Precision Pumpkin Carving

Step 2 Pick a good pumpkin

It is very important, both for good results and for keeping your blood pressure down, to pick good carving pumpkins.

For starters, find pumpkins that are as fresh as possible. Picked from your own garden is ideal. If you go to a store, look for green, wet stems and not brown, dry ones. Avoid pumpkins with bits of white mold around the edge of the stem. Older pumpkins will still work, but sometimes they hold nasty surprises...

Second, look for a pumpkin that has as smooth a surface as possible. Deep trenches will not do! A flat pumpkin is a hundred times easier to transfer a pattern to, and follow the pattern while carving.

The pumpkin should never, ever, ever be soft. A soft pumpkin is a rotting pumpkin and you'll never get good results from it. Rap on the outside with your knuckles, it should make a nice hollow sound. Feel the entire surface for soft bits.

If possible, avoid pumpkins with severe blemishes on the surface. A few spots of brown here and there are fine, but will make your pumpkin harder to carve.  A lot of spots will make the transferred pattern difficult to see.

Lastly, if you have a particular pattern in mind that you'd like to carve, make sure you choose a pumpkin that is the right size for it! Some patterns are tall and others are wide, so pick a pumpkin that matches.

Comments

[Erik Lindemann]

I might also add: avoid pumpkin/spaghetti squash hybrids. My local pumpkin patch surprised us by putting these out instead of regular ones, and they're a royal pain to scoop/carve.

[jeff-o]

That's an excellent tip. I should also recommend you avoid smaller pumpkins meant for pie, the innards are also harder and messier to scoop.