use Data::Dumper; my $content = q['body']; $hash{'name'} = 'a page'; $hash{'time_to_download'} = '3.23453'; $hash{'content'} = $content; my $bob = Dumper \%hash; # $bob = $VAR1 = { name => 'a page', # time_to_download => 3.23453', # content => '\'body\''; # }; eval $bob; print Dumper $VAR1;