The Reason You Shouldn't Only Use Butter To Caramelize Onions - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

The Reason You Shouldn't Only Use Butter To Caramelize Onions - Tasting Table? ›

According to Bon Appétit, the best caramelized onions are made with a combination of both butter and oil. Caramelized onions require slow cooking on the stove over an extended period of time, but butter has a relatively low smoking point. That means it'll burn before your onions have the chance to fully caramelize.

Our Test Kitchen likes to use butter when caramelizing onions, as it offers the richest flavor. If you avoid dairy or don't have butter, you can caramelize onions in other fat such as margarine or olive oil. Add the onion slices. It's okay if they overlap a bit here because they'll shrink as they cook down.

Butter is not necessary. In fact, you can caramelize without any fat. The browning of the sugars in the product is what creates caramelization. To caramelize without fat, chop or slice onion, place in pan with a little salt.

Cooking onions longer at a lower heat results in soft and golden brown onions. This breaks down the natural sugars, so the onions taste extra sweet. We recommend using butter for the best flavor.

You're not sautéing your onions—you're trying to slowly coax flavor out of them. It takes time, probably a solid 45 minutes, for the onions' sugars to caramelize. If your heat is too high, the onions will burn. Heat your pan over medium-low, then add your onions.

First, the water in the butter is cooking out, concentrating the butter's flavor. Second, the butter's milk solids caramelize, flavoring the butter with their nutty richness and extending the life of the butter.

I usually stick with balsamic vinegar because the flavor complements the onions perfectly. Not only will deglazing pull up tasty sticky bits, it will add even more flavor to your caramelized onions. Continue stirring the onions until they have reached the color you like.

The trick is to leave them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't brown), but not so long so that they burn. After the first 20 to 30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a little, and add a little more oil, if you find the onions are verging on burning.

You will need to add more vegetable broth (1/4 cup at a time) as time passes to prevent burning, but the KEY to perfect caramelization without oil is to only add more broth once all of the previously added liquid has completely cooked off.

When you add baking soda, the onions start to turn to mush as they caramelize. Delicious mush. But something closer to jam.

Do you caramelize onions with the lid on or off? ›

Cover the pot with a lid, and then turn the burner on to medium-low heat. Cook covered until the onions have mostly broken down and are a pale brown sludge (about 45-60 minutes). Be sure to stir the pot periodically, checking to make sure the onions aren't burning.

Around 30 Minutes: Onions should be light blonde in color and starting to become jammy. More fond is starting to build up, but it should still be fairly easy to scrape it up with the evaporating liquid from the onions. Around 40 Minutes: Onions are golden and starting to smell very caramelized.

Caramelize the onions: Heat about 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onions and stir to coat. Let cook, stirring every 5-10 minutes, until deeply caramelized, about 1 ½ - 2 hours.

The only ingredients strictly necessary to caramelize onions are onions and a bit of fat (butter or oil, your choice!) to cook them in and keep them from sticking from the pan.

Baking soda makes the onions more alkaline, which speeds up the browning reactions necessary for properly caramelized onions. But it also weakens the pectin that holds the onion's cells together, turning what should be soft but distinct pieces of browned onion into a nauseating stew of pea-green mush.

The only ingredients strictly necessary to caramelize onions are onions and a bit of fat (butter or oil, your choice!) to cook them in and keep them from sticking from the pan.

So adding water and covering the skillet causes the raw onions to wilt faster and more evenly as the water turns to steam. Then, uncover the skillet and begin a process of pressing the softened onions into the bottom and sides of the skillet for maximum contact—and maximum browning.