What Should I Look for When Buying a Pumpkin?

Firmness

• When selecting a pumpkin from your garden, the grocery store or a pumpkin patch for carving, you want it to be firm. Examine the entire pumpkin for soft spots. Test the bottom of pumpkin for flexibility by pressing on it with your thumbs. If the walls give in, the pumpkin is not fresh. Soft or flexible spots will rot.

Stems

• Pumpkins with stems still intact will last longer than pumpkins without stems. Although you want to pick out a pumpkin with a stem, you never want to carry the squash by the stem. This might result in the breakage. Also, look for a pumpkin with a green stem. The green stem signifies that the pumpkin was recently harvested and fresh.

Hollow Sound

• When picking a pumpkin from a home garden or pumpkin patch, knock on the pumpkin as if it's a door. If it makes a hollow sound, it's ripe and ready to be plucked. If you receive a muffled sound, continue your search for the perfect pumpkin.

Color

• Choose a pumpkin that is completely orange in color. Partially green pumpkins are not fully ripe yet. If you pick a green pumpkin, it may not completely ripen and turn orange. Also, look for pumpkins with a dark orange color. While pumpkins that are lighter shades of orange tend to be easier to carve, their skin is not as hard as the darker pumpkins. This means they won't last as long.

Flat Bottoms

• Before taking a pumpkin home, set it on a flat surface. You want the pumpkin to have a flat bottom. This makes carving the pumpkin easier. It also means that once carved, the jack-o-lantern will be more stable when displayed.

Other Tips

• Stay away from pumpkins with wrinkles, cuts or mold growing on them. These pumpkins are damaged or already beginning to spoil. A ripe pumpkin should feel heavy for its size when picked up. Look for pumpkins surrounded by yellowish green leaves when purchasing a pumpkin from a patch. This will lead you to pumpkins ready to be picked.