Homemade Pumpkin Seeds – How to Prepare Select and Store

Preparing homemade pumpkin seeds is not difficult at all. They can be hulled, processed into ground meal and butter, blended into milk, and cold-pressed for natural oil extraction. When they are in season prepping these little nutritional powerhouses at home for cooking are a great alternative to the store bought kind.

How to Prepare

Cleaning

• Clean out the inside of the pumpkin and place the pulp and seeds in a large bowl.
• Rinse the seeds and pulp under cold running water.
• Separate and remove as much of the pulp as possible by rubbing the seeds between your fingers.
• Rinse and repeat
• Fill the bowl with water, the seeds will float to the top, remove any remaining pulp.
• Rinse in a colander

Drying

• Place rinsed pumpkin seeds on paper towels and blot dry. Remove any remaining pulp.
• Spread cleaned pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet evenly (no overlapping).
• Put the sheet in a cool dry place.
• Turn them every few days so they dry evenly on both sides. Allow least 4 weeks.
• Remove the dried pumpkin seeds and save them in an air-tight container and refrigerate until use.
• *Please note this can be accomplished using a dehydrator at 115 to 120 degrees F for 1 to 2 hours, or in an oven set to warm for 3 to 4 hours.

Hulled or Shelled

Hulling Boiled Seeds

• Boil seeds in salted water for 10 minutes.
• Drain seeds in colander, wait until they have cooled.
• Take your thumb and forefinger and place individual seeds between them, pinch until the peptia pops out of the hull.

Hulling Roasted Seeds

• Spread seeds thinly on a baking sheet.
• Cook in a preheated 250 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, Cool fully when done.
• Spread the seeds out evenly on a sheet of wax or parchment paper. Place a second sheet on top.
• Slowly push a rolling-pin over the covered seeds, apply enough pressure to crack the hulls.
• Fill a bowl with water, place seeds in water and stir. The cracked hulls float to the top while the seeds sink.
• Skim hulls from the water with a small strainer, then pour the seeds into a colander and drain water.
• Pick out any remaining hulls.
• Blot dry with paper towel.

Oil

If you want to make pumpkin seed oil at home it will be necessary to use either a cold pressed oil extraction machine or a manual hand crank version. These units range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars for the commercial grade units. Typically 500 grams of seeds yield 160 grams of oil.

Selecting

Pumpkin seeds and pepitas are generally available locally and in small packages ready for consumption. If you buy at a bulk food store ensure the bins are clean and the seeds give off a fresh scent and not a rancid, oily, grassy or musty one. Inspect for moisture and insect damage and that they are not shriveled.

Organic vs Regular

Organic pumpkins are grown with the healthy advantage of naturally occurring chemicals and pesticides; if the product is certified organic it indicates that it doesn’t contain the harmful by-products that may be present in regularly farmed vegetables. As a consumer you typically pay a bit more for bio-friendly produce.

What are Pepitas?

What are pepitas you might ask, are they simply pumpkin seeds?

Yes they are, however pepitas (which mean “little seeds of squash” in Spanish) don’t have a shell and are found in only select pumpkin varieties. Generally, what you dig out of most types are just basic seeds with shells and all. If you hulled or shelled them you’d find a small seed, or pepita inside. Some of the varieties that yield the shell-less pepitas are Austria Oil, and Gleisdorfer Naked Seeded Pumpkin. You'll find most grocery and bulk food stores sell pepitas raw and roasted.

How to Store Pumpkin Seeds

Do pumpkin seeds go bad? Eventually they will, how long that takes depends on how they were prepared and how they are being stored. For freshness and shelf life they should be saved in sealed containers and refrigerated. While they may stay edible for several months, the seeds may lose some of their peak freshness after about 6-8 weeks.