Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
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Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#2I read this article some time ago.
> In truth, the best time to caramelize onions is yesterday
Yep. I took the article's suggestions to heart, and now when I have a recipe requiring caramelized onions I take the time needed, or prep them in advance. Now my mujadara is pretty darn good.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#3The butter 'trick' is just browning the butter (which happens faster than onions) to add deep color and extra flavor to sauteed onions. For some bizarre reason the author interpreted this as blasting onions and olive oil at high heat until they were a charred mess, and then goes on to blame recipe writers for why they can't seem to cook onions. What a strange article.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#4The best way to carmelize onions is in a slow cooker. I used a cheapie one for years that I bought at a goodwill for $5.
Chop up enough onions to fill the vessel 1/2 to 2/3, leave it running overnight (8-10h), wake up next morning to perfectly carmelized onions.
Now drain the juice, portion them out and store them in the freezer (store the juice too for onion soup). Now any time you need carmelized onions, take a portion out of the freezer and thaw. Depending on the recipe you can use them as-is (soggy) or crisp them up in a pan.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#5(2012)
Top past discussion here from a couple years back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27632835
See also: https://slate.com/comments/human-interest/2012/05/how-to-coo...
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#6At some point the words become more powerful than what they're referring to. At that point, even if you know better, you're afraid to deviate.
I think they call it "post structuralism".
We see it in social media all the time.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#7I dunno about 10 minutes, but in my very limited experience it's easier to crank the heat up when you have several pounds of onions. Otherwise, if you're just carmelizing one onion, stirring doesn't really allow you to temporarily remove the onion from the heat, whereas if you have a large amount of onions you're basically turning over the whole lot.
I've only made French onion soup once or twice, but I make Italian sausage, peppers, and onions regularly. I'm not shy about cranking the heat up, but with just 1 onion and 2 bell peppers some of the onions invariably end up a little burnt even before they've begun to carmelize; but in that dish that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I use the microwave to make a dark Cajun gumbo roux. I'm curious if the microwave would work well for carmelizing a small amount of onion. Though, using the microwave for a roux isn't much faster than using a pan; it's just more difficult to fsck-up.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#8My theory about cookbooks: They are not designed for cooking or even cooks.
Instead, the books are fantasy, to let the reader imagine that they could, will, might cook delicious meals and get praise, affection, love, and approval from their family, friends, and dinner guests. And for the onions, part of the fantasy is how easy the cooking will be -- brown the onions in at most 10 minutes.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#9They lie about making a roux, too.
The key to making a dark roux, as is used in Cajun cooking, is stirring, scraping, and homogeneity. You can crank the heat on high and stir for about 10-15 minutes, or you can keep it over medium and stir for an hour. If you stir like you're supposed to, you can get the same roux in less than half the time. A good wooden spoon (soft enough to scrape the bottom of the pot) that can get into the corners of a pot and a little elbow grease is all you need.
So why do they tell you that you need to stir for so long? Because if you screw it up, you've gotta start over.
Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)
#10The butter 'trick' is just browning the butter (which happens faster than onions) to add deep color and extra flavor to sauteed onions. For some bizarre reason the author interpreted this as blasting onions and olive oil at high heat until they were a charred mess, and then goes on to blame recipe writers for why they can't seem to cook onions. What a strange article.
If it's just browning the butter, it's not really caramelizing the onions. I could get brown onions with any number of coloring agents, but it's not the same thing.