Easiest Pumpkin Seed Roasting Ever

Halloween is fun. While eating all that candy on November 1st you should go for a drive through the country and see which farmstands are selling leftover pumpkins cheap (or even giving them away for free). Don't forget to line your trunk with cardboard before leaving the house. Find a spot on your porch for the pumpkins and look for a nice night to grill dinner. After firing up the grill this project can be completed before the dinner hits the heat. This is a fast and easy way to roast those pumpkin seeds, or any other winter squash seeds for a healthy snack. Enjoy!

Supplies

1. Pumpkins
2. Salt (optional)
3. Water (optional)
4. Seasonings (optional)

Tools

1. Machete
2. Pumpkin Carver
3. Pumpkin Scoop or Spoon
4. Large Bowl
5. Colander
6. Stainless Steel Tray (cedar plank saver or similar)
7. Silicone Brush
8. Grill (not pictured)

By far the fastest and most fun way to cut a pumpkin is to SAFELY use a machete. Wear protective eyewear and keep clear of bystanders and follow all safety guidelines that came with the tool. If you don't have a machete a simple pumpkin carver will also work fine (just a lot slower).

Use a pumpkin scooper or sturdy spoon to remove seeds and separate from the pulp. Add some water and stir to help separate and remove as much pulp as possible. Putting effort in now is less scrubbing in the sink later. Cleaning a tray with only seeds and no pulp is super easy and quick.

Stir with fingers in colander under running water looking for any more pulp.

Spread seeds on tray. My tray is a cedar plank saver with no plank in it (which has infinite other uses on the grill as a simple stainless steel griddle for everything from vegetables to seafood that are too small for the spaces in the grill). If choosing to add salt, it sticks best if you first make a salt solution. Add some water to a bit of salt, let it dissolve, and mop it on with a silicone brush or something similar. Same with seasonings, if you prefer.

Grill dinner. Remove all of your dinner from the grill...and before replacing the lid...set your pumpkin seeds onto the grill. If it is fairly hot (>400 deg F) close all of the vents. If it is not super hot (<250 deg F) close the top and leave the bottom vents open. If it's in between 250 and 400 degrees, take your best guess. Eat dinner.

Sometime after dinner and the grill has cooled, remove the tray. Try the seeds. Enjoy!

If they are chewy you can repeat the grilling some other day and next time try to leave the grill a little hotter for longer so that the seeds roast a bit more.