5 ms·

And I'd like a step-by-step recipe on how to caramelize onions, which ingredients to use, etc... Like "the final recipe".

simulate 10y ago
Scocca provides a good method at the end of the article: Scocca: I throw them in the Crock-Pot overnight. Ryssdal: Oh, that's so smart. Scocca: They become a little juicy, and you might need to dry them out in the pan a bit before you actually use them, but it's a lot faster.
- tclancy 10y ago
  I did this the first time (based on a post at Metafilter derived from the original article mentioned in this piece - https://www.metafilter.com/115702/Oniongate https://www.metafilter.com/115702/Oniongate) and that was a good approach because it took me out of the process which meant I didn't touch the onions or fiddle with the temperature or anything and 8 hours later I finally got the difference. Now I cook them in a pan while doing something else. Takes an hour or so but it beats running the crockpot all day.
- HillaryBriss 10y ago
  that's cool. will have to try that some time. it reminds me of the low-labor recipe for making a roux. you can do it in an oven: http://www.saveur.com/article/kitchen/how-to-make-roux-in-an-oven http://www.saveur.com/article/kitchen/how-to-make-roux-in-an...
epmatsw 10y ago
The definitive guide imo: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/quick-caramelized-onions-recipe.html http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/quick-caramelized...
- xemoka 10y ago
  The baking soda is the key to enhance the maillard reaction and decrease the time it takes to caramelise. It causes the onion to lose a bit of consistency if you use too much (softer), but once you get the right ratio (or if it doesn't matter, for example in a soup, chili or dip) you can speed it up a bit and keep them intact.
  - ska 10y ago
    It works, but does funny things to the flavor.
    - cycrutchfield 10y ago
      It's not noticeable if using the right ratio
- luminiferous 10y ago
  Seriouseats did another article later about how to use a pressure cooker: http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/01/the-food-lab-pressure-cooker-caramelized-onions-onion-soup.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/01/the-food-lab-pressure-coo... It's not as fast, but it's still only half an hour and the flavor is deeper and richer.
numlocked 10y ago
The cookbook Zahav doesn't mince words: - 1/4 cup olive oil - 6 onions, thinly sliced - Warm the oil over low heat in a large skillet or pot. Add a pinch of salt. - Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are almost spreadably soft. About 3 hours. No shortcuts, just take the time. Caramelized onions freeze and keep very well, so just stick them in some small tupperware in the freezer and defrost and use as needed. Much easier than trying to rush it 'on-demand' for a particular recipe. https://books.google.com/books?id=nGcGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA287&lpg=PA287&dq=zahav+cookbook+caramelized+onions&source=bl&ots=NsI5odqldg&sig=DqA_mPHLfNRyuBXsMJhTrWmwhJE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPib-kyNvSAhVU6WMKHdbsA0kQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=zahav%20cookbook%20caramelized%20onions&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=nGcGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA287&lpg=...
AdmiralAsshat 10y ago
There are several other posted here, but I feel that all of them do something which will fundamentally disrupt the flavor (e.g. crockpot will make them soggy and not quite the deep mahogany brown that you want, adding water will do the same). Being a lover of French Onion soup, here's a method that's worked well for me over the past four years or so of experimenting: 1) Choose a pan that has high heat retention. A cast iron skillet would work well for this purpose, although you may run into some concerns when it comes time to deglaze. Generally one deglazes with something like wine, but people recommend keeping highly acidic stuff away from cast iron out of fear of damaging its seasoning. 2) Throw the onions into the pot/pan. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar to the onions. This will help them caramelize more quickly. 3) Turn the heat up to high and cover them for about two minutes. When you open the lid, you should notice a large amount of steam escaping. This is called "sweating" the onions. Onions need to be dry in order to brown properly--the sweating method helps them dry out more quickly. 4) Turning the heat down to medium-high, stir occasionally. You'll stir more frequently towards the end, pushing up from once every two minutes to once a minute, to once every thirty seconds, to constantly near the end. They're done when they're a deep mahogany brown. That's it, really. As the original author said, there aren't any shortcuts to proper caramelized onions. The salt+sugar will help ever so slightly, the sweating will help ever so slightly. But you really shouldn't expect to caramelize them in less than a half hour. EDIT: Down-votes for posting a recipe on HN? That's gotta be a new one on me.
- magic_beans 10y ago
  Caramelizes onions in a cast iron pan!?? Please, no one ever do that unless you want to destroy your pan AND your onions.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    How does that hurt the pan?
    - mod 10y ago
      Doesn't. You can do almost nothing to hurt a cast-iron pan itself. It can destroy your seasoning, though, and require you to "fix" it by thoroughly cleaning and re-seasoning it. It's not that difficult, but generally you want to retain your previous seasoning as it's much easier and it gets better with time. People also think soap and water "damages" cast iron, and that's not true either. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron... Anyway, prolonged rusting or breakage are the only ways to "destroy" cast iron.
magic_beans 10y ago
It's really easy; it just takes a long time. 1. Add 1 tbsp each olive oil and butter to a pan and melt butter over medium heat. No special pans needed. A frying pan, a stock pot, a wok...I've had success in all of em. 2. Add medium-chopped onion to heated oil/butter. Gently stir for two minutes. Add a pinch of sugar and pinch of salt (aka 1 tsp each). 3. Turn heat down to low heat. Stir every few minutes for the first half hour, and then almost constantly for the next twenty to thirty minutes. That's it.
ska 10y ago
You can do much worse than follow Thomas Keller: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/thomas-kellers-onion-soup-50070897 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/thomas-keller... http://www.foodorleans.com/miracle-5-hour-onions-caramelized-onion-recipe-28158146/ http://www.foodorleans.com/miracle-5-hour-onions-caramelized...

simulate 10y ago

Scocca provides a good method at the end of the article: Scocca: I throw them in the Crock-Pot overnight. Ryssdal: Oh, that's so smart. Scocca: They become a little juicy, and you might need to dry them out in the pan a bit before you actually use them, but it's a lot faster.

tclancy 10y ago
I did this the first time (based on a post at Metafilter derived from the original article mentioned in this piece - https://www.metafilter.com/115702/Oniongate https://www.metafilter.com/115702/Oniongate) and that was a good approach because it took me out of the process which meant I didn't touch the onions or fiddle with the temperature or anything and 8 hours later I finally got the difference. Now I cook them in a pan while doing something else. Takes an hour or so but it beats running the crockpot all day.
HillaryBriss 10y ago
that's cool. will have to try that some time. it reminds me of the low-labor recipe for making a roux. you can do it in an oven: http://www.saveur.com/article/kitchen/how-to-make-roux-in-an-oven http://www.saveur.com/article/kitchen/how-to-make-roux-in-an...

epmatsw 10y ago

The definitive guide imo: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/quick-caramelized-onions-recipe.html http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/08/quick-caramelized...

xemoka 10y ago
The baking soda is the key to enhance the maillard reaction and decrease the time it takes to caramelise. It causes the onion to lose a bit of consistency if you use too much (softer), but once you get the right ratio (or if it doesn't matter, for example in a soup, chili or dip) you can speed it up a bit and keep them intact.
- ska 10y ago
  It works, but does funny things to the flavor.
  - cycrutchfield 10y ago
    It's not noticeable if using the right ratio
luminiferous 10y ago
Seriouseats did another article later about how to use a pressure cooker: http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/01/the-food-lab-pressure-cooker-caramelized-onions-onion-soup.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/01/the-food-lab-pressure-coo... It's not as fast, but it's still only half an hour and the flavor is deeper and richer.

numlocked 10y ago

The cookbook Zahav doesn't mince words: - 1/4 cup olive oil - 6 onions, thinly sliced - Warm the oil over low heat in a large skillet or pot. Add a pinch of salt. - Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are almost spreadably soft. About 3 hours. No shortcuts, just take the time. Caramelized onions freeze and keep very well, so just stick them in some small tupperware in the freezer and defrost and use as needed. Much easier than trying to rush it 'on-demand' for a particular recipe. https://books.google.com/books?id=nGcGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA287&lpg=PA287&dq=zahav+cookbook+caramelized+onions&source=bl&ots=NsI5odqldg&sig=DqA_mPHLfNRyuBXsMJhTrWmwhJE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiPib-kyNvSAhVU6WMKHdbsA0kQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q=zahav%20cookbook%20caramelized%20onions&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=nGcGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA287&lpg=...

AdmiralAsshat 10y ago

There are several other posted here, but I feel that all of them do something which will fundamentally disrupt the flavor (e.g. crockpot will make them soggy and not quite the deep mahogany brown that you want, adding water will do the same). Being a lover of French Onion soup, here's a method that's worked well for me over the past four years or so of experimenting: 1) Choose a pan that has high heat retention. A cast iron skillet would work well for this purpose, although you may run into some concerns when it comes time to deglaze. Generally one deglazes with something like wine, but people recommend keeping highly acidic stuff away from cast iron out of fear of damaging its seasoning. 2) Throw the onions into the pot/pan. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar to the onions. This will help them caramelize more quickly. 3) Turn the heat up to high and cover them for about two minutes. When you open the lid, you should notice a large amount of steam escaping. This is called "sweating" the onions. Onions need to be dry in order to brown properly--the sweating method helps them dry out more quickly. 4) Turning the heat down to medium-high, stir occasionally. You'll stir more frequently towards the end, pushing up from once every two minutes to once a minute, to once every thirty seconds, to constantly near the end. They're done when they're a deep mahogany brown. That's it, really. As the original author said, there aren't any shortcuts to proper caramelized onions. The salt+sugar will help ever so slightly, the sweating will help ever so slightly. But you really shouldn't expect to caramelize them in less than a half hour. EDIT: Down-votes for posting a recipe on HN? That's gotta be a new one on me.

magic_beans 10y ago
Caramelizes onions in a cast iron pan!?? Please, no one ever do that unless you want to destroy your pan AND your onions.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  How does that hurt the pan?
  - mod 10y ago
    Doesn't. You can do almost nothing to hurt a cast-iron pan itself. It can destroy your seasoning, though, and require you to "fix" it by thoroughly cleaning and re-seasoning it. It's not that difficult, but generally you want to retain your previous seasoning as it's much easier and it gets better with time. People also think soap and water "damages" cast iron, and that's not true either. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron... Anyway, prolonged rusting or breakage are the only ways to "destroy" cast iron.

magic_beans 10y ago

It's really easy; it just takes a long time. 1. Add 1 tbsp each olive oil and butter to a pan and melt butter over medium heat. No special pans needed. A frying pan, a stock pot, a wok...I've had success in all of em. 2. Add medium-chopped onion to heated oil/butter. Gently stir for two minutes. Add a pinch of sugar and pinch of salt (aka 1 tsp each). 3. Turn heat down to low heat. Stir every few minutes for the first half hour, and then almost constantly for the next twenty to thirty minutes. That's it.

ska 10y ago

You can do much worse than follow Thomas Keller: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/thomas-kellers-onion-soup-50070897 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/thomas-keller... http://www.foodorleans.com/miracle-5-hour-onions-caramelized-onion-recipe-28158146/ http://www.foodorleans.com/miracle-5-hour-onions-caramelized...