The Lie of Caramelized Onions

[Goatman Saint]

In South Louisiana, not California.

Central Valley of California with family owned gas station/kitchens can hold their own against anything.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Central Valley of California with family owned gas station/kitchens can hold their own against anything.

That sounds like the making of a wager

Or Netflix reality cooking show

 

[mambodeath]

While following a weeknight pork ragú recipe from a celebrity chef who shall remain nameless, I came across the following, offending phrase in the method: “Cook onions until caramelized, 25 to 30 minutes.”

It doesn’t seem to matter how many articles, books, or cooking shows try to set the record straight. Even the experts among us cling to the hope that it’s possible to caramelize onions in 20 or 30 minutes, when in reality it takes about an hour to do it properly.

Perhaps we’re loath to commit so much time to an ingredient that always plays a supporting rather than starring role in recipes (unless you count this beloved braised onion pasta). Or maybe we’re playing a little fast and loose with the term “caramelize,” which at its simplest means the browning that occurs when foods containing sugar are introduced to heat. Searing sliced onions in neutral oil over high heat will indeed soften and make them deliciously brown in places in as little as 10 minutes.

But these are not Caramelized onions with a capital C: that intoxicating, mahogany jam that lends sweetness and rich, savory depth to everything it touches. Caramelized onions are “an onion transformed,” as chef and award-winning cookbook author Tamar Adler describes them—and they’re only achieved with time, attention, and patience.............

The *Right* Way to Caramelize Onions

Because there’s no such thing as caramelized onions in under an hour.

food52.com

 

[BarBar]

This is how I always do mine. Steam accelerates cooking.

But usually i don't have the patience. My wife hates onions so it's just for me anyway.

 

[Jimbo]

This is how I always do mine. Steam accelerates cooking.

But usually i don't have the patience. My wife hates onions so it's just for me anyway.

Similar method. Can be done in about 20 minutes with steaming and a little baking soda towards the end.

 

[Optimus Prime]

"It might be the most valuable journalistic work I’ve ever done."

That's reporter Tom Scocca, who has covered presidential elections and the Supreme Court nominations, reflecting on a piece he wrote five years ago for Slate in which he snuffed out recipe writers' biggest, baddest fib: the time it takes to caramelize onions.

The article, which indicted everyone from Melissa Clark (10 minutes to become "soft and caramelized," she says!) to Madhur Jaffrey (5 minutes for a "medium-brown colour"!), resurfaced last month, when Scocca realized that the featured Google search result for "How long does it take to caramelize onions?" drew—and, to add salt to the wound, directly from his article—on the very information his entire piece had set out to expose as false: "about 5 minutes."

(Since this revelation, the Google search results have been adjusted, now pulling a more relevant quote from his original Slate article.)

On Food52, we, too, have a lot of mixed information about onion caramelization in our archives. Some recipes say it takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to caramelize diced onions, while others recommend 30 to 40 minutes for thin slices.

The inconsistency isn't surprising: Our recipes are developed in the kitchens of home cooks who are using pans, different stoves, and different types of onions—and who are judging with their eyes and ears rather than by the time on the clock.

But to see how long caramelizing onions really take—and what they look like along the way—we caramelized three pans of onions (three onions, 1 tablespoon of butter, a stainless steel pan) for 15, 30, and 60 minutes over medium-high heat. Whenever the fond (those caramelized sugars that stick to the bottom) started to build up, we deglazed with a tablespoon of water, scraped up all of the flavorful bits, and started the whole process again.

You'll see in the photo that the onion volume reduced dramatically (after 60 minutes, three onions had turned into about 1/2 cup of deeply caramelized onion shmoo); the color changed from yellowish orange to a deep auburn; and what was once-astringent and watery turned candy-sweet and butter-soft. With this method, there was no defying time (and no outsmarting patience). But then again, some cooks might consider the 30-minute pan to be caramelized to perfection (as opposed to obliteration)—and for some applications, a half-hour might be plenty of time, indeed.

Next, we tried two tricks that are supposed to speed up the process: (1) adding baking soda (read more about the science behind that here), and (2) starting with the pan covered. (Both techniques also call for a bit of added sugar in order to speed up the caramelization process.)

In the end, neither method was significantly faster than the nothing-added 60-minute technique. But the onions they yielded differed in sweetness and softness in a way that might actually be preferable to you depending on how you're putting the alliums to use............

The Truth About Caramelizing Onions | McCormick

"It might be the most valuable journalistic work I’ve ever done."That's reporter Tom Scocca, who has covered presidential elections and the Supreme Court nomina

www.mccormick.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

Marcel’s Boudin Blanc. It’s homemade sausage with truffle and wine reduction. It taste like eating a cloud from heaven

Now closed - I always wanted to eat there

 

[Optimus Prime]

i normally don't caramelize my onions, i just do the lazy 'let them do whatever until my patience runs out' method. but.. a few months back, i accidentally made the best caramelize onions as i was kinda intoxicated and forgot about them until i went to fix a bowl of ice cream. perfection.

this may be my new method. no red onions allowed though. fork red onions.

Did you put the onions on the ice cream?

Restaurant I went to had a dessert that was vanilla ice cream and caviar which was crazy delicious

So the onions possibly might work

 

[sammymvpknight]

Now closed - I always wanted to eat there

I know. the building owner raised their rates and Robert Wiedmaier said “I’m out”. He has another restaurant but not the fine dining experience, and no boudin blanc.

Here is the recipe: https://thewinecoach.com/boudin-blanc-caramelized-onions-bacon-lardons-sauce/

Sadly, it would cost a ton of money and some cooking expertise in order to replicate the dish, even with the recipe. Since Marcel went under I actually have gotten into sausage making. I’ve definitely improved but I’m not quite ready to invest and attempt the boudin blanc yet. To my calculations…it would probably cost about $50/person even if you have the sausage equipment…largely because the foie gras, squab, and truffle.

 

[kcirdor]

This burns my butt... i tried to teach people how to do caramelized onions, low heat slow cooking... set it forget it. What do they do... "I know better" I am going to play with the onions non stop on high heat and burn them brown and claim they are caramelized. No it is not supposed to be sauteed onions, they are supposed to be caramelized.