Good Question: Cooking Onions

Dear Kitchen,

When I'm sautéing onions, some of them burn while others don't cook enough. I feel like I'm stirring them enough, and I use enough fat, but still, they often come out uneven.

Thanks,
Tina

(To All Good Questions)

Dear Tina,

You didn't say what kind of pan you're using, but my guess is that it's not heavy enough and/or does not conduct heat evenly, leaving you with hot spots that burn the onions. If you don't want to get a new pan, try really focusing on stirring constantly to ensure that no piece of onion hangs out too long in one place.

Comments (2)

yeah, it's definitely the pan. thin pots have trouble distributing heat evenly. Allclad and enameled cast iron do a much better job. ;-)

oh, I should add how I actually caramelize my onions for french onion soup...

enameled cast iron pan on about 30% of max gas flame. about 4T olive oil, and 3 huge onions sliced thin. Add salt. First, liquid will come out of the onions and they will steam. Stir occassionally. Then, the liquid will dry up and the caramelization will begin. Once the onions begin to take the slightest bit of color, stir every 3 min. If they begin to stick, add oil. Scrape the pan down every time you stir (don't burn the fond at the bottom of the pot!). The whole process takes about 35 min for 'hot dog onion' stage, and about 45 min for french onion soup stage. (if you want to make the soup, then add about 3 liters of water and extra salt, scrape the fond from the pan and let simmer for about 25 min. adjust salt, and transfer to a bowl containing a small piece of french bread and some shredded gruyere). the enameled cast iron pot is key for proper onion fond