Nothing’s worse than thinking you picked the best pumpkin, but it rots three days later on your front stoop. Now, instead of seasonal decor, you have a smelly pumpkin. You can avoid this mishap by knowing what to look for at the pumpkin patch, but how do you know if you’re picking the right one? Like all produce, pumpkins have easy tells you can learn. 

Depending on what you plan to do with your pumpkin, like carving or cooking it, you’ll want to look for different things.

New Jersey has dozens of farms to pick pumpkins. Here are some easy ways to know if you’re choosing the right one. 

Look for these three things if you want to carve a pumpkin.

Color

Don’t judge a book by its color doesn’t apply to pumpkins. A completely orange pumpkin is a good sign that it’s ripe. However, sometimes a green pumpkin can be ready to pick, so use these other tips too. 

Sound 

Another sign that a pumpkin is ripe and ready is if it’s hollow. 

You can figure this out by hitting the pumpkin on its side. If it sounds empty, it’s ready to be picked!

This is also a good characteristic for carving pumpkins. You want a large and hollow pumpkin so you have a nice and easy canvas to work with. 

Texture 

Ripe pumpkins will have a hard exterior. A firm pumpkin can endure the carving process. 

A trick to know your pumpkin is ready is to scratch the skin with your fingernail. A ripe pumpkin will slightly dent but not pierce through the flesh. 

Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkins are the best pumpkins for carving. Just like their name says, they’re perfect for carving.  

Picking Pumpkins for Cooking

For baking, you want to find a heavy pumpkin. This usually means it’s full of flesh. Unlike a carving pumpkin, which should be hollow, you’ll want to look for a dense pumpkin so you have lots of meat to bake with. 

While Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins are big and empty, other types like Cinderella Pumpkins are the dense ones filled with tasty flesh to bake with. Mystic Pie pumpkins look like mini Jack-O-Lanterns, but these have the dense inside that the bigger pumpkin lacks. 

Two techniques to use when you’re buying a pumpkin from the store are squeezing the pumpkin and pulling its stem. 

A pumpkin should be completely firm. Press your hands around the whole pumpkin to see if there is any tenderness. This means the pumpkin is over ripe and won’t last much longer. 

Combining this tip with the fingernail trick will help you find any sneaky soft spots.

The stem tells you if the pumpkin is healthy or not. Pull on the stem. If the stem breaks off and feels dry, it’s dehydrated. A strong stem will be connected to a healthy pumpkin.

Anyone can find the perfect pumpkin once you know what to look for. Whether carving or baking, follow these tips and trips to prepare you for the fall season.