This step is best done on the day you plan to display your pumpkin, typically Halloween. Every piece you remove opens up the pumpkin and speeds up rotting, so the closer to display time the better.
Work from smallest to largest. Just like sawing, always remove the next smallest piece first. This keeps the surrounding design intact while you work.
Try pulling first. For each piece, start by gently trying to pull it outward, away from the pumpkin. Because it’s very difficult to saw at a perfect 90 degrees, most cuts end up very slightly angled one way or the other. Pulling is less likely to stress the surrounding structure than pushing. If it comes out easily, great.
If it won’t pull, try pushing. Gently press the piece inward into the pumpkin. If it moves freely, push it all the way through and remove it from inside.
If it’s still stuck, use your saw to divide the piece into two or three smaller sections and try again. Smaller pieces are much easier to work free. If it’s still not budging, re-saw around the edges of the hole and do a quick saw poke test. The wall may still be too thick in places.
For any large pieces, always cut them into smaller sections before trying to remove them. Large pieces can easily put too much stress on the surrounding design when you try to work them free. After getting this far, we don’t want your masterpiece to break!
For very small pieces that are too tiny to grip with your fingers, use the tip of your saw blade to gently nudge them, either pushing them inward or hooking and pulling them outward until they come free.
For Styles 3+, 4 & 4+: because your sawing was done when the walls were thicker, before gutting and thinning, some pieces may be a tighter fit. Re-sawing over the original lines before trying to remove pieces is a good first step if anything feels stuck.
Watch out for narrow strips. If your design has a long, thin strip of pumpkin surrounded on most sides by a hole, especially a scraped area with no skin, it’s very fragile. Don’t let a sawed chunk fall onto it. Instead, cut the surrounding hole into smaller pieces and remove the piece above the strip first. That way the narrow strip can safely rest on the piece below. Then carefully remove the piece below. When in doubt, cut the hole into more pieces before removing anything. It is easier to take your time here than to deal with fixing something that can be tricky to repair.
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