Lifestyle: roasting pumpkin seeds, part 2

Self-tutoring about autumn living: the tutor continues about roasting pumpkin seeds.

I mention roasting pumpkin seeds in my article from October 29, 2024. I roasted some more last Friday, with a similar approach, except for a couple of changes.

It was a busy day; one of its activities was cleaning out pumpkins to carve jack-o-lanterns. I decided, on the fly, to keep the pumpkin seeds then roast them. In my hurry, I got a plastic bowl and, cleaning the pumpkins on the lawn, transferred the seeds from inside the pumpkins to the bowl. (Thankfully, I didn’t get rained on.)

Next, I brought the bowl full of pumpkin seeds to the kitchen, dumped them into a colander, and washed them several times. Was it enough? I hoped so.

Our oven doesn’t work right now, so I turned on the barbecue. While it was warming to 350F I got out two plain, uncoated steel pans and applied cooking spray to them. Next I dumped the seeds into the pans, spread them around, and then applied both salt and seasoning salt. One person they were intended for eats low-fat vegan, so I didn’t add any oil beyond the non-stick spray. I wondered how the seeds would turn out given that difference.

When the barbecue said 350F I put the two pans of seeds in and closed the lid. The temp kept drifting up, so I had to keep reducing the heat. Once in a while – maybe every five to ten minutes – I would turn the seeds with a spatula. I lost track of time, but the seeds might have been in for twenty minutes or more. I kept watching for signs they were starting to burn, but they never did.

Eventually I turned the barbecue off, leaving the trays of seeds within.

I’m not the one who collected the seeds from the barbecue, but a couple of hours later I had some. They were nicely dried, not burned, and nicely salty.

The pumpkin seeds, in this case, never browned. Was that because they weren’t oiled? They tasted great, anyway…I’m not even the one who finished them:)