Crying while cutting onions?
Overcrowding your pan?
Forgetting to add this one ingredient?
Keep watching to find out if you're currently making any of these mistakes when cooking
onions!
The first mistake people make with onions takes place before they ever step foot in
the kitchen.
This is the kind of mistake that's easy to make while you're still shopping for your
ingredients.
If you have a certain dish in mind, you may think you can just go to the produce section
and pick any random onion that catches your eye.
What you may not realize is that certain onions are better for specific uses than others.
If you want to make sure your finished dish comes out tasting delicious, it's important
to choose the right variety.
"You must choose, but choose wisely."
According to Bon Appétit, yellow onions are a great all-purpose option.
They can be eaten raw or cooked down, and they're probably going to taste good in most
contexts.
Red onions, on the other hand, are a bit stronger, which is why they're often used raw.
If the flavor is too intense, soak them in a bit of water to mellow them out a bit before
adding them to salads or sandwiches.
White onions are milder than both of these other varieties, which means that they should
be cooked rather lightly or served raw and diced.
The same applies to green onions.
You'll want to cook them slowly or slice them and eat them raw.
Look, we get it.
Chopping an onion can be difficult, especially if you don't really know what you're doing.
We've all been there, but if there's one onion-cutting tip you should remember, it's this, don't
cut off the root!
That's right!
You may not realize it, but keeping the root intact is rather important.
First of all, if you cut it off, you're more likely to get a strong hit of onion vapor
in your eyes.
Once the crying starts, it's hard to stop, so you'll clearly want to avoid this if at
all possible.
However, the root plays another role.
If you cut the root off, all of the different layers of the onion are loose and can be liable
to fold or slip while you're chopping.
You don't want to cut yourself!
"Ah!
I cut myself.”
“Ah!”
If you keep the root on, it holds all of these layers in place, ensuring that you get a cleaner
and easier dice.
Of course, chopping an onion well comes down to more than just keeping the root intact,
but it's a good place to start if you're an onion-chopping newbie.
Another prep mistake you'll want to avoid at all costs is using a dull knife to chop
your onions.
This is important for a few different reasons.
First of all, using a dull knife on just about any kind of produce can be dangerous.
If the knife is dull, it's much easier for it to slip around.
If your fingers are in the way when this happens, it could lead to a big accident that you'll
want to avoid at all costs.
There's nothing that dampens your appetite quite like a trip to the emergency room, stitches
and having to clean up the mess when you get home.
However, using a dull knife to chop onions also lends itself to another problem.
A dull knife that slips and slides around is more likely to crush parts of the onion.
This in turn allows the compound in onions responsible for causing your eyes to water,
to be released.
If you don't want to suffer while you're in the process of chopping, making sure you have
a fresh, well-sharpened knife can work wonders.
"The hand, you must protect it.
Here, you must cut only the onion.
Yes?”
“Not me.”
“Yes."
Have you ever read a recipe that instructed you to caramelize your onions in 15 minutes?
We hate to break it to you, but no onion in the history of the world has ever caramelized
that quickly in anyone's kitchen.
In fact, according to Slate, you're looking at about 35-40 minutes to properly caramelize
onions.
After all, the jammy consistency and sweet flavor doesn't arise out of nothing.
It takes some time and standing over the stove to get the results you're looking for.
Sometimes, recipe developers underestimate the time it takes to cook a dish to make it
seem quicker and easier to accomplish than it really is.
A lot of that comes down to how the internet works.
But the moral of the story is, don't believe a recipe when it says you can get beautifully
caramelized onions in 15 minutes or less.
Instead, read through the recipe before you get cooking, and add a few minutes onto the
cooking time if you see instructions to "caramelize" your onions for five minutes.
Once you start caramelizing onions on the regular, you can see these errors in recipes
from a mile away.
Why is crowding your pan such a big problem?
When you do this, steam from the cooking onions is going to get trapped in the pan.
All of this extra moisture is going to end up steaming your onions, which won't let them
develop that browning you're looking for.
Of course, if you want to steam your onions, go ahead and crowd your pan as much as you
like.
But for those times when you're trying to crisp or caramelize your onions, you'll want
to make sure you don't put too much in the pan all at one time.
Your best bet is to either cook your onions in batches or get another pan going at the
same time.
Is there a more magical ingredient in the world than salt?
Onions may be impressive with their versatility, but salt is important in pretty much every
dish.
Why wouldn't you expect to use it heavily when you're cooking your onions?
If you want to inject your food with as much flavor as possible, you should sprinkle some
salt in your pan every time you add something new to the mix.
You don't want to overdo it, as that could lead to too much salt in your dish, but generally,
a sprinkle of salt early in the cooking process is always a good idea.
Onions are no exception to this rule, per Splendid Table.
Why is this such an important step?
Well, when you add salt to cooking onions, it helps draw the water out of the onions.
This allows them to brown more easily during the cooking process.
Since the salt helps break the onions down, you get a softer, sweeter, and more savory
end result when cooking this way.
Remember to do this immediately after you add your onions to the pan.
It's an extra step, but it makes a big enough difference that it's pretty much always worth
the few seconds.
If you've tried to caramelize onions before, you already know that you need to add fat
to the pan to keep the onions from burning.
Since there are many different fats to choose from, you may be wondering what works best.
Many cooks prefer to use butter because it will make your onions even more flavorful
than other fats, like canola or avocado oil.
However, if you've ever tried this method just to end up with burnt onions, you may
find yourself scratching your head and asking what happened?
Trial and Eater says that although you may be able to caramelize your onions using only
butter, you're better off using a combination of both butter and olive oil.
Why?
It all comes down to the smoke points of these different fats.
Butter has a low smoke point, which means it's going to cook off quite quickly.
When this happens, there isn't enough fat in the pan and your onions end up burning.
However, high-quality olive oil has a higher smoke point than butter, which means it's
going to stick around for longer, protecting your onions from the heat.
When you use a combination of both of these fats, you get both the flavor from the butter
and the protective coating from the oil.
Caramelizing onions may sometimes seem like the default, but it's a process that can take
a long time, and it's just not appropriate for every recipe.
That being said, there are plenty of other methods for cooking those onions you have
sitting around in the kitchen.
One of our favorite ways to prepare onions is by grilling them.
It makes the perfect veggie side dish during the warm months when you already bust the
grill out on a regular basis, and it takes less time than caramelizing them.
Although you can grill pretty much any type of onion, celebrity cook Rachael Ray suggests
grilling red onions.
Not only do they taste great when they're just slightly grilled, but they hold onto
plenty of their crunch.
They're also beautiful and brighten up your plate at the same time.
She suggests coating them in olive oil, though you can use any kind of oil you have on hand.
Then, sprinkle them with salt and pepper if you want to keep things simple.
Of course, you can always add more seasonings or even a marinade if you're trying to make
your onions even more flavorful.
Finally, place your onions on the grill alongside whatever else you're cooking, and keep them
on for 5-7 minutes per side.
Check them regularly to ensure they're not getting too brown.
When you taste them, you may just realize that grilling is your new favorite method
for cooking onions.
Knowing how to both slice and dice an onion is important for different recipes.
Sometimes, like when you're making a salad, you're going to want to dice your onions as
finely as possible so they can mix in with the other ingredients.
At other times, slices are going to be the best option, which may be the case when you're
trying to caramelize your onions.
Pay close attention to what the recipe you're following calls for, and think about what
you want out of your dish.
If you want a more intense onion flavor, you might choose to slice.
When you want that flavor more evenly distributed, dicing may be the way to go.
Luckily, Serious Eats tells us how to do both.
When you dice an onion, you're going to cut it in half, remove the skin, and, as they
put it, "cut along the Z-axis," through the middle of the onion.
Then, slice into it the other way in sections.
Now, you're ready to dice.
The bulb holds everything together, so you don't have to worry about your knife slipping.
When you slice, though, just cut your onion in half, remove the skin, and slice away.
It's definitely the easier option if you're trying to get in and out of the kitchen quickly.
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