Freezing diced onions to preserve?

[~gd]

I freeze onions all the time but I have noticed that the walla walla's have more water in them than others. Only time I noticed a problem is when I tried to saute with mushrooms. Seemed to take forever.

Well, I don't have experience with the frozen onions yet... if I did, I would not have started this tbread, but...

I know that when I sautee onions with other things (mushrooms, peppers, etc) I usually have to start the onions in the fry pan before the other things. Always a matter of timing. And mushrooms don't take very long, by comparison.

Now I suppose what you're saying here is that this is the case with the frozen onions, only more so. ???

I don't see how the freezing of the onions can add water - but only bring it out of the cells of the onion bits.

Walla walla onions are very juicy. The term saute means different things to different people but the fact is that you won't get a proper saute with a cool pan. so even with fresh Walla walla you have to drive off the moisture for the pan/oil toget up to temp. With frozen onions. mushrooms or peppers tend to thaw in the pan and steam in the moisture they release before they start to saute [this is one of the reasons that a true saute pan is more shallow with lower sides than a 'frying' pan of the same diameter] to get rid of the steam faster. I think that if you leave out the onions and use frozen peppers/mushrooms the saute will not be as good as fresh produce. For your final comment freezing can indeed add moisture as it condences on the frozen surfaces but the important factor is that you are adding cold to your pan with frozen Products unless you preheat them. ~gd

 

[WyoLiving]

Frozen onions will be mushy when thay thaw - they release alot of moisture when they freeze and break the cell walls. They work very well in cooked dishes and they take less time to cook/saute after they are frozen. I always dice a whole onion when dicing, and throw the extra into the freezer. That way if I only need a little bit of onion or am in hurry, I can use the pre-diced frozen ones.

 

[redneck steve]

DO IT ALL THE TIME , HAVE ONIONS YEAR ROUND WITHOUT ANY GOING BAD

 

[~gd]

DO IT ALL THE TIME , HAVE ONIONS YEAR ROUND WITHOUT ANY GOING BAD

Helpfull, Steve but just what are the details of the IT that you do 'all the time' ?