Spaghetti Squash Question

[cyay]

Im thrilled that my local grocery store started carrying these per my request (and prolly other atkinseers out there)

I got one of these, cut it in 1/2 and put it in boiling water... After a while I scraped out some strings and boiled the squash again to get more of them...

However... I got a question


Is there anyway to make the strings more tender? I tried cooking them for 2-3 HOURS and they were still kinda crunchy, almost like celery....


Just curious.

[not2late]

I usually bake them in an oven or microwave it (oven: slice it in half, remove the seeds, rub the insides with butter, and bake it cut side up in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes or until a fork can easily pierce the squash insides. microwave: cut in half, remove seeds, place cut side down in dish, add 1/2 inch of water, cover loosely, microwave 10-15 minutes.)

As for the crunch, if it's over-cooked, it turns to mush. It shouldn't be crunchy like celery, but it will have some texture.

[Moochiecat]

I find that sometimes it bakes or microwaves so nicely and it's so tasty...and other times the darn thing seems to want to stay fibrous! We've had some really nice ones and some others that were not so nice.
I think it's just the luck of the draw how close to it's peak it's going to be.