Slow Cooker Caramelizing Onions

[dragnlaw]

Put a mess of onions on to caramelize. About 3 or maybe 4 lbs and the slow cooker is to the top. Couple of tablespoons butter and away she goes!

 

[pacanis]

I tried that before, kind of, but the recipe called for balsamic vinegar.
I had to move it outside. Holy Moly that crock pot was putting out an odor.

 

[pictonguy]

What are you using them for?

 

[HeyItsSara]

i've heard that people who cook a ton of onions at one time in order to freeze them and use them intermittently haven't been happy with the results.

 

[blissful]

@dragnlaw, I used a recipe of cooking in a crockpot with a little butter from @bethzaring . It is similar to what I see you are doing.
What are you making them for? to go with?

 

[Andy M.]

I don't have a slow cooker so I just do them in a big frypan. Takes a while but boy are they delicious!

 

[KatyCooks]

I think we should all takes guesses until Dragn tells us the answer! I will go with Onion Soup!

 

[BAPyessir6]

i've heard that people who cook a ton of onions at one time in order to freeze them and use them intermittently haven't been happy with the results.

I am one of those people who cooked a ton of caramelized onions and freezed them for later.

I used them all within 6 months of making them.

I froze them then vacuum sealed shortly after.

After thawing and comparing with freshly made, this was my opinion. While the texture is slightly more jammy or soft, I do think it's very convenient to be able to pull them out of the freezer to make burgers (with onions) or even French onion soup which I made myself a serving of (5 months later) and was very happy with them.

While the texture was maybe an 8 out of 10 (they were softer but not like super mushy), taste was identical.

(I had a post/discussion on this very topic of my own experience and comparison results with freezing slow cooker onions and I will link it now)

Does anyone here freeze caramelized onions?

I love caramelized onions, but making them is such a pain sometimes. As I am quite lazy, I'm curious as to if you can freeze either sliced onions and caramelized them later (bursting the cells, potentially making "caramelization" I.e. breakdown faster, though water is probably an issue), or...

www.discusscooking.com

 

[dragnlaw]

I hadn't really decided. I got that huge bag of onions and rather than see them just sit there and rot I would caramelize them and freeze in portions. Some for soup, some for toppings on meats. For what ever I can think of. I'll also be giving some to upstairs as that is a big pot for just one person.
And there is at least another pot I could make... but no right now.
There is a smell but I don't find it obnoxious.
I will be waiting till a couple of hours before they are finished as to whether or not I add sugar (but I really doubt it) or even the balsamic, all of which had been suggested in the recipe itself. I've read many recipes - all seemed pretty much the same.

 

[taxlady]

That's funny to see this thread pop up today. I caramelized onions in the oven for soup today. I read through an old thread here and used @Aunt Bea's instructions. Here's a link to the old thread. It's only two pages long.

Slow cooker onion base

I have just put some on and the kitchen smells like a hotdog stall. Fill your slow cooker with sliced onions, a bit of butter and cook for 10 hours. The base freezes well. The possibilities for using the onion goop are endless, but my first port of call is french onion soup. Has anyone tried...

www.discusscooking.com