Get Good at Caramelizing Onions
Recommended by Tanya
They’re going on spaghetti (with a splash of balsamic, wilted kale, parm and YOU’RE DONE, trust) they’re going with eggs, they’re never out of style. They teach patience (nobody’s getting brown if you STIR you gotta WAIT) and once you know how long they actually take*, you can calm down, crack a very cold seltzer, and stop burning them.
*I can’t say how long they actually take. No recipe I’ve seen has accurately recorded it. But once you know, the caramelization people come to your house and induct you into the group. It’s a weirdly short ceremony!
12 days ago
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@30something
A culinary discipline! I’m about to start Sunday dinner prep which will involve, lo & behold, caramelizing onions. I’ll be waiting with baited breath for the caramelization people to knock on my door with the same intensity and conviction that Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin to arrive, for there’d be no greater honor than to be inducted into their order (the truncated rites are a nice touch, cuz it’s a school night after all).
May I ask what’s your go-to oil for caramelizing properly? I found out recently that apparently EVOO actually isn’t great for this process..?
@30something
Sorry, for context, I’ve gotten well good at caramelizing using animal fats, but for a vegan option?
@trexsmith
This is fascinating as I’ve cut my caramelization teeth using EVOO — the thing that changed the game for me was forgetting that high heat even exists. The dial goes to middle and maybe a skosh above if we’re just preheating the pan. Keep it rocking at medium (or medium-high if you simply must), let the pan contact do the talking, and chill. As long as the oil shimmers when it meets the preheated pan, you’re in biz. Smoking oil is of course a terrible sign and it means you’re frizzling onions, not caramelizing them. The other thing I live by is not crowding the pan. Too many partygoers means too much liquid means nobody’s browning. Just the rantings of one 🧅 to another! May the Maillard be with you!
@30something
Grazie mille! All of this is super helpful 😀 yeah, the olive oil thing was something I read recently about using regular ol’ olive oil because apparently it does the job faster? Anyhow, I have no idea if that’s at all true or what, and frankly, I’m a committed subscriber to the doctrine that it doesn’t matter too much what you do in the kitchen as long as you don’t rush it!
@mariba60
Game changer - toss olive oil, butter and chopped onions in the slow cooker overnight! Wake up to the best smell ever and a mass of perfect carmelized onions.
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