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on a stick. caramel onion on a stick.
Remember, it takes at least 45 minutes to caramelize an onion. If you’re doing it for less than 45 minutes, then you’re just cooking it.
I know it’s not exactly the same as a low temp for a while. But you can get pretty good results with a high temp, just need to deglaze more frequently, usually with water until they’re almost done. Then wine and/or balsamic is good.
… That explains a lot
45 minus to fully caramelize.
If you don’t want them that dark you don’t have to cook them that long.
Sure, you can use non-caramelized onions. You just won’t get that sweetness.
Just add more sugar.
What kind of hooligan adds sugar
Saves times and gives the sweet taste. If someone doesn’t want to do it for 45 minutes then yeah
But it keeps the the sour and bitter tastes in. Caramelizing replaces most of those with sweet.
Sour and bitter can be good though. I love fresh onion as is. I ghetto caramelize it a bit to make it more palatable to my girlfriend though. For that you don’t need to do a proper caramelization, getting the process going and adding a bit of sugar is enough.
I love to add vinegar too though. Vinegar, a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, some time on the pan, delish.
I honestly add a touch of brown sugar and I guess I’ve been doing it wrong according to these comments.
I know you’re joking, but the only way I can see it taking that long is if you put whole onions into an oven set to 180° to 200° F.
In a frying pan, one can easily caramelize an entire large frying pan of onions in about 30 minutes, or even faster if you decide to use physics to your advantage, and add a small amount of water to your pan and caramelize your pan of onions within 14 minutes. This is an advanced technique that requires some experience to try to use. Much like making a Dark Roux in 15 minutes.
put whole onions into an oven set to 180° to 200° F.
Wait, would that work?
Might need it to be a bit higher than that, but I know one can caramelize onions slowly in an oven. Just not sure what temp is needed
I’m absolutely not joking. If you’re cooking it for less than 45 minutes, you’re not caramelizing the onions. Frequent stirring, adding water, whatever, you can get the color and texture of caramelization, but not the flavor.
I spent a couple of years making slightly disappointing meals because I was focused on the color and texture of my onions instead of the flavor. When I finally took the time to fully caramelize them again, I remembered what I had been missing.
Try it and taste the difference if you don’t believe me.
You can caramelize onions in five minutes, but the onions won’t be very satisfied afterwards
I had someone arrive at a BBQ, saw me frying some onions, and ask “Are you going to caramelise those onions?”
Yes mate. The onions I’m frying for a few minutes while the burgers cook, gonna be nice and caramelised in seconds, just you watch.
Every time I do a Bunnings BBQ for the community centre, it’s women run, we get the onions on ASAP because they need time to cook, and we’ll have people buying a plain onion sandwich in addition to a snag, because caramelised onions are so good!
Every time I volunteer to help my partners football club run a sausage sizzle, I’m saying “put the onions on, they take longer” and I’m told by the guys “I’m a man, I know how to BBQ, go away little girl, go hold the sign and be pretty”
Then everyone buying a snag is complaining about crunchy raw onions, and the guys are saying “why did we buy so many onions?” (because you were supposed to cook them down so they shrink!)
These same men will unironically say “women belong in the kitchen” then won’t take cooking advice from a woman.
(also, the footy guys always giving me flak for deglazing the BBQ plate with water to help the onions cook down faster. They’ll just keep adding oil, once saw a Rotary Club use 1L of canola oil to half cook 5kg of onions, when we’ve never needed more than 200ml to fully cook onions, because onions need water to cook down!)
Ngl, you just taught me some thing, I thought I was cooking them down quick, frying them in my bacon fat, before adding eggs to them, I’ll have to try adding some water, maybe that will make them come out better.
And cook it slow. Time is your friend here. Actually, I didn’t know water was sufficient either: I thought your choices were lower temp or more oil
no I don’t think you have to fuck them
Y’all, pinch of baking soda and you’ll have caramelized onions in no time flat. It’s amazing.
Wait now, what? I wish to know more.
Yep, it’s jump starting a process key to flavors we all like called the Maillard Reaction
Maillard browning is not caramelization. Maillard is an insanely complex mess of different chemical reactions involving proteins, while caramelization is just sugar and heat.
Alkalinity speeds up the Maillard reaction significantly. Baking soda. Magic.
I agree, but the comment above recommends using it to caramelize onions. Maillard reactions can happen to onions for sure but the result of that is not caramelized onions.
Not to say baking soda couldn’t help, I don’t know the exact chemistry behind this stuff, but I do know that onion + maillard reaction does not yield caramelized onions
Huh, I guess I’d never really looked into the chemistry behind the distinction (which is strange because i am a chemist that loves food), but Maillard reactions involve the proteins, while caramelization involves the sugars. Though both are examples of nonenzymatic browning.
The good news is that the wiki page for caramelization says that either acidic or basic conditions speed up the caramelization processes, so i think we’re good to go in either front!
On that note, try adding a little splash of balsamic vinegar to caramelized onions 👌👌
Oh shit. That is so cool! I knew lye was used in making pretzels, but i didn’t know it was to get the Maillard browning to happen faster. The wiki page says that one way to reduce the formation of acrylamide, a carcinogen, is by adding carbon dioxide, which is actually released when baking soda is dissolved in water… IDK for sure if it’s enough to really help, but I’m gonna just roll with it and say it is because delicious food is delicious.
Baking powder releases carbon dioxide. Baking soda just creates aqueous bicarb ions and a more basic solution (which is the key to a faster reaction).
Heating a solution of aqueous bicarbonate will release carbon dioxide, too. But since we have delicious onions and stuff in there too, let’s walk through my thought process: Baking powder is baking soda + weak acid + cornstarch (to prevent premature reaction). Since the speed-up for the Maillard reaction works by deprotonating amino groups to make them more nucleophilic, the acid-base reaction that releases CO2 when using baking powder will still occur with just baking soda + food (ie: the protiens in the food are acting as the acid). You’re probably right that using baking powder would produce more CO2, or at least produce it faster, but reducing carcinogenic side products for Maillard reactions via CO2 is a low-priority concern for me anyway. Just a fun curiousity that occured to me when reading the wiki page!
Sorry if my carbon dioxide subscripts don’t work. I don’t think my client supports all the fancy markdown, but i tried my best.
That breaks down the onions too much and then reacts with the fats in the pan to make soap.
3/10 do not recommend.
I’ve never had it break them down too much, nor create anything remotely soapy in flavor. Perhaps it chemically does create soap, I don’t know. But the end result is delicious and I’m a fifth the time.
Interesting. That has not been my experience. The baking side turns them green and mushy and they taste terrible and weren’t even really caramelized.
I’ve since taken to steaming them under a lid for about 10mins before removing the lid, cooking the water off, and caramelizing them. It’s more involved but gives me consistent results, and is still faster than doing it without steam.
Oh wow, yeah, that’s never happened to me. Green? How much did you put in?
I tried “velveting” some beef the other day (basically marinating the meat in baking soda) and the result was absolutely disgusting, both in terms of texture and flavor. I wonder if maybe I didn’t wash off the baking soda sufficiently and got soap, although that wouldn’t explain the texture issue. The texture was similar to Chinese takeout beef but somehow not as palatable.
“Who’s caramelizing onions? Probably someone who knows the secret to happiness—turning tears into sweetness, one slow stir at a time! Or maybe they’re just trying to make their kitchen smell like a five-star restaurant while secretly burning their grilled cheese.” 😄 — Bostock Electronics
The only thing I get from that story is that adults and peer pressure sucks. Eat that candied onion and enjoy it as much as you want, fuck those those stupid “grown-ups”.
Little Anon Starting Early
I have a 3 year old nephew and if you gave him a caramel onion like that I think he’d either eat it happily or ask for a plain onion instead. That kid loves himself some onions.
I always say if you want to seem like a genius in the kitchen just sauté some onions
I usually start my meals by sauteing onions and without fail whoever is in the house will say “Ooo, that smells good what is it?”
Literally just onions
Saute onions and garlic, then decide what you’re making for dinner
Garlic makes your meal taste thicc. Trying to force myself into a lite and airy phase. Not sure why… think I’m just wanting to lose weight, not as if that’s how foods work though. Garlic isn’t fattening haha
Garlic makes your meal taste thicc. Trying to force myself into a lite and airy phase.
Try making toum.
There’s a reason why cooked onions are common across almost every international cuisine on earth.
Saute carrots, onions, and celery. Everyone will think you’re making something incredible. And, fortunately, you’ll have the base to follow through, if you so desire.
I do need more dishes in the back of my pocket that start with mirepoix. If y’all got favs, pop a holler.
Got me thinking it’s time for chicken pot pie again…
I use it for a lot of stuff. I roast pork on top of mirepoix, I make soups with it, pasta dishes, I make it alone with lots of butter and herbs and then blend it and use it as a rich sauce, I don’t blend it and then serve it as a side with chicken and fish (adding rice is an option here), add bell peppers and make gumbo, use it as a base for braising basically anything… I do truly just start a mirepoix when I don’t know what to make, then, once it’s started, I dig around for other ingredients. It’s so forgiving and really just makes almost anything more savory and flavorful.
The last time I made it (Saturday), I ended up transferring it to a roasting pan, then roasted pork. I took off the pork when it was done, then while it rested, I deglaced the pan with white wine, put a portion into a pot, added ketchup, vinegar, etc. and used an immersion blender to make a bbq-style mirepoix sauce. Shredded the pork and made pulled pork. It was a huge hit with the family. I know mirepoix-bbq sauce sounds a little weird, but it was incredibly good.
It’s an very versatile base, which, I think, is why different food cultures all have a version of it. And you can do a lot of different things with the same base just by changing the technique. Smaller or larger chop, longer or shorter sautee, add ingredients to change the character (classically, tomato paste to make a pinçage, but you can also swap it to a Holy Trinity or sofrito very easily), and so on. It’s a great thing to play around with.
This is inspiring! I’ll have to give some of these a go.
Thanks for the thoughtful write up. 😊 Already excited to get a bit more adventurous with it!
Haha, I can cook but I don’t really know what I am doing. It usually starts with some oil and garlic or onions in a pan, then I figure out what to actually cook. But if someone walks in at just that step they think you’re some culinary genious.
Haha, I can cook but I don’t really know what I am doing.
Bruh, don’t sell yourself short. If you know how to just throw shit into a pan and have it come out both edible and tasty (or even only the first one), you have a decent idea of what you’re doing.
Being able to do that is a skill that takes work, and is something my wife has worked hard to develop. He k, just knowing what spices go well together or with what meats is a skill in and of itself.
That’s probably why they call it an aromatic.
Best way to stop a small argument? Saute onions in olive oil then add some garlic. Guarantee a head will poke around a door frame and all arguments melt away.
hedge magic
I saw somewhere there exists a saying along the lines of ‘start sauteing onion, add some garlic, then you figure out what you are going to cook.’ When my wife and I have time to actually cook, this is basically what we do. everything is better with garlic and onions, from German to Korean. The rest is just details.
Apparently it’s a Ukrainian saying
Having an Asian extended family, I think it’s universal.
Absolutely universal because garlic and onion are amazing for any tongue.
And people who dislike like garlic or onions are always super sus, because no the fuck you don’t. You just think you don’t.
I knew someone who said she was “allergic to onions if she could see them”… that is not how allergies work dumbfuck, you are just a super basic bitch with no taste.
I knew a guy who said he was allergic to diced or sliced tomatoes. Happily ate ketchup and red pasta sauce.
So there’s a salt in a lot of canned diced tomatoes (not all) that’s used as a preservative that some people can be sensitive to. It helps keep the tomatoes firm while canned. (I worked briefly in a tomato cannery). IIRC it’s one of the sodium citrates, but I can’t remember which right now.
Really? I never knew that. I wonder if that’s what I’m actually allergic to
Hi, it’s me 😜. Seriously, I have a minor tomato allergy where I’ll get a bit of a rash if I have tomatoes 2-3 days in a row. It’s annoying. I also don’t like the taste or texture of tomatoes.
However the taste and texture of so many things with tomatoes are so good, that I’m fine if I develop a rash. Adding onions, cilantro, and jalapeños to chunks of tomato turns it into something entirely different. Cooking it down with oregano, thyme, etc is also completely different in taste and texture.I’ll avoid the tomatoes themselves and I’ll still probably try to avoid the rash by not eating tomato meals too many days in a row though
That’s actually a thing. Raw tomatoes vs cooked. I think it’s called oral allergy syndrome.
I think there are people who really are allergic to only uncooked versions of the produce
That guy was also a super basic bitch with no taste ;)
I mean don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like tomatoes either. But I’m not a giant tool about it, and just say “I’m not really a fan of fresh tomatoes, but I’ll try it”
What a weiner. People are so weird.
So how do you do it?
I’m asking because I learned not a long time ago to somewhat heavily salt the onions beforehand (in olive oil ofc) and it’s great. Burst for some minute or three, keep hot while stirring til done (hard, melted, …).
I don’t put garlic in it though, I’d put that in the rest of the food if I do.
I made a big batch yesterday (4 large onions).
Butter and olive oil. Add onions. I add water at the beginning so I don’t have to pay as much attention as the beginning. Once the onions are soft, turn it low and take your time. Only stir occasionally.
I used the instant pot yesterday and it was super easy.
What do you do you with a big batch? Saving some for later or just gorge on sautéed unions?
- on top of meat, like a steak or a burger
- incorporated into mashed potatoes
- I’ve been seeing various recipes for “French onion soup style” g occhi
I needed some for käsespätzle, and it’s one of those things where if you make it a little little might just as well make a lot. It will get used. Caramelized onions go well with just about everything.
4 large onions
So, like, 6 tablespoons of caramelised onion?
3 if you are lucky
Yeah in normal countries but in America they have huge onions
The larger the onion, the more water is in it and the less it tastes, from my experience.
Maybe: it does seem like the larger onions tend to be the sweeter varieties. That’s great though, when one slice covers your entire burger, and you get the satisfying crunch of a nice thick slice of onion without all the bitterness.
That being said, Ive tried caramelizing red onions instead off the more standard yellow, and I’m not sure the final result is any different
I never realized Americans had particularly big onions, but a lot of them are bigger than my fist and definitely full of flavor. Now something like a shallot is small and delicious but it’s a different flavor.
Also high-sugar varieties like Vidalia and Candy onions. Don’t knock us for our onions - at least our onion farmers aren’t dropping bombs on brown people.
Really I just lightly spray some canola oil in the pan and add sliced onions and heat.
When you think they’re ready, stir them up and let them cook for another half hour.
I put the sliced onions (vidalia or candy) with a small splash of olive oil into a skillet on high heat (no salt) and cook them for 10-15 minutes, stirring them around every couple of minutes. They always come out perfectly. I don’t know why people are saying 30 to 45 minutes or hours in a slow cooker, or adding water, butter or sugar or whatever - all unnecessary and time consuming. Adding water in particular seems like the worst possible thing you could do as it’s just going to steam them, which isn’t what you want at all (adding salt essentially does the same thing by drawing water out of the onions).
I also don’t add garlic, as garlic will just burn under the same conditions that caramelize the onions.
Sauteed onions in olive oil for 10 minutes is delicious, but it’s not caramelized onions. They’re talking about something completely different.
They are absolutely caramelized. I know the difference between sauteed onions and caramelized onions.
Now I want to try some apples and onions with a caramel glaze.
Might work with pork chops.
It would absolutely work with pork chops. It’s even better with a walnut crust.
Who’s caramelizing pork chops?
Pork chop sandwiches!
Get the fuck out of here!
My god, did that smell good.
I don’t know about caramel glaze, but you might want to try apple and or onion chutney.
Now I want to try thin sliced apples in with my onions when I caramelize them for added sweetness.
Dice the apples. That’s a common way to do it for curry meatballs (curry sauce with meatballs served with rice and various toppings).
The apples make the sauce more filling and offsets some of the potential sourness of the onions/curry. It is all about the balance. I like to taste the sauce to perfection using salt, pepper, curry, sugar or syrup before adding the meatballs, but having apples in the sauce definitely makes it easier to begin with.
This sounds fantastic, and I love curry and I love to try cooking new things, thank you!
I wouldn’t cook them as long though 👍.
Hey guys. I am no cook and I don’t speak English natively. What the heck is caramelising onions?
I thought caramelising is when the sugar liquifies and you get caramel. So caramelising onions would be to cover them in lots of sugar and cooking them until they are covered in caramel.
But it sounds like you are just deep roasting them.
Caramelization is the process of sugars browning due to high heat. The actual reactions that are happening is a combination of sugars and their chains breaking down into smaller compounds and those smaller compounds recombining into other compounds, all these new compounds gives caramelized foods their distinctive colour and taste.
When making caramel the sugar liquification happens often in high enough temperatures for caramelization to occur. The process of sauteeing/high temperature cooking onions long enough involves the same exact reactions. In onions the bit longer chain sugars that dont taste sweet are broken down into simple sugars thus producing the sweet taste of caramelized onions and the further reactions produce the caramel colour and taste.
Tldr: caramelization is a group of chemical reactions and ‘caramel’ is basically a taste and colour that results from it
Thanks. So I thought correctly, but didn’t think of the longer chain sugar in onions, since they usually don’t taste sweet.
Many things can taste sweet if you caramelize them. Carrots will caramelize in butter if you sautee them on low heat in a cast iron and you can make them taste candied with no added sugar
Caramelized carrots are bomb. Add as a topping on a sweet potato casserole if you wanna level up your game.
Eating onion raw is the only way to mask its sweetness. Or maybe boiling the crap out of it until it tastes like nothing at all. Otherwise, onion is very sweet.
caramelization is a group of chemical reactions
They’re known as Maillard Reactions
The Maillard reaction is different from caramelization
Caramelization may sometimes cause browning in the same foods in which the Maillard reaction occurs, but the two processes are distinct. They are both promoted by heating, but the Maillard reaction involves amino acids, whereas caramelization is the pyrolysis of certain sugars.
The sugar in the onion is caramelising
It’s just slowly cooking chopped onions in a pan until they are a deep brown and very soft and sweet. If you’ve ever had french onion soup, that’s basically just caramelized onions in broth.
It’s just a process of slowly cooking them on a low heat, they’ll naturally go quite sweet after a while without having to add sugar.
🤣
🧅
Gonna hand out caramel onions for Halloween now.
They better be Spanish/yellow onions. Don’t go easy on them with any Vidalia/sweet onion!
:P
I’d go with white
Nah, just like with caramel apples the best caramel onions are gonna be GREEN!
Kind of easy to tell a green onion from an apple though.
Caramel roulette. 5 apples and an onion on the same plate.
Who up caramelizing they onions
Trained chefs who know how to get rich colour from onion soup for one. As well as anyone who knows how to make good sauteed onions.
It took me like at least an hour the other night for french onion soup.
