I have all 3 methods available.... what is the quality like from each method? If frozen or canned, are they still good sautéed?

Specifically for sauteeing? Canned as caramelized onions are fantastic. But then they are fantastic right out of the jar too. Canned plain, probably ok but softer and some flavor loss. Dried - if very lightly rehydrated first - fine. Frozen are pretty soft when thawed so you can sautee them but they will burn faster.

But honestly I don't sautee much. Just not my cooking style. Either dried or frozen can just be added to most recipes as is. Dehydrating gives them a lightly roasted flavor or maybe toasted is a better word. Frozen, other than being softer, are just like fresh for taste.

Dave

I don't see a recipe for canned onions on the NCHFP webpage. Caramelized onions have oil too which raises an eyebrow... is there an "approved" recipe for this?

... Sorry, I think you mean to caramelize after canning? Still I can't find a recipe from a reputable source....

The instructions for canning caramelized onions, the approved and tested recipe, comes from the book Small Batch Preserving. It is considered a fully reliable resource. The color/type of onion used is optional and the recipe can be proportionately increased as needed but is for 1/2 pint jars only.

2 large red onions -- peeled
1/4 cup brown sugar -- firmly packed
1 cup dry red wine
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Slice onions very thinly. Combine onions and sugar in a heavy skillet (non-acidic). Cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 25 minutes or until onions turn golden and start to caramelized, stirring frequently.

Stir in wine and vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon into a clean wide-mouth jar and cool briefly.

Remove hot jars from canner and ladle relish into jars to within 1/2-inch of rim. Process 10 minutes for half-pint jars. (BWB)

"from "Small-Batch preserving""
Yield:
"2 cups"

_________________

There are several other canning recipes for them out there but they have some iffy ingredients - like lots of oil or butter - and they claim to off-set that issue with very long pressure processing times (like 70 mins. @ 10 lbs. for 1/2 pints) so using any of them all depends on your personal comfort level.

At the very least, if I was going to use one of them (NOT ;-), I would minimize the amount of oil used, drain the onions well after cooking before filling the jars rather than packing them in the oil/butter as some of them call for, and reheat them before consuming. Or they can be used and then frozen rather than canned.

Dave

I am not canning onions in oil... that is one thing I would definitely not be comfortable with :)

Is there any other way they can be canned, pressure canned without all that acid etc? I'm not sure I understand that recipe, cook onions and sugar in a skillet, without any oil? Does that really work?

I think I may just freeze some... will they store longer in the refrigerator? Should I cure them a while before refrigerating? They are on the porch at the moment.

Onion Ring Party!! You can freeze them to throw in stir fry or roasts!

That's a great idea! They can be used as sides too. Any good recipes?

"I am not canning onions in oil... that is one thing I would definitely not be comfortable with :)"

Me neither.

Other ways to can - pickled. Lots of pickled onions recipes. Enough vinegar makes just about anything canning-safe. There is also a great IMO onion and peppers chunky relish at NCHFP.

You can can them as a quasi onion soup using the soup instructions (1/2 and 1/2) and process them as 'soup'. Might be worth trying it but I never have so no idea what the end quality would be.

Now in theory, you should be able to boil and put plain sliced or chopped onions in a jar, fill it with hot water or even vegetable broth and pressure can them just like any other vegetable. Problem is we have no calculated processing time for doing that because the powers that be decided that the end result would be of such poor quality (mush) to not be worth it. So would we use the processing time for green beans or corn or peppers or etc? We just don't know.

But if you want to have true onion flavor months from now and do it fast and easy then freezing them is the way to go unless freezer space is simply not available. In that case dehydrate them (but do it outside or the smell will drive you out of the house.)

And if you have freezer space then Renee is right - bread or batter them and freeze as onion rings.

Dave

PS: yeah the onion and brown sugar works. Just use low heat.

Peter, frozen chopped onions work great for every recipe we've put them in (stuffing, soup, stir fry, sauces, chili...). I also had a huge onion harvest this year. I've frozen a lot of them, pickled some, braided some, and am hoping there'll be enough to make salsa, etc. when I have enough other ingredients.

Dave, does the end result of your canned caramelized onion recipe taste "pickled", or is it pretty close to freshly made caramelized onions? My DH won't eat my pickled onions...he has a strange relationship with onions!

P.S. you really need to double-bag the frozen onions to avoid sharing their pungency with other things in the freezer.

I will freeze some raw, but I am thinking the best thing might be to freeze some cooked. Onion rings, and the like.

I wonder if you can freeze caramelized onions ready to go, if it would come out good?

Last year I had a bounty of onions and along with the dehydration (wonderful for use in cooking sauces like marinara) I made and pressure canned onion soup. It was very high quality.

NCHFP has a recipe for frozen onion rings. They are quite good, but take up more space than chopped onions in the freezer.

In my opinion, the best storage option is to store as many as you can in a cool, dry, dark, ventilated environment. They will keep a pretty good while if harvested and cured correctly and stored properly. Some varieties keep longer than others. Sweet varieties do not keep as long.

The next best option is chopped and frozen. I do not blanch my onions although the NCHFP recommends it. These are perfect for adding to cooked dishes, casseroles, etc.

I have tried various canned recipes and haven't found any I liked yet.

Freezing onions (and onion rings)

They are actually quite pungent. I think it is just my growing conditions. The red onions I grew are so pungent they are difficult to chop.

I am going to try storing them. When they start going bad I will try to preserve the rest, frozen raw and as onion rings.

Real caramelized onions (with oil or butter, NO sugar!!!) freeze just fine. I caramelize 10-15 pounds at a time and freeze them in portions of 1 cup and 2 cups.

Peter - I think you have a good plan for using all of those onions. For the Onion Rings I really like the recipe in this link. I use plain Panko for the bread crumbs. I do a marathon session making about 10 lb. of rings at a time. I flash freeze them on cookie sheets first and then put them into freezer bags. Don't use a vacuum sealer!!

To reheat - about 5 minutes @ 400 degrees turning 1/2 way.

Old fashioned onion rings

Jack, you are frying them before freezing, right? I wonder how they would freeze just ready-to-fry instead?

Dave

Yes I fry them and then flash freeze. I guess you could batter them and then flash freeze them as well. Never thought about doing that. They will store well in the freezer for 2-3 months if most of the air is removed but eventually some frost will build up in the bag.

I saute mine before freezing too in 1 cup portions. Makes it easy to use.

As for frying them, then freezing, I don't do it..oil never totally freezes and the quality of the onions isn't right for me. I never blanch my onions, just cut and freeze in zip locks. They are great for frying, soups, stews that way. Still have a texture to them. I like dehydrated onions, but find that you have to chop them to get them to dry in this century! Not bad, I use chopped onions, too...but prefer larger chunks! I don't think canned onions are anything I'd prefer..I think they'd come out very mushy...kind of kills the fun of onions! Admit, though, never had canned onions!

I didn't wind up doing anything with them. I gave some away, kept the rest in a wire bin and they stored 2 months no problem. They are just getting almost finished up. I have some red storage ones on the back burner when the Ailsa Craigs are gone.

I did put them in the veggie burgers and "meat"balls I made for freezing.

"They stored 2 months no problem". Exactly! Onions aren't particularly perishable. They don't need processing. If thoroughly ripened and dried they should store for a lot longer than 2 months.

Floral - some types do store well over 3 months but some not. Ailsa Craig is supposed to be one with short storage.

This weekend I opened a mesh bag of Superstar white onions that were harvested in late June and were hanging in my 65 degree basement. There were a couple in the middle of the bag that had started to get mushy on the stem end and had to be tossed. I checked the other bag and all of them were still OK.

I decided to go ahead and chop and freeze most of the Superstar to avoid any more casualties. There were a few more that were showing early signs of sprouting when I cut them open.

65f is pretty hot in my climate;-) They store much better in cooler places. 30f - 45f is optimal.

Mine were stored at room temperature, after curing on a hot porch.

My soil produces some very pungent bulbs. Even the Ailsa Craigs had a fair pungency to them. Cutting the red ones was excruciating. I had to go wash my face after cutting a couple yesterday.

Floral. I won't have anywhere in the 30-45 degree range to store onions for another month or 2 and then I can move what is left of the Candy and Red Candy to my garage.

One produce drawer of my kitchen frig is currently occupied by some French Fingerling and Yukon Gold potatoes that I am trying to keep in good shape to use for next year's seed as an experiment. If these store well then I am going to order a couple other varieties from Main Potato Lady or Moose's Tubers to plant next spring as well. I am looking at ordering Pinto (fingerling) and German Butterball which I can't get locally. I don't want to spend the money on them if I am not able to keep seed tubers from one year to another.

Sounds painful Peter! Maybe you need a pair of of these :) Onion goggles

Lone Jack, I bought some French Fingerlings 5 or 6 years ago and every year I save some for next year's planting. I find they store well in my back room, which is about 45 or 50 degrees all winter here in Michigan. They do sprout, and that just helps them get a head start on growing, I think. They do well and are prolific, and all from a single order of them all those years ago.

This year I grew Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac, Adirondack Blue and the fingerlings. Yup, it was the grandkid's idea, red/white/blue potatoes for our county fair competition. My Grandson got a second place. (grin) The fingerlings, the blues and the reds were all kept over from last year's harvest, but I bought the golds. I'll be trying to keep some of those too this year.

Good luck!

Annie

That's good to know Annie thank you! After it cools down here I can take the potatoes out of the frig and store them in my semi heated garage which usually stays in the 40s most of the winter unless it gets real cold outside. If it gets down near zero outside I would have to bring them in to avoid them freezing. If I screw it up this year I can get the French Fingerling and Yukon Gold seed locally for under $1 a pound. Next year will be the real test if I splurge on the expensive seed tubers plus shipping.

Congratulations to your grandson on the county fair competition!

I have gotten my seed potatoes from Ronniger's Potato Garden and have been very satisfied. They offer many unique and certified varieties. I don't have anywhere to store tubers over winter, plus I am concerned about tomato diseases etc overwintering on them.

Congrats on the grandkid win Annie :)

Something I have done is slice up a huge batch of onions and put them in the crockpot with butter (I think you could use oil) for half a day on low, which makes caramelized onions. Then you can freeze them in individual portion sized containers. I used small plastic freezer containers. If you google this you can find instructions for it. You could also do a traditional sautee and freeze that too.