2024 mutant winter squash

[Tormato]

today, i cooked da big one.

this squash was a 22 pounda. i think it was a cross between sweet fall that i grew
a coupla years ago with gills sugar hubbard. it looked like a torpedo, closer to sweet fall in
shape, but colored the same as the sugar hubbard, a shade of dull gray green with
brownish netting. had to bake it in two shifts due to size. 350 for an hour and a half, and
could have been longer. the stem end part was still firm in the middle, but the pyrex bottom
was starting to turn black. next batch will have more water in the pyrex before going in the oven.
the squash has a light golden orange color, on the dry side with a good earthy taste. sweet, but not
overly so.it is a very acceptable squash. early score is 7.5. sweet fall was like eating dessert, it was so sweet.
it makes me happy when something this size turns out to be good.
the interesting thing about this squash was it only had 42 mature seeds. there were a lot of ghost or aborted
seeds that never developed. i don't know if that was due to environmental conditions, poor pollination or the
pollinator, thinking about tetsukabuto here. hubbard, and sweet fall are both good seed producers.
count me in the category of how do you do an inter species cross?
there is one more squash down stairs to try, but it will be a little while before i get to that one.


keith

When baking squash, especially ones like long neck moschatas, I cut off the bulb end (seed them of course, and then cut the bulb (often stringy flesh, compared to the smoother texture of the neck) into a few slices.

I put the slices into the baking dish first, and rest the squash halves on top of the slices. No burning of the parts that I want, and I could care less what happens to those bulb slices.

I never bake Tetsukabuto beyond 45 minutes. Mine always come out with a dense creamy custard-like texture. Eaten straight out of the half shell, or further cut to quarter shells, with a spoon, no need to add anything like butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, maple syrup, etc...

I've got a 27 lb turkey to thaw, and some of the 22 pound turkey-shaped "Mottle Leaf Monstah" squash will be served alongside of it. Maybe in about 10 days, as my new cats likely want a change of pace in their food.

[rxkeith]

good idea about the slices on the bottom.
the squash itself wasn't burnt, it was the pyrex bottom itself that had some charring issues.
that happened after the water i put in to prevent that from happening dried up. it takes a lot
of elbow grease, and soaking to get them clean, but i did it.

gary,

you have a 27 lb turkey thawing for some new cats?
ummmm, how big are those cats???


keith

[rxkeith]

last of the mutants

this one is about a 6 to 7 pound squash.
irregular curve shaped, smooth green skin, short thick neck at stem end.
seed cavity was a little larger then the neck, and ended in a point
at the blossom end. call it a hubbard type
light golden orange flesh, this one took an hour and a half to bake at 350,
and the center part of the neck was STILL firm.
the first squash i baked was sub par in flavor. i ate some, and gave the rest of
it to the chickens. i suspect the poor flavor was due to it being immature when
picked. there was some green showing in the flesh close to the skin.
i had two more of the same squash in the basement, so baked another one yesterday,
and it was much better. good tasting, but not great. give it a 7.

what i don't like about this squash is the length of time it took to cook.
the texture was a little different, maybe a bit grainy, still not sure on it.
all in all, a passing grade.


keith