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| Good morning- I have a great harvest of onions this year and need to process them quickly. I rarely use onions raw so how I preserve them isn't a concern. I'm looking for ideas to get this done quickly. So - would the fastest and best way be to chop them and freeze them or do I need to cook them first? Thanks for all suggestions. Cindy |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I just chop and freeze in ziploc bags. If you freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then bag them, you can just take out what you need for a recipe. You can carmelize some in a crockpot too and freeze them that way. The house will smell great, assuming you like the smell of carmelized onion. Freeze in bags or box-style containers. Deanna |
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| Agree. Just chop (my food processor does them just right) and freeze in bags. I bag them in measured amounts of 1 cup and 2 cups and mark the bags. Our personal preference is to chop and dehydrate them. Chop spread out on the dehydrator sheets and run dehydrator outside to avoid the odor. Indefinite storage and takes up much less space and use is the same. Dave |
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- Posted by myfamilysfarm 5b (My Page) on Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 11:59
| I had a excess of Candy onions a few years ago. I canned them. Just cook them in water til translucent, then pack in jars using the onion water. Pressure can, I don't remember how long tho. They worked well for chili and the like. To me, they worked better than freezing them. I used 1/2 pints, since I didn't need alot of onion for any recipe. |
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| Thanks for the great ideas. Think that I will chop and freeze half of them and then dehydrate the other half. Thanks again. Cindy |
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| ed them. Just cook them in water til translucent, then pack in jars using the onion water. Pressure can, I don't remember how long tho. That's new to me. I didn't know there were any tested and approved instructions for canning onions except pickled or caramelized. Were did you find the instructions? I'm curious what the processing time would be that wouldn't turn them to mush? Dave |
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| I found a published recipe for carmelized onions for canning in the new Canning magazine from Better Homes and Gardens. I'm not sure of the rules of how to post the recipe since it comes from a magazine but let me know if you are interested. It uses the BWB method for 15 mins of 1/2 pint containers. They also have a recipe for pickled Juniper-Maple cocktail onions. |
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| I don't have anything to add except to emphasize the importance of running a dehydrator outside. Our house stank for days after I dehydrated a bunch of onions! |
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| Seasyde - Good to know. I don't think that I would can them as it's too hot outside and I don't want to heat up the house and I need to get this done fairly quickly. Last year I had to throw out onions because they spoiled before I got to them. Thinking about putting the food dehydrator in the garage. Thanks all. Cindy |
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| Recipe is from Canning for Dummies website (linked below). Posted by digdirt 6 -7 AR (My Page) on ed them. Just cook them in water til translucent, then pack in jars using the onion water. Pressure can, I don't remember how long tho. That's new to me. I didn't know there were any tested and approved instructions for canning onions except pickled or caramelized. Were did you find the instructions? I'm curious what the processing time would be that wouldn't turn them to mush? Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: Canning Onions
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| Thanks Malna. Good link to bookmark. Dave |
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| In addition to chopping and freezing, I also chop and sauté before freezing. I don't go so far as carmelizing, just cooking. I use my crockpot a lot, and i find I prefer sautéed onions when adding to a soup or the crockpot. |
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- Posted by myfamilysfarm 5b (My Page) on Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 9:41
| I don't remember where I found the directions, probably out of 1 of my many canning preseversing books that I have. I have many many versions of the Blue Book, each year or 2 they come out with different recipes in their book. |
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| I had the same problem this year...a lot of onions that weren't keeping well. I chopped a lot for the freezer but freezer is full now. I have canned them in the past, but found I didn't really like them that way. The only advantage is that they were shelf stable and didn't take up freezer space. I have also dehydrated them, but find I never use them. Don't know why, as they are easy to add to things. Maybe because I mostly sauté or stir fry the onions into my dishes. This year, I processed onion relish, Bread and Butter pickles, using only onions and bell peppers, and onions in red wine vinegar. Those haven't sat long enough to test for flavor, so I don't know how I will like any of those, except for the onion relish. It was really good (I had one left over that didn't fit in the canner, so just refrigerated it and began using it immediately. All of these instructions/recipes can be found in one of the approved canning books, such as So Easy to Preserve, National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), Ball Complete, Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving, or Ball Blue Book. One thing I did new this year that I am absolutely raving about, is the method of freezing onion rings that is listed in So Easy To Preserve (which are the same instructions you will find at NCHFP). The only change I made to it was to use all pancake mix for the coating instead of half cornmeal and half pancake mix. I tried it according to directions the first time, but thought the cornmeal "grittiness" detracted from the texture. Loved it when I switched them to all pancake mix (used dry). I'm linking to the instructions for freezing the onion rings. Just wish I'd tried these earlier before I'd used other methods to preserve most of the onions. And I wish I had more freezer room for them, because they take up more room than diced onions. I sure wish I could remember which variety of onions we planted about three years ago that stored well for months in my cool, dry pantry (I'm in hot humid southeast Texas...no cellars or basements here). Subsequent onions haven't stored well. This year's variety was granex yellow onions and grew so large and many of them divided into two or three onions attached to each other. Thankfully, I am finally done with the onion harvest and preservation methods. Just wish I had been able to keep some of them for fresh use. Jill |
Here is a link that might be useful: freezing onions and onion rings
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| Jill - try using Bisquick rather than plain pancake mix. Even better when fried IMO. Dave |
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| I'll certainly give the Bisquick a try. I don't keep pancake mix on my shelf, and had to buy it for specifically for the onions. I was even thinking to make up my own pancake mix. I never even thought to use something like this (either Bisquick or pancake mix) for the onion rings, and was always trying a different method, trying to come up with the perfect onion ring. These are delicious and easy, too. I've even been using an egg wash and the dry mix on fried squash and fried okra with good success. The okra, with the pancake mix, was the best way I have ever cooked it. I had been using plain cornmeal, and this is so much better. Thanks for the tip about the Bisquick. I'm much more likely to have a box of that on hand than the pancake mix. Jill |
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| Onion rings - yum! Thanks for that info. Cindy |
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- Posted by myfamilysfarm 5b (My Page) on Sun, Jul 14, 13 at 16:27
| In one restaurant that I worked in, they dipped the onion rings in the cheapest pancake mix with beer. They were great. We used the same mix for shrimp. This restaurant was known for their onion rings and shrimp. |
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| I had this issue this year. Last year I couldn't process them fast enough and had many go to waste. So this year I dehydrates several quart jars worth (cut in rings and dried). I made several rounds of carmelized onions in the crockpot and froze in 1/2 cup bags. And the rest are hung in net bags in the doorway of my pantry - sort of a new take on "beaded curtains". I bought long skinny bags from Dixondale Farms in TX and dropped in an onion (or two if small) tied a knot, then the next onion... So far this is working very well. I started using onions today and loved having them in the knotted bag. Next year I will dehydrate even more. That seems to have worked very well. I can let you know on how the carmelized onions worked this fall! |
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- Posted by myfamilysfarm 5b (My Page) on Mon, Jul 15, 13 at 8:57
| some people have suggestions using clean pantyhose for the net bags, if anyone still has any (runners are ok). Otherwise if they are the storage type of onion, you can dry the onion on old screens in the shade, turning every week or so, for about 4-5 weeks, then bag and store in cool dry area. Unfortunately the sweet onions will not keep more than 3-4 months, while storage can be kept 8-9 months. |
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| When you are prepping the onion rings, do you blanch the rings as stated on the NCHFP site? Thanks. Cindy |
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| I did not blanch the onion rings. Mainly because I don't blanch my chopped onions, either. Jill |
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| I do blanch them. Dave |
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| Onion Rings for the freezer, hadn't thought of that, will likely at least try it out. Also, if anyone is interested, here is a very good recipe for a dry pancake/biscuit mix. It has become our favorite. I just mix it up in a re-closable plastic bag and plop it in the cupboard. A doubled recipe will just fit in a gallon bag. (I use just plain whole wheat flour, not pastry, because I just buy a recipe's worth from the "bulk" bins at the store.) |
Here is a link that might be useful: Organic Valley Dry Pancake Mix recipe
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