Place pumpkin halves flat side down in a baking dish or on a jelly roll pan.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes. This will depend on the size of your pumpkin and oven temperature is a bit flexible. Ideally, you'll bake your pumpkin when you've already got your oven on for something else to save energy.
Use a knife to test for doneness. They should be quite soft. I often turn the oven off and leave the pumpkins in it to continue cooking in the residual heat.
Allow pumpkin to cool.
Scoop flesh out of shell with a spoon. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator. You can also freeze cooked pumpkin for future use. (It is NOT safe to can pumpkin, even if you use a pressure canner.)
Homemade pumpkin puree in the Instant Pot
Pour one cup of water into the inner pot. Set trivet in the inner pot and place pumpkin on top of it. Remove the pumpkin stem if needed so it doesn’t touch the inside of the lid.
Close the instant pot lid and lock pressure valve. Cook on manual high pressure for 13 minutes and then allow pressure to release naturally.
Remove the pumpkin from the Instant Pot -- it will be hot, so use caution. Place the cooked pumpkin on a plate and cut (or tear) in half. Scoop the seeds from the cooked flesh and feed them to your chickens. Scoop the remaining flesh from the pumpkin peel.
Mashing the pumpkin puree
Mashing the pumpkin pureeYou can mash the homemade pumpkin puree in a number of ways. The simplest is to use a potato masher or fork. Alternatively, use a food processor or immersion blender to puree the pumpkin to a smooth consistency.
Video
Notes
If you're using an heirloom pumpkin variety, scoop the seeds out before cooking so you can save them for replanting.The cooked pumpkin will be a bit more coarse than the canned variety. Mixing it into a recipe usually smooths it out sufficiently, but if you need a really fine puree you can pop it into a food processor, blender, or tackle it with a potato masher before you use it.Store in airtight container in refrigerator and use within a couple of days or freeze.