Why use canned pumpkin for Pie?

A little late and a dollar short but I thought this was interesting.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumug ... not-fresh/

Interesting. I've thought that in most cases, making pumpkin pie from scratch has been a waste of time. I used to make it when I lived abroad and couldn't find pumpkin puree (although the Hungarian "pumpkin" really was, I think, butternut squash, which it looks like that article recommends), and I've done it once at home in Chicago with an actual pumpkin for kicks. Never thought it was worth the effort--only worth doing out of necessity, family tradition, or some philosophical adherence to doing it from scratch (which I can totally understand.) And you don't need to let it rest for 4-6 hours and then cook it down as the article says. You just need to squeeze the hell out of the puree through a muslin cheesecloth or even (as I have done once when no other choices were available) through a clean white tee shirt. You can get enough moisture out this way.

My advice? Sweet potatoes make better "pumpkin" pie anyway, so just use them if you're going the "from scratch" route.

I've used the 'Pie Pumpkin' referenced in the article and obtained the referenced results, namely a grainy texture.
So it's been Libby's ever since.-Dick

A year ago I bought pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns but never got around to carving them... so I roasted them and food-milled them, a sticky, messy process. I'd been unimpressed with the flavor and texture: watery and not so sweet. Yesterday I took a couple of the frozen 1lb packages I'd sealed up, emptied them into a 9x13 pan and roasted it another hour, stirring occasionally and got a darker, sweeter result, which came out great in the dip from Jerusalem with tahini and yogurt. Not a strong pumpkin flavor, but enough, and good texture.

I did change the recipe, though, which called for a teaspoon of cinnamon per about 2 lbs of uncooked squash. Instead, I used about 1/3 tsp each of allspice, cinnamon and cumin (might have added coriander too, if my jar wasn't empty and I was less lazy about digging for the main stash).