Onions

[Tankstand]

OK Team!

I would like to hear everyone's opinion on how to cook those lovely mouth watering onions you always smell when you are either walking past bunnies or the local fundraiser or at someone elses BBQ!

I have never been able to achieve this and would love to know the secret!

Is it because I cook my BBQ's using canola oil?

Let the games commence!

[masoth]

Soooooooooo many waays of cooking onions, and sooooooo many types of oinon.

I never use 'healthy' oils. I will use:
* bacon fat;
* dripping (home collected, or store bought);
* real butter; and sometimes
* all mixed.
Experiment with spanish, white or brown onions, and the others which may be available to you. Undercook some, almost burn some.

I often add thinly sliced Granny Smith apple, tomato flesh (not the juices)
or both. This makes a change and can be more acceptable to those who shun onion.

Sausages have a high fat content and I think the smell you are talking of is the combination of cooking much onion and the snags fat. Small amounts cannot develop THAT aroma.

Sweating the sliced onion with salt added, say, in a saucepan till natural juice is produced is another idea. Cookin too soon after cutting is not the way to go.

[TARLOX]

Ive heard some people say that they always slice up a clove of garlic and through it on the BBQ with the onions.

I like to put a bit of honey and tooheys old beer on my onions.

[Andy Mac]

I used to cook BBQ's at the local turf club when I was a student. The chef who ran the kitchen told me it was important to get the smell right out there, so the punters couldn't resist the steak sandwiches I was cooking!! That involved a pile of onions always simmering on the side, and his trick was to add a good dose of pepper, well mixed in with a dash of water to keep the steam going. Apparently the pepper helps release the bouquet
If you want to caramelise the onions then add anything with sugar, like Tarlox's idea...Tooheys Old... and even a sprinkle of balsamic vinegar, but they won't last on the heat, the sugar will burn.

Cheers,

[masoth]

Yeah, what Andy Mac said.
I also use brown sugar because it contains more molassas flavour.

[Cliff Rogers]

Add a bit of water/beer/wine to get them steaming is good.

[Iain]

Olive oil and balsamic, cook slowly until it becomes caramalised, or5 just fry the crap out of them with oil.
We only use olive oil and peanut oil for asian food.

[masoth]

I've never seen a Nut pee, but I did once oil Olive.

[Tankstand]

Thanks one and all!

I have lots of experimenting to do!

MMMMM! Sugar & Beer!

[Auld Bassoon]

Hey Tankstand - you very obviously haven't been anywhere my local Bunnies as the stink, ahem! "aroma" issuing forth from the BBQ area at the front is, at best appalling, and more normally just plain nauseous :mad: . I do believe that the vendors there use secondhand MacOil.... Or is that MACK Oil ?:eek:

Like most sauteeing, it is best done with a knob of butter with a small dosh of olive oil (preferably Extra Virgin) to prevent the butter burning. If you just want softening, add some salt shortly after introducing the onions.

[Bob Willson]

The most important thing is that the oil is hot enough to make the onion sizzle when it is put on/in the hot plate/fry pan