack packs or pumpkin spice baked blintzes perfect for a Thanksgiving brunch.