How-to
How to Pick a Pumpkin Worth Carving
The pumpkin you buy decides how the carving goes. What to check at the patch, how to prep it, and when to carve so it still looks good on Halloween night.
Half of a good jack-o’-lantern is decided before you pick up a knife. Here is what I check at the patch, and the two things I do to the pumpkin before carving anything.
Five minutes at the patch
1. Check the stem
Buy a pumpkin with its stem still attached. A pumpkin whose stem has snapped off dries out faster and will not last as long. Once you get it home, do not carry it by the stem either. They break.
2. Consider an odd shape
The perfectly round one is not always the best one. A lopsided or lumpy pumpkin gives a face character that a smooth sphere cannot, and the bumps often land somewhere useful. Worth a second look before you default to the tidy one.
3. Wash it before you carve
Pumpkins arrive carrying bacteria that get the rot started early. Wipe the outside down with antibacterial soap and let it dry before you cut anything. This is the cheapest minute you will spend on the whole project.
4. Get the right blade
A jack-o’-lantern carving kit runs a few dollars and has the right tools in it. If you are using a knife instead, pick a serrated one. The saw teeth get through a thick wall without you having to lean on it, which is where slips happen.
5. Time it
A carved pumpkin holds up for about a week before it starts going soft. Count back from the night you want it on the porch and carve then, rather than the first cold weekend in October. If you want to stretch that week, the keeping it alive guide covers the routine.
Then what
Once you have the pumpkin, the stencil method is the same whichever design you pick. Every set in the shop was carved on a real pumpkin before it went up.
