Gritty Pumpkin

I made pumpkin pies a few days ago, using my mother's recipe which calls for pumpkin puree. I bought canned Libby's pumpkin, which I have used for years. The added spices were nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves ginger and allspice. The pies turned out OK, except they have a slightly "gritty" texture. Not lumpy, but actually a gritty sensation when chewing. My husband claims he doesn't notice it but I certainly do.

I initially thought it was one of the spices, then went to google "gritty pumpkin pie" and found quite a bit of complaints about this. Apparently Libby's pumpkin has a lot of complaints, as well as Costco pre-made pies, and some store brands of pumpkin. This is not canned "pumpkin pie filling," but plain canned pumpkin.

I'm going to buy some more canned pumpkin and taste it before I make my next pie, to see if the gritty texture is present before spices are added. Some online complaints say that their pumpkin muffins, etc. also have the gritty texture. Maybe I'll switch to sweet potato pies.

Anyone ever experienced gritty pumpkin??

 

We grew up on sweet potato pie. I tried a store bought pumpkin pie before thinking it was just as good as the sweet potato and it wasn't. I didn't like the texture. It was too light and I thought it was healthy. I'm not good with healthy foods.

 

We always buy the big Costco pumpkin pies this time of year. I’ve not noticed any issues, maybe it’s a regional thing?

 

Concerning gritty pumpkin, drop the g in gritty, replace it with an s, and that is my opinion of pumpkin pie. Forget the cloves in any pie, that stuff is horrid.

Possibly worse, but fiber texture more than gritty, is Hubbard squash pie. That was my families favorite since Hubbard squash loved growing in high elevation. One of my great aunts argued that squash was at the first Thanksgiving, not pumpkin. That never seemed like a topic worthy of my study or debate.

I am with @Von Jones. Bring on the sweet potato pie. Back in my days of flashing pearly whites, top that sweet spud pie with salted candied toasted pecans and I was happier than an opossum in a persimmon tree.

 

I love a good pumpkin pie; nothing says "holidays" to me like a pumpkin pie. My mother loved pecan pie but I'd always pick the nuts off and leave that sugary filling stuff.

But back to the grit... Some people believe that a small amount of pumpkin seeds are getting processed in with the puree, which likely happens occasionally. I initially thought it had to be one of the spices I added making the gritty "tooth-feel", but who knows. It will probably be a year before I decide to make another pumpkin pie.

@Thomas Windom , I have no idea about whether the problem is regional or if some people simply don't notice. My husband still says he doesn't think the pies I made taste gritty at all; he can't figure out what I'm talking about.

@Von Jones --I love sweet potato pie, but to me it tastes almost the same as pumpkin. I guess my mother used similar spices in both.

@Faye Fox --many people substitute winter squash for pumpkin in pies. Since pumpkin is technically a squash it's not much different.

 

@Beth Gallagher You hit the nail on the head, IMO. with, "the spices is what gives a pumpkin, sweet potato or squash pie its flavor." Maybe the cinnamon you used gave it the gritty feel. Not all cinnamon is ground equal. I have bought some that was a courser grind.

All I add to my sweet potato pie is cinnamon, butter, salt, and brown sugar.

 

Interesting. I never noticed any gritty taste in the pumpkin pies I made. I use Libby too. I made two pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and everyone thought they were good. Not a crumb left on the plates and some wanted a piece to take home. And there may be some people that may think my pumpkin pies are blah, or bland because I don’t put any pumpkin pie spice mix in mine. I hate the taste of cloves and nutmeg. I bake for me and my husband’s taste; not my guests, ha. I usually only add the cinnamon and a dash ginger. I top the slices of pie with fresh whipped cream.

Could it be the sugar; different brand then you use normally? Like someone else said, maybe it’s regional. Maybe your taste buds are off too??

 

We grow New England Pie pumpkins and other pumpkins as well, but the NE Pie, also known as Sugar Pie, seems to be the best. I doubt the commercial growers use this old variety. We grew Gerber Squash ( a patented variety we got from a farmer who grew for Gerber Baby Foods) when we lived in North Carolina, and it was good as well. We cannot grow sweet potatoes here as yet, but people keep trying.
Other pumpkins and squash are used for other purposes.

 

I used the same brand of sugar as always. This isn't really a "taste buds" thing but more of a texture issue. The taste is fine; it just has a weird texture (to me but not to my husband. )

 

Darn it! I wanted to read that it felt gritty to you and your husband agreed hahaha. I hate to read about domestic differences.

 

It seems that all my senses are more "finely-tuned" than my husband's. I smell things he doesn't smell, hear things he doesn't hear, etc. Women just excel at this stuff.

 

My wife has a better sense of smell. I have much better hearing, in some ways. We can be downstairs blasting on metal music and I will hear one of our kitties meowing upstairs while my wife hears nothing. She knows I hear it because I stop the music and we talk cat back and forth for a while. However, my wife is better at understanding spoken words in a high ambient noise environment. I’m hopeless. I hear the sounds fine, just can’t unjumble them, been that way most of my life.

 

My husband's hearing seems to be getting worse. He wears headphones for watching TV so he doesn't blast me (and the neighbors) with the volume. I told him he probably needs to see an ENT for a good ear cleaning.

 

Or visit the fountain of youth for new ears. …sigh…