why do my onions always rot?

[mrs.puff]

So I buy the 3lb bag of yellow onions at the store, and put them in a cool place under my sink, but inevitably one or two of them always go rotten. It's not like they're under there for a long time. I use onions a lot. What's the deal? Am I storing them wrong?

 

[FarmerChick]

under the sink?
is there ANY moisture there at all.
best to be kept in cool, dark, very dry place.

just checking????

then again, every now and then we are going to get a few that are going to rot. no reason I think...if it is one or 2 then that isn't too bad.

I hang mine. In a mesh bag for air circulation. When they "sit" on the floor and such, they don't get that good air circulation. might help ya.

that is about all I know..LOL-LOL

 

[miss_thenorth]

I keep mine in the stairwell of my garage. It is like a cold storage--cold but doesn't freeze, and dark. I have even bought the 10# bags before and they haven't gone bad. The only thing I can think of is maybe one of the onions were already on the verge of being bad, and then spoiled the rest. ?? maybe?? Is it damp under your sink?

Anyone else??

 

[me&thegals]

Do you also have potatoes under there? I've heard the 2 in combination cause the onions to go bad..

 

[enjoy the ride]

I agree with FarmerChick- cool, dry and dark (otherwise will sprout.) The only other thing I can think is to get onions that are good keepers- most reds and some whites are not good for long term storage. Yellow (especially the ones who can make you cry a river) are frequently better keepers. Also if you pick your own rather than buy a bag, look for tight, smooth ones without soft spots- soft spots mean already going bad.

 

[Cassandra]

mrs.puff, I wonder if we are getting our onions from the same place?! Mine have all been rotting the last few months, too. I told John I'm just going to have to start buying them and cutting most of them up to store in the freezer. Because I get to use the first one, then the next one I pull out (and all the rest of them in the bag) are turning brown and mushy inside.

I have been storing mine in one of those wooden vegetable bins with the potato bin on top and the onion drawer on the bottom. I have been losing potatoes this way, too. I think it may just be too warm in my house.

Cassandra

 

[mrs.puff]

Well, somebody did tell me that your onions aren't supposed to touch each other, but that seems ridiculous to me. No, it's not damp under my sink. They're actually under the cabinets, not really the sink. There's a space under there where we store some things, such as used plastic bags. Maybe I should be hanging them up.

Oh and by the way, frozen onions are nasty. They taste terrible in my opinion. I guess we'd be better off to buy just one or two at a time, and not the big bags.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I agree--frozen onions are nasty!!

 

[Cassandra]

Huh! Never would have thought. I buy bagged frozen onions some times that taste fine to me. I wonder if they do something to them.

Cassandra

 

[mrs.puff]

Store bought ones are probably flash-frozen, whereas our home cooks can't do that, unless you live at the north pole.