Things I Didn't Know: I've Been Carving Pumpkins Wrong

I have never particularly enjoyed cleaning out pumpkins. I don't mind carving them. It's the part where you stick your hand deep inside a cold pumpkin and pull out handfuls of slippery seeds and stringy orange goo that I could do without. I've been doing it that way for years because I assumed there wasn't another option.

Apparently, there is. And it involves a kitchen mixer.

I recently read an article in Good Housekeeping featuring Michael Natiello, creative director of the Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze in New York, where thousands of illuminated pumpkins are displayed each fall. I figured someone responsible for that many jack-o'-lanterns probably knows a thing or two about carving them.

For starters, I've been cutting the wrong end off the pumpkin. Like most people, I've always cut a circle around the stem, lifted off the lid, and gone to work. Natiello recommends cutting a hole in the bottom instead. That way, the stem stays intact, the pumpkin maintains its shape, and you can simply lower the finished jack-o'-lantern over a light.

That makes sense. I wish someone had mentioned it about 60 years ago.

I spent years teaching students about the history of Halloween, including the Irish tradition of carving turnips before pumpkins became popular in America. Apparently, I knew considerably more about the history of jack-o'-lanterns than I did about actually making one.

But the real revelation was the mixer.

The article led me to a short YouTube video demonstrating how to use a hand mixer with a single beater attachment to clean out a pumpkin. Instead of reaching inside and scraping around with a spoon, you insert the beater into the pumpkin and let the mixer loosen the seeds and stringy pulp. Then you scoop everything out.

I watched the video, which was only about a minute long, and immediately showed it to my husband.

I don't know who first looked at a pumpkin and thought, "This needs a kitchen appliance," but I appreciate the ingenuity. I also wonder how much explaining was required when the mixer came back into the kitchen.

Professional carvers thin the inside wall of the pumpkin where they plan to carve. A thick pumpkin wall makes it harder to cut detailed designs, particularly when you're trying to produce something more ambitious than the traditional triangle eyes and crooked grin.

I've always blamed my carving skills when a pumpkin face turned out looking slightly deranged. It hadn't occurred to me that the thickness of the pumpkin might be partly responsible.

Then there's the problem of keeping a jack-o'-lantern looking respectable for more than a couple of days. Once you cut into a pumpkin, the exposed surfaces begin drying out. One suggestion in the article was to apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, to the exposed flesh to help retain moisture. Keeping the pumpkin cool can also extend its life. Eventually, though, the pumpkin is going to do what pumpkins do. Rot.

I was so impressed with the mixer idea that over the weekend I wanted to go get a pumpkin and try it out with my granddaughter. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.

I hadn't forgotten about it, though. When I went to Safeway on Sunday, I made a point of looking for pumpkins.

I haven't actually tried the mixer trick yet, so I can't say whether it works as well as it did in the video. But I'm willing to find out.

If the mixer works, my granddaughter and I may start a new Halloween tradition. One that doesn't involve me being elbow-deep in pumpkin guts.