I just bought a dozen pumpkins. I love roasting the seeds. Now I have 12 hollow gourds and only half have been claimed by the neighbor kids. So I got to thinking about pumpkin pie. I LOVE pumpkin pie, but have only had it out of a can.
How best would I use these orbs to make my favorite desert? I assume it gets mashed up at some point like mashed potatoes, but need start to finish ideas to get this happening.
I tried scooping out an uncooked pumpkin to make soup once, and it was rock hard. I finally had good luck with it by just chopping it in half from top to bottom, then baking those halves inside-pointing-up on a metal baking sheet in the oven. I can’t recall how long - try something like 300-350 degrees, and keep checking in on it to see how it’s doing. Once it feels pretty soft and squishy when you poke it with a fork, it’s probably done. Let the halves cool down, then scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
The shells must be peeled of course, then cut into pieces and steamed or simmered gently until softened. Or the unpeeled shells can be baked as other squash are, with a pan of water, and the cooked flesh scooped out. With either method you puree the cooked pumpkin, and from there on proceed with the pie recipes as usual. It’s not hard, just labor intensive. I’ve done it a few times, just to know how, but as much as I love do it myself baking, it’s way easier to use the canned pumpkin.
I will add a disclaimer that I have never tried pumpkin pie, but I really can’t imagine anything worse. Pumpkin and whipped cream? 
My suggestion is not to bother. My family is famous for our pumpkin pies, and we tried it with fresh pumpkin one year. Nasty. Pumpkins you buy are not grown to be edible.
Well, it’s pumpkin with a lot of sugar and “dessert” spices, you know. It’s not really like eating a pie made out of a big orange squash. When you look at it that way, it is kinda wierd.
But I don’t eat mine with whipped cream.
Mmm, pumpkin pie. It tastes like good chai to me, honestly.
First off a pie pumpkin and a jack-o-lantern pumpkin are not the same thing. Pie pumpkins are smaller, and taste better.
As far as prep goes, you can cut the bad boy up and bake it, boil it, or steam it until tender. Then scrape the insides off the skin. If boiled or steamed, it will have to drain for several hours to get all the excess water out. A cheese cloth lined collander will do for this. Then puree it and off to the races you go.
One the other hand, there are just some things that Libby flat does better than you or I.
I’ve made pies from whole pumpkins, and from a can. No taste difference, and boy oh boy is the can easier.
This sounds like too much work. (Coming from a guy that lives to cook stuff). Sounds like I’m best off using the canned stuff and enjoying my seeds.
Thanks for the effort everyone. Was fun while it lasted. 
I tried it once with my daughter’s jack-o-lantern. If the pumpkin isn’t a pie pumpkin, the cooked “meat” of the pumpkin is often stringy. I concur with everybody else…used canned. If you look at the ingredients on the can, it’s just pumpkin and water.
You poor, poor, deprived, unenlightened soul. I weep for you.
See? I’m weeping.
Even bland store-bought pumpkin pie is divine. I’ve gone through two in the past month.
Mmmmm…pumpkin pie.
I’m flashing on Peppermint Patty with a whole pumpkin, an ex Jack-o-Lantern, in a frying pan, calling “Chuck” on the phone asking about how to make a pumpkin pie. Who’s got a link to the cartoon?
dammit…it’s like listening to …nevermind
pumpkin pie is simply a spicy custard in a pie shell.
You scrape out the meat in the pumpkin and either steam it or bake it in a pan until it gets soft.
Using a combination of ginger, cinnamon, sugar, eggs, and I’ll give you the rest if you really want it. You make a spicy custard with the pumpkin filling and put it in a flaky crust. It’s not real sweet and you DO NOT put ice cream or whipped cream on a custard pie.
My lord…what is the world coming to. The next thing you know they’re gonna start putting merengue (sp?) on a damned pecan pie.
You have GOT to use small pumpkins. The bigger the beef the tougher the meat. 
Yer all crazy.
Cut up the 'kin, and boil it with the skin ON. Rinse under cool water and you can rip the skin off with your bare hands, then pulp it, measure it out 2 cups at a time into baggies, and freeze it. I find it tastes much different than canned stuff.
My understanding is you have to use “sugar pumpkins” to make pie – a sweeter, smaller variety than the jack-o-lantern variety.
That said, you should be aware that pumpkins are the Devil’s Vegetable!
I’ll second everything Rick said. I’ve made pumpkin pies both ways, and you can’t tell the difference. Not only that, but making pies out of plain ol’ jack-o-lantern pumpkins as opposed to pie pumpkins is not only a big ol’ hassle (there’s not nearly as much “meat” on them), they don’t taste as good as pie pumpkins.
My suggestion? Take the leftover pumpkins and use 'em to decorate your house for halloween, then throw 'em in the compost pile when you’re done.
That’s my understanding as well. Carving pumpkins are grown for size, not taste.
Putting down the piece of pumpkin bread to type this response…
Go with canned. It is much easier. Like others have posted, I too once tried to be a Martha and make a pie from scratch. I used the correct pie pumpkins, baked them, etc. While it looked beautiful, I had a hard time eating the pie knowing how much time and energy went into making it.
The only other time I puree’d pumpkin is when I made pumpkin soup, which actually was very good.
Why is it though that all things pumpkin quit being desirable around December 27th?
It’s good. Very similar to sweet potato pie or lima bean pie.
They’re not grown to be eaten, but they are certainly edible.
Here’s a link to the pumpkins in the Burpee seed catalog. If you click on the various pumpkins, you’ll see that some of the descriptions emphasize the decorative properties, and some the taste. And a couple are supposed to be good for both.