How to cut butternut squash

amother

Fri, May 24 2024, 12:31 pm

What's the best way to cut without the hard work? I once read somewhere about putting it in the oven before but nothing's coming up with google.

Any help appreciated!
TIA

BH Yom Yom

Fri, May 24 2024, 12:52 pm

I slice off a think layer at the top and the bottom so both are flat. Stand it up on a firm surface, take a large knife and press firmly and quickly into the top. Use your palm (the hand that is not holding the knife) to firmly tap/push the knife down through the squash.

amother

Vanilla

Fri, May 24 2024, 12:54 pm

Cut butternut squash horizontally. So you get a thiner cylinder and a wide cylinder.
With a knife cut off the peels.
Dice smaller cylinder.
Cut wide cylinder in half
Scoop out seeds and cube!

zaq

Fri, May 24 2024, 1:19 pm

BH Yom Yom wrote:

This. You kind of rock the blade back and forth while pressing down, so the blade wiggles its way down little by little

amother

NeonPurple

Fri, May 24 2024, 2:52 pm

Put. It in the oven covered on 350 for half an hour. Take it out and it's still raw but much much easier to peel and cut

theoneandonly

Fri, May 24 2024, 2:56 pm

amother NeonPurple wrote:

Put. It in the oven covered on 350 for half an hour. Take it out and it's still raw but much much easier to peel and cut

You can also microwave it for a few minutes to get it softer. It might change the texture if you plan on roasting it after (I never tried) but for soup it's great.

Dolly Welsh

Fri, May 24 2024, 2:57 pm

Use a huge, enormous, cleaver butcher knife. Not a paring knife. Biiiigest knife. Sharpen it first.

Cut it flat, into cylinder slices. Then hack off the rind of each cylinder individually. The results won't be perfectly round. Doesn't matter.

new oldie

Fri, May 24 2024, 3:00 pm

Peel it with a vegetable peeler. You might have to go around more than once. Than cut and scoop out seeds.

Itsallfromhim

Sat, May 25 2024, 9:56 pm

I always sharpen my knives before cutting it.

I cut the circle and neck apart
Cut both in half then peel

Works wonders

dazzle

Sat, May 25 2024, 10:36 pm

Best cooking tip I ever got- if you're blending it in a soup then you don't need to peel it! I just cut it a little smaller and cook in big chunks then blend well. You would never know the peel was left on!

amother

Ballota

Sat, May 25 2024, 10:43 pm

Wear a pair of disposable gloves. Getting the sap on your hands is like getting crazy glue on them . (your fingers don’t stick to each other, but you end up with spots of glue which don’t wash off easily.

Cut off (using a big, heavy knife) the top and bottom. Peel with a vegetable peeler.

Dice the top. Scoop out seeds and dice to bottom.

ddmom

Sat, May 25 2024, 11:58 pm

I put it in the oven until soft and then scoop out the seeds and use the rest.

amother

Mon, May 27 2024, 11:49 pm

amother IndianRed wrote:

Buy frozen Can't Believe It

They're usually much smaller chunks... but ai have done that in the past. Much cheaper than buying precut fresh

amother

Mon, May 27 2024, 11:49 pm

amother NeonPurple wrote:

Put. It in the oven covered on 350 for half an hour. Take it out and it's still raw but much much easier to peel and cut

So this is what I wanted to know. Thanks!

And thanks everyone for the rest of the tips! I appreciate you taking time to respond!

amother

Mayflower

Tue, May 28 2024, 5:35 pm

amother Ballota wrote:

I have never found this to be the case. Maybe your squash is not what we call butternut here. There are many kinds of hard squashes.