I am no chef, just a home cook but I tend to think mostly in terms of physics and chemistry (due to degeneration from my profession). For many years I have added salt and water at the start when I needed to brown onions or mushrooms. My thinking was: the salty water creates an osmotic potential to draw out the water from the onions (or mushrooms) together with the sugars and the steaming softens them so that the contact area increases (as you said yourself) boosting the browning. I never thought much of it, but it is fun to see how now this seems to have become something that people talk about in channels that I have always loved, such as yours.
Makes me wonder about dry salting the onions cold, then letting them macerate - much like when making kraut. Thus, no water is added, and the initial step doesn't require watching a hot pan. Another option that occurs to me is blanching, letting them drain/dry, then proceeding.
@@knickly I do this. I once did it accidentally bc i just put the onions and salt in a pan and got distracted (adhd). When i came back some liquid had released and it turned out really well. This actually led me to just adding water myself though as it is just easier imo thank leaving raw onions hanging about, especially because of the smell and tears.
I was taught to do it this way nearly 20 years ago by my mom, and she learned it working in a hotel kitchen years before that, so this trick has definitely been around for a while.
Every video you produce is so wonderful, informative, and yet succinct! Far and away, among the finest producers on the tube. I REALLY appreciate them and all your hard work!!! And furthermore, your propensity to look into those tales spun by those old wives has proven helpful in opening my mind! GOD BLESS!!!
Excellent point about heat settings. Most people in the US have an electric stovetop. Anytime a recipe says high heat I start on medium high. If it says medium high I go to medium. High heat on most electric cook tops for more than a couple minutes is hot enough to warp your pan, burn your food and maybe vaporize Teflon which is poisonous.
The only people I know that have electric stove are people that live in apartments. I've never seen anybody living in an actual house have an electric stove.
I recently came across a different take on this method, it used a stainless pan and used 3 additions of water. A larger first addition while covered to steam and once they start caramelizing and a good fond develops like you said deglaze with water and all of the stuff will be picked up by the onions, keep going and when a second fond forms again deglaze again, when the last addition of water is all gone the onions should be nice and caramelized and covered with all the stuff from the pan.
Yes, this is how I've been doing it for ages, and as someone else said, it eliminates the need for teflon. As for vegetables other than onions, I'm curious to try Brian Lagerstrom's method for quick weeknight meals, wich is pretty much the reverse: quick hard sear, and them a splash of water to help them finishing cooking.
I was wondering about all that lovely fond in the pan being left behind. I assume you could deglaze and use it for sauces too, but with the onions you want the flavor IN the onions
Great tip!! THANKS!! I gave up nonstick pans ages ago as I got sick of them failing - even the really expensive ones. I regularly polish my pans with fine metal polish - and nothing sticks - and they're so much healthier than nonstick.
I do this with onions in a cast iron skillet. I do have the issue with some browning sticking to the pan but since I often do one pan meals I'm able to recover a lot of that browning and flavor with the addition of the next ingredient. Love the note of knowing your pan and stove to be careful with the heat. You have incredibly thorough content and I appreciate how much time you spent in exploring this concept to share with us!
I have done it like this for ages. We have a national dish where you need huge amounts of caramelized onions and this is the fastest way to do it. Results do not depend on the pot or pan.
I've tried this and it's pretty cool. I hated how oily the onions got with adding extra oil along the way, so I switched to deglazing with a little water instead & pleasantly surprised. When I saw Lan's video it validated everything I'd been doing so I told my husband I was a genius and didn't even know it. 😂
MTB is a technique I developed years ago to lower the calories in my onion soup. Like STB, MTB (Microwave To Brown) requires less oil to cook the onions. MTB requires less attention than STB because you can’t burn anything in the microwave. Using a work bowl with a lid in the microwave is easier, and you can reserve the vegetable juice as an ingredient or to deglaze the pan later on. I generally use the microwave anytime one would sweat vegetables in traditional cooking. While some attenuation and stirring are needed for even cooking, it’s faster, easier, and more fool proof than a traditional sweat.
Great idea, whats the timing you generally use before finishing in the pan? Probably undercook in the microwave to finish on high heat with light oil in a pan?
Utterly brilliant video! Bravo and thank you for rigorously testing this and commenting and giving us such great insight with actual physical testing across multiple vegetables and liquids and reporting the results!
You're the first person I thought of when I saw the Test Kitchen video! I knew you'd take it to the next level and you did not disappoint. Thank you for all the hard work, testing and good advice!
Just discovered this channel.. I'm so impressed with how articulate you are and how smoothly you speak. Its like you're reading from a professional article or book! But even better in my opinion.
I love that you're talking about this, Helen! I have been trying to share thoughts on this for a while. Although I am very surprised to hear you say that the stainless steel method doesn't work for this, and you got bad sticking. I exclusively use stainless steel for the "STB" caramelized onions, and I get wonderfully dark and rich jammy onions. The secret is to use the moisture in the onions to deglaze the fond between browning sessions. Just by taking it off the heat for 60 seconds, the fond in the stainless softens and can be mixed back into the onions. Here, I'll paste what I posted on that Lan Lam video you mentioned, since it already explains what I mean: "Been doing the caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms in a similar way for years, and people always tell me I'm crazy. But a couple of things here aren't entirely the best technique. There is no need to start in a cold pan. I know ATK has this obsession with suggesting things be started in a cold pan, but here, it honestly makes zero sense, especially for the mushrooms. Also, for the onions, if you start in a preheated pan, there really isn't much need to cover them with a lid. As the hot steam passes through the onions, they will begin to wilt just fine. Sure, covering them may speed up this process marginally, but not enough to justify cleaning another dish. Here are my methods: (CARAMELIZED ONIONS) Preheat the pan on medium heat (I prefer stainless steel). Slice enough onions to almost overflow the pan (a lid definitely shouldn't be able to close) and put them in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup water to the bowl as well. Just before adding the onions, crank up the heat to high and pour all of the onions/water into the pan, and a generous pinch of salt. It should steam violently and the onions should start to collapse within a minute. Add more water if it starts to get dry, but be careful, as the onions will also release their own moisture as they continue to wilt down. Once all the onions have released their moisture, lightly drizzle in your oil of choice (I like olive). The boiling water should sort of emulsify with the oil and spread it around. Careful not to add too much so the onions aren't overwhelmed with the oil once they've reduced down. Once the excess water is mostly gone, turn down the heat and proceed with the slower caramelization step. I like the routine of letting things caramelize and form a fond, then taking off the heat for a minute to let the internal moisture deglaze the pan, then stir and repeat, until the onions are really broken down and jammy. This is why I prefer stainless, because it promotes more overall browning not just on the onions, but also in the pan. If you use non-stick, you might end up with a bit of a sweeter result, but still yummy. I also like to perfume the dish with some whole thyme sprigs, and finish it with some balsamic and pomegranate molasses." Anyway Helen, I just wanted to share because I was surprised to hear you say that STB doesn't work with stainless. I love using STB for certain things, and I almost exclusively cook with stainless. Thoughts?
I’ve been doing this more or less for 20 years. I never had started by steaming, but I’ve always added water to deglaze in the initial phases, which cooks the onions quicker at the same time and then makes the whole thing quicker
I've always done it this way, too. I periodically add a bit of water to deglaze and steam rather than doing it all at once. When I do several pounds of onions at once for French onion soup, the water that comes out of the onions steams them, so by the time they dry out and start to brown, there's no need to add more water - but for smaller quantities, it really helps to get them to brown evenly.
Hi, I’m doing this in cast iron skillet and I can confirm that it’s a very good idea! It just speed up the first step, then when the water is gone you have to stay there and stir every two minutes or so… but it works! It’s perfect also in enameled cast iron casserole (I have a Staub)
I loved this video, super informative! Not just about the onions, either. I've tried this method a few times for mushrooms, and I found it great, but inconsistent. I think that was because of the different types of mushrooms I was using, so I'm really glad you talked about that.
This might not be popular, but I usually precook / soften my sliced onions with a small amount of water, in a glass saucepan, with the lid on, IN THE MICROWAVE. Just a few minutes is enough to make the onions softer and translucent. I then transfer to a non-stick pan (*lightly* greased with clarified butter). I used white onions, which have a sharper flavour, and end up sweeter when caramelised. If I don’t want the caramel flavour in some recipes, I cook in the microwave as above, but include 1/2 finely chopped granny smith apple to subtilely sweeten the onions.
@@Sampster0I do most of my cooking in the microwave. I purchased my first microwave oven in 1984, which I continued to use until it stopped working last year (after 38 years). I still brown meat, onions etc, and cook bacon & eggs in a frypan, nearly everything else goes in the microwave. I rarely use any oil.
@@Xubono Please post some more of your recipes , Most UA-cam recipes call for so much oil and methods which take so much time. How much time in microwave for this?
What a coincidence. I did this with some small potatoes today, because I forgot to cook them. Turned out perfectly cooked. Could not tell any difference if I had boiled them.
This is a great tutorial. I can't wait to try it. And, to think, I used to eat TV dinners years ago. Helen is such a good teacher. I like basalmic vinegar too.
I totally agree about the non stick pan wearing off much faster! It happened to my stainless steel tefal pan with non stick coating. It became rough and lost its properties. So i need a new pan. Im experimenting now with replacing the first steaming step in microwave and it works great with cabbage, all types, Brussel sprouts are the best from microwave
Do you have any sense that maybe it's the higher level of heat that's degrading your teflon coatings? When I see something like this being done on teflon I cringe because I think that surely a lot of heat builds up in all that oil after the water has evaporated.
Try it on eggplants. Few weeks ago I tried a similar method on eggplants (no lid). You need to add quite a lot of water, until they stop sucking it in. Then add the oil an brown them. Perfect caramelisation!
I’m so happy that I discovered your channel! I love your vids and if I find myself in Boston with the time, I WILL do a class/lesson. Keep up the good work!
I am not a professional. But kinda figured this method out on my own awhile ago. I’m actually happy to see it’s a method professionals embrace. 😁 I love your videos & ATK.
For about 3-4 years I've used the TSB method in a stainlss steel pan and not had the sticking problem you described. 1. I cover and let steem for roughly 2-3 minutes ( water and salt only at this point). 2. Uncover when water has been boiling for a bit and onions are well wilted. Now add the oil when pan is almost dry. Quickly stir to coat. I think that's the only deviation I noticed. Note: I don't think it is worth while to do this unless you do a BIG batch! Helen Thank you, you are a delight!
I have done this for years and I'm surprised that it is "news" to so many chefs. Water, yes, but very often I will add a splash of vermouth, wine, a bit of lemon juice... This is a fantastic way to start mushrooms on their journey but also works well with the humble hash browns, or flash-cooking shrimp before moving directly to a quick sear. Don't start w/ too much liquid (you can always add more), tight fitting lid, uncover & fully reduce the liquid before adding oil. There is a _lot_ of room to play here. Honestly, I'm shocked that more people didn't know this technique. I thought I didn't see it in videos because it looks like a shortcut, cheating. I guess I should have made a video.
I use a version of STB on my frozen cruciferous veggies. I do the steam step in the microwave, then drain and toss them into a nice hot pan for browning. Thanks for the ideas on how to expand this technique!!
Ja, I've done it this way for years. It started out as just a quicker way to 'sweat down' the onions in the steam, then remove the lid, and I noticed that the caramelising happened sooner.
I use this method with french cut green beans. I love them browned in olive oil and butter after the water has cooked off...done just before they are burnt
The timing of this video couldn’t have been more perfect. Three days ago I found out that onions caramelizes much faster in the presence of water or steam while I was frying off some onions in the rice cooker. The next day this video showed up in my algorithm!
I just saw a tip for this STB method in a stainless steel: deglaze with a splash of water or white wine, scrape up the brown and keep everything constantly moving until the liquid evaporates. All the fond gets back into the onions this way. I haven't tried it yet myself, but it seems to work in the video I saw.
I used my cast iron skillet and stirred the onions with a flat metal spatula. That way I kept on scraping the bottom of the pan from any piece that might have gotten stuck. When the onions started to brown, I added chunks of chicken and cooked till done. Was delicious on a bed of mushed potatoes. We loved it, thank you.
I've always steamed my onions until soft and the water was gone, then added butter and sautéed for a minute or so longer. I don't caramelize them and they don't really brown, but now they are perfect to add to chili or soups. They are completely cooked but still have a texture. They are good in stuffing, too.
I discovered this cooking cabbage from one of your videos!! not trying to carmelize it, and started doing it to onions! I use a small amount of oil in a stainless skillet and do a few rounds of deglazing with a splash of water as they brown. It dissolves and coats the veg again. I usually finish with them pretty moist and jammy because I stir the cabbage or onions (sometimes celery!!!!) into a pot of rice as soon as it finishes. It stains the rice a nice bronze color and it is absolutely delicious. The timing is perfect too, done as soon as the rice is every time.
I've started using STB for broccoli, with some of the best results of my life. But I definitely don't have a lot of confidence in my Teflon coatings-I've always found nonstick pans to be an alliance of necessity rather than affection. They seem to give about three really good cookings before they go to pot. Thanks for the heads-up on wine-steamed cabbage; can't wait to try it!
Yep, nonstick pans are a waste of money! I use stainless steel and regularly give them a polish with metal polish, and always heat the pan before adding oil and nothing sticks!!
Interesting, I've actually done something like this for a long time, cooking onions with a lid on at the start, especially if I add some before I've finished all my chopping. I didn't know about the exposed sugars and proteins, but I figured that the rupturing was letting the water out more quickly. Thanks for this.
I had seen Lan's method and wondered at the time what you would make of it. And here you took it to the next level by explaining it to the nth degree and applying it in many other situations, thank you! I use non-stick pans a lot and would hate for it to be true that it shortens their lifespan, so I might use the tip that many of your readers mentioned in the comments of employing my microwave for the steam/sweat stage. I've used wine when cooking cabbage, but hadn't noticed the difference in texture when using water (meaning it probably happened, but I didn't put the two together), so thank you for that tip! Your scientifically oriented nature combined with generous sharing of cooking techniques always makes for an extremely valuable video for anyone interested in improving their cooking skills! 🥰
Love your videos. I've been doing this for decades. My sister's used to be aghast but my results spoke for themselves. I do it with a lot of veggies. THOUGH I do use my CAST IRION. I have one pan that I only wipe clean vs my virtually non stick one. I start at HIGH HEAT until water is gone then add additional Olive Oil ( or avacado) then turn to low. I'm done in 15-17 min for onions.
Thank you for this very informative video. This has been my preferred method of caramelizing onions since I first heard about it from ATK. The other ingredient is baking soda which I first learned from food scientist Herve This as the anionic character of the soda helps the onions brown faster, lose their water more readily, and if memory serves softens cell wall earlier.
There is another method to caramelize onions. Triple reduction. I learned this at a French restaurant when the chef came to our table to chat. I was very impressed with her caramelized onion and duck, so I asked her how did she cook the onions? And to my surprise she told me this: Sliced onions in a hot pan with a bit of oil, toss to coat. Salt. Watch the bottom of the pan, waiting for the juices to just exactly begin to caramelize. Immediately add just enough water to deglaze. Do this three times. 10 minutes. Done.
One of the most informative cooking lessons I've come across in a long time! I saw Lan Lam's video but this was far more useful. There are sentinal lessons that you come across that take your everyday up to a new level of skill and this is definitely one of them! Because your lesson explored the whys and hows and how this technique can be broaden to other foods it is a far more valuable lesson than the original topic about onions.👍thank you fo your curiosity in experimenting with other foods, skillets and kitchen applications! I put this on the level of parbaking pie crust to get the perfectly browned, light and flaky, no-soggy bottom pumpkin pie crust to the use of baking soda in all kinds of other cooking applications not involving baking😅
Great technique and ATK has awesome processes; I use a lot of their recipes. I dumped my teflon a few years ago and I don’t mind the extra time needed w/stainless steel. Thank you for the comparisons! 😊
Having seen Lam's technique and being a devotee to ATK, my first thought was that this was going to be a rip off of that with nothing added in some effort to garner clicks and ad money. WOW, was I totally off the mark! Your insights and practice added sooooo much more (not to dig on ATK, you chose to use more time which allowed a much deeper look). I loved the video and am glad I was cooking while listening, otherwise, I may have switched to something else based in my initial assumption. I'm a subscriber now, thanx!
Just microwave them for like 3-5 minutes (stopping once or twice to stir, or on a lower power, to prevent burning) and you'll cut the time dramatically.
WonderfulI video! I was looking forward to seeing this, as you know I’ve tried this method and have had great success, looking forward to using it on the other veggies as well! Always inspired by you!
STB is how I also make new potatoes, cut in half with flat side down for browning. ATK taught me this one. Potatoes, butter, water, salt in and lovely potatoes out!
@@Un1234l Yeah. My comment was related to Fire Emblem Heroes but it seems at that time I was also watching a cooking related video and a FEH summoning video at the same time and commented on the wrong video. Apologies. 😅
I use water or broth to soften veggies and then let the liquid evaporate and then brown them. It's a technique I learned for oil-free cooking, but it does work better with a small amount of oil.
Frequent deglazing with a few tbsps of water takes care of my stainless steel pan. I do it for all kinds of items, including some meats. Works a treat, with everything picking up the building fond.
I guess the reason why steaming first is so much faster is that water transfers heat something like 25-30 times faster than air at the same temperature. I've never heard of or thought of steaming leek or cabbage. I'm very much looking forward to trying that! Thanks :)
Yes, I love doing water sautee! I rarely oil sautee any veggies anymore… it’s been a thing in weight loss communities for awhile! I use oil for mushrooms b/c I like them dark
for mushrooms the strurdy ones as you mentiond i like to boil them eaven and i use thin slises like onions. they end up making their own sauce in a way and its really good. also instead of salt, often times i add soy sauce for a more ssavory and umami flavor that is just so satasfying for me
After seeing the ATK video and learning of steamed burgers in CT, I've been experimenting with steam, but very little water. I've found great use in defrosting and cooking a burger thick 10-16 oz patty of ground beef I keep in the freezer as well as an off the shelf frozen (19 oz) pack of brats. Just put in the pan with 1/2 oz (1Tbs) of water, salt and season the ground beef, then on high with cover on, go till you hear good steam production, then turn off the eye (resistance element glass top) and let it steam and cool. Water from the meat keep it from running dry. After 6 min the ground beef is about 60F, I often flip, then get the steam back up and turn off the heat again. After about 16 min total the meat is 160 F internal. I now, remove the meat, boil off the water and dip the grease, to let the dripping caramelize. I use to brown the meat in the hot pan but now I put the meat back in and brown the surface with a butane torch. Deglaze and off I go. The torch can be useful to speed browning of meat. The brat I sometimes cut up and put back in the pan with butter to brown up. I use the butane torch over the top to dry the pieces so they are ready to brown when flipped. Key to browning is getting the surface moisture off otherwise the temp on the food surface can't go above 212 F. This method is low attention and is a great way to defrost frozen foods. Also, in a crisis, it is low fuel. I should add, a little free (not in/on the food) water that will go to steam early is a good way to get the outside of all the food to 212 F fast. Then the steam will stop condensing on the food and dissipate when you remove the lid and you go right to higher heat browning/cooking.
STB works great with bacon too! Almost all the caveats you demonstrate apply to bacon as well.. type of skillet, etc. The biggest method difference is that the water should start by covering the bacon. Second difference is that much less stirring is needed, just helping the strips stay separated is about all, until dry, then quickly brown on each side (a flattening weight works well for that too), drain … et voila! Lovely, tender-crisp, almost totally non-fat bacon with excellent aroma and flavor, with a bonus of lovely bacon grease left in the pan. Medium heat works best.
In both cases you need to cook the onions until they start to break down, it just speeds up the first part of the process because the water/steam cooks the entire surface area of the onion rather than depending on the bottom of the pan to do all the work. Seems like a pretty simple idea.
Since seeing her video I've used this method a number of times. It does work. No magic required, all cooking science. Also helps saute some other things a little faster like peppers, too, but onions is the most noticeable difference in speed.
When I was on a diet I decided to use less oil, so I used to put stock in the pan, a small amount, the onions, and other veggies on a very low heat and forget about them, though occasionally stirring. They caramelised fine
Dude I thought of this the other day and it worked so well so many times that I figured there’s no way I’m the first one who came up with it, hence my presence
I remember before I saw Lan Lam's video, I saw Lucas Sin's video about cooking mushrooms in water before browning them. It's a great technique! You also need less oil to brown the mushrooms since they're already pretty plump with water and don't absorb so much oil.
Check out Chef Jean Pierre's method of caramelizing onions. It's a completely different approach. He makes large quantities and ends up with a lot of onion juice that he uses for soup broth etc.
For teflon, aside from the big environmental issues with it, I find that they tend to wear out usually in around 6 months to 1 year on average. I cook with a lot of water and I'm a 220 lb lifter with a 3.5k avg daily calorie need though, so my use case tends to be way higher than the average eater. I also usually cook for 3 as I cook for my brothers as well, who eat nearly as much as I do. Extra note: I've switched away from using any nonstick and have been happy with my results overall, I do tend to make soupy foods where I can just wash the leftover caramelizations into my food anyways though.
I was waiting for this video. At the time I tried applying Lan's technique to your caramelized cabbage recipe but it ended up just extending the cook time by a fair bit since the extra liquid needed time to cook off. Then I realized your original recipe still used the stb principle since it starts covered with a lid
I did stb onions in a stainless steel skillet. It came out great, and I think what I did differently was turned the heat very low after the steaming, turned and scraped the bottom with a metal spatula, and deglazed with a tiny bit of water when there was any sticking. Just did that a few times until the onions reached the right color and consistency. I also didn't press on the onions.
I used a Corning Visions pan, starting in the microwave to release the moisture and dry out the onions some. Then add sugar and vinegar, microwave some more and move to the stove for some serious browning.
I've always used this method just as my mother did. When making pulao rice dish, it requires the onions to be a very dark brown, so adding water at first to the onions to get them soft first speeds up the browning process.
But why do I have to use water from America’s Test Kitchen? That’s a long drive for me - can I just use RO water from home? 😜 Sorry, had to poke a little fun at the title - thans Helen for yet another great, informative video!
My Cajun grandmother used this method for many foods, especially when cooking "daube", which is a braised round steak cooked with onions, and she ALWAYS used a cast iron skillet.
I have heard of a restaurant trick of browning bacon by first putting about 1/2 inch of water in the frying pan. After the water is cooked off, then the bacon browns
My wife and I like or green veggies crunchy, so STB would not do for us, except cabbage. I never thought about caramelizing cabbage, but your white wine tip is genius and will make caramelized cabbage the star of our veggie dumplings or eggrolls. Thanks so much for the info!
I am no chef, just a home cook but I tend to think mostly in terms of physics and chemistry (due to degeneration from my profession). For many years I have added salt and water at the start when I needed to brown onions or mushrooms. My thinking was: the salty water creates an osmotic potential to draw out the water from the onions (or mushrooms) together with the sugars and the steaming softens them so that the contact area increases (as you said yourself) boosting the browning. I never thought much of it, but it is fun to see how now this seems to have become something that people talk about in channels that I have always loved, such as yours.
The water conducts heat faster so it gets the interior of the onions up to temp faster.
Makes me wonder about dry salting the onions cold, then letting them macerate - much like when making kraut. Thus, no water is added, and the initial step doesn't require watching a hot pan. Another option that occurs to me is blanching, letting them drain/dry, then proceeding.
@@knickly you lose onion juice (flavor) then tho?
@@californicated_ perhaps - it is a risk. But it might be worth it nonetheless.
@@knickly I do this. I once did it accidentally bc i just put the onions and salt in a pan and got distracted (adhd). When i came back some liquid had released and it turned out really well. This actually led me to just adding water myself though as it is just easier imo thank leaving raw onions hanging about, especially because of the smell and tears.
I was taught to do it this way nearly 20 years ago by my mom, and she learned it working in a hotel kitchen years before that, so this trick has definitely been around for a while.
who was implying this is a brand new invention? onions have been around for thousands of years
@@intraum Someone in your head, presumably.
@@derimmerlugt3032 some people just troll around looking to be offended. I appreciated your comment. Thanks for sharing 😊
Every video you produce is so wonderful, informative, and yet succinct! Far and away, among the finest producers on the tube. I REALLY appreciate them and all your hard work!!! And furthermore, your propensity to look into those tales spun by those old wives has proven helpful in opening my mind! GOD BLESS!!!
Excellent point about heat settings. Most people in the US have an electric stovetop. Anytime a recipe says high heat I start on medium high. If it says medium high I go to medium. High heat on most electric cook tops for more than a couple minutes is hot enough to warp your pan, burn your food and maybe vaporize Teflon which is poisonous.
The only people I know that have electric stove are people that live in apartments. I've never seen anybody living in an actual house have an electric stove.
I have lived in two houses with electric stoves - no gas hookups. For over 10 years now, I've used induction and love it.
Ive only had electric stoves my entire life. There is indeed alot of them out there being used. @@Rowgue51
YES! another addition to the Helen Rennie caramelized onion playlist!
Lan Lam is a genius. She's able to explain the most counterintuitive techniques in a way that makes them sound obvious!
I recently came across a different take on this method, it used a stainless pan and used 3 additions of water. A larger first addition while covered to steam and once they start caramelizing and a good fond develops like you said deglaze with water and all of the stuff will be picked up by the onions, keep going and when a second fond forms again deglaze again, when the last addition of water is all gone the onions should be nice and caramelized and covered with all the stuff from the pan.
In addition, you also get to skip your daily dose of PTFE as your not using non-stick cookware.
Yes, this is how I've been doing it for ages, and as someone else said, it eliminates the need for teflon. As for vegetables other than onions, I'm curious to try Brian Lagerstrom's method for quick weeknight meals, wich is pretty much the reverse: quick hard sear, and them a splash of water to help them finishing cooking.
I was wondering about all that lovely fond in the pan being left behind. I assume you could deglaze and use it for sauces too, but with the onions you want the flavor IN the onions
Great tip!! THANKS!! I gave up nonstick pans ages ago as I got sick of them failing - even the really expensive ones. I regularly polish my pans with fine metal polish - and nothing sticks - and they're so much healthier than nonstick.
this is the way I've been doing it too!
I do this with onions in a cast iron skillet. I do have the issue with some browning sticking to the pan but since I often do one pan meals I'm able to recover a lot of that browning and flavor with the addition of the next ingredient. Love the note of knowing your pan and stove to be careful with the heat. You have incredibly thorough content and I appreciate how much time you spent in exploring this concept to share with us!
I'm a retired Engineer.... you are speaking my language... THANKS
I have done it like this for ages. We have a national dish where you need huge amounts of caramelized onions and this is the fastest way to do it. Results do not depend on the pot or pan.
I don't use Teflon so I'm glad to see your comment. I'll give it a try in my stainless steel pan. 😊
Mmmm, what is that yummy sounding national dish of yours? Would dearly like to try it! 🖖
Could you please share that dish? And where are you from?
@@serawasnever13 French onion soup
you should have filed for a patent
I've tried this and it's pretty cool. I hated how oily the onions got with adding extra oil along the way, so I switched to deglazing with a little water instead & pleasantly surprised. When I saw Lan's video it validated everything I'd been doing so I told my husband I was a genius and didn't even know it. 😂
I did it and taste musty not caramelized it's that good or need sugar
MTB is a technique I developed years ago to lower the calories in my onion soup. Like STB, MTB (Microwave To Brown) requires less oil to cook the onions. MTB requires less attention than STB because you can’t burn anything in the microwave. Using a work bowl with a lid in the microwave is easier, and you can reserve the vegetable juice as an ingredient or to deglaze the pan later on.
I generally use the microwave anytime one would sweat vegetables in traditional cooking. While some attenuation and stirring are needed for even cooking, it’s faster, easier, and more fool proof than a traditional sweat.
Great idea, whats the timing you generally use before finishing in the pan? Probably undercook in the microwave to finish on high heat with light oil in a pan?
That is really smart.
Utterly brilliant video! Bravo and thank you for rigorously testing this and commenting and giving us such great insight with actual physical testing across multiple vegetables and liquids and reporting the results!
You're the first person I thought of when I saw the Test Kitchen video! I knew you'd take it to the next level and you did not disappoint. Thank you for all the hard work, testing and good advice!
I've always loved your scientific mind, it's on full display here. Well done as usual.
Just discovered this channel.. I'm so impressed with how articulate you are and how smoothly you speak. Its like you're reading from a professional article or book! But even better in my opinion.
I love that you're talking about this, Helen! I have been trying to share thoughts on this for a while. Although I am very surprised to hear you say that the stainless steel method doesn't work for this, and you got bad sticking. I exclusively use stainless steel for the "STB" caramelized onions, and I get wonderfully dark and rich jammy onions. The secret is to use the moisture in the onions to deglaze the fond between browning sessions. Just by taking it off the heat for 60 seconds, the fond in the stainless softens and can be mixed back into the onions. Here, I'll paste what I posted on that Lan Lam video you mentioned, since it already explains what I mean:
"Been doing the caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms in a similar way for years, and people always tell me I'm crazy. But a couple of things here aren't entirely the best technique. There is no need to start in a cold pan. I know ATK has this obsession with suggesting things be started in a cold pan, but here, it honestly makes zero sense, especially for the mushrooms. Also, for the onions, if you start in a preheated pan, there really isn't much need to cover them with a lid. As the hot steam passes through the onions, they will begin to wilt just fine. Sure, covering them may speed up this process marginally, but not enough to justify cleaning another dish. Here are my methods:
(CARAMELIZED ONIONS)
Preheat the pan on medium heat (I prefer stainless steel). Slice enough onions to almost overflow the pan (a lid definitely shouldn't be able to close) and put them in a bowl. Add 3/4 cup water to the bowl as well. Just before adding the onions, crank up the heat to high and pour all of the onions/water into the pan, and a generous pinch of salt. It should steam violently and the onions should start to collapse within a minute. Add more water if it starts to get dry, but be careful, as the onions will also release their own moisture as they continue to wilt down. Once all the onions have released their moisture, lightly drizzle in your oil of choice (I like olive). The boiling water should sort of emulsify with the oil and spread it around. Careful not to add too much so the onions aren't overwhelmed with the oil once they've reduced down. Once the excess water is mostly gone, turn down the heat and proceed with the slower caramelization step. I like the routine of letting things caramelize and form a fond, then taking off the heat for a minute to let the internal moisture deglaze the pan, then stir and repeat, until the onions are really broken down and jammy. This is why I prefer stainless, because it promotes more overall browning not just on the onions, but also in the pan. If you use non-stick, you might end up with a bit of a sweeter result, but still yummy. I also like to perfume the dish with some whole thyme sprigs, and finish it with some balsamic and pomegranate molasses."
Anyway Helen, I just wanted to share because I was surprised to hear you say that STB doesn't work with stainless. I love using STB for certain things, and I almost exclusively cook with stainless. Thoughts?
I’ve been doing this more or less for 20 years. I never had started by steaming, but I’ve always added water to deglaze in the initial phases, which cooks the onions quicker at the same time and then makes the whole thing quicker
I've always done it this way, too. I periodically add a bit of water to deglaze and steam rather than doing it all at once. When I do several pounds of onions at once for French onion soup, the water that comes out of the onions steams them, so by the time they dry out and start to brown, there's no need to add more water - but for smaller quantities, it really helps to get them to brown evenly.
@@Antaios632 agree. It browns much more evenly.
Hi, I’m doing this in cast iron skillet and I can confirm that it’s a very good idea! It just speed up the first step, then when the water is gone you have to stay there and stir every two minutes or so… but it works!
It’s perfect also in enameled cast iron casserole (I have a Staub)
I loved this video, super informative! Not just about the onions, either. I've tried this method a few times for mushrooms, and I found it great, but inconsistent. I think that was because of the different types of mushrooms I was using, so I'm really glad you talked about that.
This might not be popular, but I usually precook / soften my sliced onions with a small amount of water, in a glass saucepan, with the lid on, IN THE MICROWAVE. Just a few minutes is enough to make the onions softer and translucent. I then transfer to a non-stick pan (*lightly* greased with clarified butter). I used white onions, which have a sharper flavour, and end up sweeter when caramelised. If I don’t want the caramel flavour in some recipes, I cook in the microwave as above, but include 1/2 finely chopped granny smith apple to subtilely sweeten the onions.
Fascinating. Do you use the microwave to speed other steps in the cooking process?
@@Sampster0I do most of my cooking in the microwave. I purchased my first microwave oven in 1984, which I continued to use until it stopped working last year (after 38 years). I still brown meat, onions etc, and cook bacon & eggs in a frypan, nearly everything else goes in the microwave. I rarely use any oil.
@@Xubono Please post some more of your recipes , Most UA-cam recipes call for so much oil and methods which take so much time. How much time in microwave for this?
What a coincidence. I did this with some small potatoes today, because I forgot to cook them. Turned out perfectly cooked. Could not tell any difference if I had boiled them.
@@Xubonohow do you brown meat?
This is a great tutorial. I can't wait to try it. And, to think, I used to eat TV dinners years ago. Helen is such a good teacher. I like basalmic vinegar too.
I totally agree about the non stick pan wearing off much faster! It happened to my stainless steel tefal pan with non stick coating. It became rough and lost its properties. So i need a new pan. Im experimenting now with replacing the first steaming step in microwave and it works great with cabbage, all types, Brussel sprouts are the best from microwave
Do you have any sense that maybe it's the higher level of heat that's degrading your teflon coatings? When I see something like this being done on teflon I cringe because I think that surely a lot of heat builds up in all that oil after the water has evaporated.
Try it on eggplants.
Few weeks ago I tried a similar method on eggplants (no lid).
You need to add quite a lot of water, until they stop sucking it in. Then add the oil an brown them. Perfect caramelisation!
Very good to know!
I’m so happy that I discovered your channel! I love your vids and if I find myself in Boston with the time, I WILL do a class/lesson. Keep up the good work!
I am not a professional. But kinda figured this method out on my own awhile ago. I’m actually happy to see it’s a method professionals embrace. 😁 I love your videos & ATK.
For about 3-4 years I've used the TSB method in a stainlss steel pan and not had the sticking problem you described. 1. I cover and let steem for roughly 2-3 minutes ( water and salt only at this point). 2. Uncover when water has been boiling for a bit and onions are well wilted. Now add the oil when pan is almost dry. Quickly stir to coat. I think that's the only deviation I noticed. Note: I don't think it is worth while to do this unless you do a BIG batch! Helen Thank you, you are a delight!
I have done this for years and I'm surprised that it is "news" to so many chefs. Water, yes, but very often I will add a splash of vermouth, wine, a bit of lemon juice... This is a fantastic way to start mushrooms on their journey but also works well with the humble hash browns, or flash-cooking shrimp before moving directly to a quick sear.
Don't start w/ too much liquid (you can always add more), tight fitting lid, uncover & fully reduce the liquid before adding oil. There is a _lot_ of room to play here.
Honestly, I'm shocked that more people didn't know this technique. I thought I didn't see it in videos because it looks like a shortcut, cheating. I guess I should have made a video.
I use a version of STB on my frozen cruciferous veggies. I do the steam step in the microwave, then drain and toss them into a nice hot pan for browning. Thanks for the ideas on how to expand this technique!!
Ja, I've done it this way for years. It started out as just a quicker way to 'sweat down' the onions in the steam, then remove the lid, and I noticed that the caramelising happened sooner.
I have done this for years. We caramelize them to go on top of cheeseburgers fresh off the grill. Delicious!
I use this method with french cut green beans. I love them browned in olive oil and butter after the water has cooked off...done just before they are burnt
The timing of this video couldn’t have been more perfect. Three days ago I found out that onions caramelizes much faster in the presence of water or steam while I was frying off some onions in the rice cooker. The next day this video showed up in my algorithm!
I just saw a tip for this STB method in a stainless steel: deglaze with a splash of water or white wine, scrape up the brown and keep everything constantly moving until the liquid evaporates. All the fond gets back into the onions this way.
I haven't tried it yet myself, but it seems to work in the video I saw.
I have tried it and I love this method! It’s made French onion soup so much faster!
Fantastic -- I used a flat bottom pot and not a lid and it was miraculous. Best ever.
Very intelligent and thoughtfully balanced cooking tips!
I used my cast iron skillet and stirred the onions with a flat metal spatula. That way I kept on scraping the bottom of the pan from any piece that might have gotten stuck.
When the onions started to brown, I added chunks of chicken and cooked till done.
Was delicious on a bed of mushed potatoes. We loved it, thank you.
I've always steamed my onions until soft and the water was gone, then added butter and sautéed for a minute or so longer. I don't caramelize them and they don't really brown, but now they are perfect to add to chili or soups. They are completely cooked but still have a texture. They are good in stuffing, too.
Yes !.. I saw 👀 that video some time ago and I was surprised as well
YOU ARE THE BEST HELEN. YES, I AGREE WITH YOUR STB THEORY. MY GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT IT TO ME MANY YEARS AGO.
😊
I discovered this cooking cabbage from one of your videos!! not trying to carmelize it, and started doing it to onions! I use a small amount of oil in a stainless skillet and do a few rounds of deglazing with a splash of water as they brown. It dissolves and coats the veg again. I usually finish with them pretty moist and jammy because I stir the cabbage or onions (sometimes celery!!!!) into a pot of rice as soon as it finishes. It stains the rice a nice bronze color and it is absolutely delicious. The timing is perfect too, done as soon as the rice is every time.
I've started using STB for broccoli, with some of the best results of my life. But I definitely don't have a lot of confidence in my Teflon coatings-I've always found nonstick pans to be an alliance of necessity rather than affection. They seem to give about three really good cookings before they go to pot.
Thanks for the heads-up on wine-steamed cabbage; can't wait to try it!
Yep, nonstick pans are a waste of money! I use stainless steel and regularly give them a polish with metal polish, and always heat the pan before adding oil and nothing sticks!!
Great tips!! Going to use this method for sure. Will let you know how my pans hold up, Melaney from SoCal.
Interesting, I've actually done something like this for a long time, cooking onions with a lid on at the start, especially if I add some before I've finished all my chopping. I didn't know about the exposed sugars and proteins, but I figured that the rupturing was letting the water out more quickly.
Thanks for this.
I keep coming back to your previous Onion vid, thank you for the update!
I had seen Lan's method and wondered at the time what you would make of it. And here you took it to the next level by explaining it to the nth degree and applying it in many other situations, thank you! I use non-stick pans a lot and would hate for it to be true that it shortens their lifespan, so I might use the tip that many of your readers mentioned in the comments of employing my microwave for the steam/sweat stage. I've used wine when cooking cabbage, but hadn't noticed the difference in texture when using water (meaning it probably happened, but I didn't put the two together), so thank you for that tip! Your scientifically oriented nature combined with generous sharing of cooking techniques always makes for an extremely valuable video for anyone interested in improving their cooking skills! 🥰
Great video and exploration of STB. Also excellent information about what works, what doesn't -- and the why of it all. Thanks!
Love your videos. I've been doing this for decades. My sister's used to be aghast but my results spoke for themselves. I do it with a lot of veggies. THOUGH I do use my CAST IRION. I have one pan that I only wipe clean vs my virtually non stick one. I start at HIGH HEAT until water is gone then add additional Olive Oil ( or avacado) then turn to low. I'm done in 15-17 min for onions.
Thank you for this very informative video.
This has been my preferred method of caramelizing onions since I first heard about it from ATK.
The other ingredient is baking soda which I first learned from food scientist Herve This as the anionic character of the soda helps the onions brown faster, lose their water more readily, and if memory serves softens cell wall earlier.
There is another method to caramelize onions. Triple reduction. I learned this at a French restaurant when the chef came to our table to chat. I was very impressed with her caramelized onion and duck, so I asked her how did she cook the onions? And to my surprise she told me this: Sliced onions in a hot pan with a bit of oil, toss to coat. Salt. Watch the bottom of the pan, waiting for the juices to just exactly begin to caramelize. Immediately add just enough water to deglaze. Do this three times. 10 minutes. Done.
One of the most informative cooking lessons I've come across in a long time! I saw Lan Lam's video but this was far more useful. There are sentinal lessons that you come across that take your everyday up to a new level of skill and this is definitely one of them! Because your lesson explored the whys and hows and how this technique can be broaden to other foods it is a far more valuable lesson than the original topic about onions.👍thank you fo your curiosity in experimenting with other foods, skillets and kitchen applications! I put this on the level of parbaking pie crust to get the perfectly browned, light and flaky, no-soggy bottom pumpkin pie crust to the use of baking soda in all kinds of other cooking applications not involving baking😅
Great technique and ATK has awesome processes; I use a lot of their recipes. I dumped my teflon a few years ago and I don’t mind the extra time needed w/stainless steel. Thank you for the comparisons! 😊
Having seen Lam's technique and being a devotee to ATK, my first thought was that this was going to be a rip off of that with nothing added in some effort to garner clicks and ad money. WOW, was I totally off the mark! Your insights and practice added sooooo much more (not to dig on ATK, you chose to use more time which allowed a much deeper look). I loved the video and am glad I was cooking while listening, otherwise, I may have switched to something else based in my initial assumption. I'm a subscriber now, thanx!
Just microwave them for like 3-5 minutes (stopping once or twice to stir, or on a lower power, to prevent burning) and you'll cut the time dramatically.
What a huge service to the cooking community. Thank you!
WonderfulI video! I was looking forward to seeing this, as you know I’ve tried this method and have had great success, looking forward to using it on the other veggies as well! Always inspired by you!
Thank you so much for bringing this idea to my attention. I am inspired by you too!
STB is how I also make new potatoes, cut in half with flat side down for browning. ATK taught me this one. Potatoes, butter, water, salt in and lovely potatoes out!
Reginn, Thórr, and Elimine currently.
Seiðr and Heiðr I am slowly warming up to though.
@@thighmaster5791
Is this some Fire Emblem Heroes talk or something?
Or some other Norse mythology related talk?
@@Un1234l Yeah. My comment was related to Fire Emblem Heroes but it seems at that time I was also watching a cooking related video and a FEH summoning video at the same time and commented on the wrong video. Apologies. 😅
I've recently noticed this. I've tried the oil only method and adding in some moisture or covering with a lid. It works!
lots of great advice in this video
Thank you for doing all the experiments for us.
I use water or broth to soften veggies and then let the liquid evaporate and then brown them.
It's a technique I learned for oil-free cooking, but it does work better with a small amount of oil.
Frequent deglazing with a few tbsps of water takes care of my stainless steel pan. I do it for all kinds of items, including some meats. Works a treat, with everything picking up the building fond.
This video is fantastic! I only use white wine, specially for onions, never water.
Great method that can be done even faster by cranking up the heat initially.
so informative as usual! thank you i love firm cabbage and now i know why it is hit and miss when i do it!
I guess the reason why steaming first is so much faster is that water transfers heat something like 25-30 times faster than air at the same temperature. I've never heard of or thought of steaming leek or cabbage. I'm very much looking forward to trying that! Thanks :)
Yes, I love doing water sautee! I rarely oil sautee any veggies anymore… it’s been a thing in weight loss communities for awhile! I use oil for mushrooms b/c I like them dark
Agreed. Doing this now for dietary reasons. No oil required as long as you've got a high quality non stick pan.
for mushrooms the strurdy ones as you mentiond i like to boil them eaven and i use thin slises like onions. they end up making their own sauce in a way and its really good. also instead of salt, often times i add soy sauce for a more ssavory and umami flavor that is just so satasfying for me
After seeing the ATK video and learning of steamed burgers in CT, I've been experimenting with steam, but very little water. I've found great use in defrosting and cooking a burger thick 10-16 oz patty of ground beef I keep in the freezer as well as an off the shelf frozen (19 oz) pack of brats. Just put in the pan with 1/2 oz (1Tbs) of water, salt and season the ground beef, then on high with cover on, go till you hear good steam production, then turn off the eye (resistance element glass top) and let it steam and cool. Water from the meat keep it from running dry. After 6 min the ground beef is about 60F, I often flip, then get the steam back up and turn off the heat again. After about 16 min total the meat is 160 F internal. I now, remove the meat, boil off the water and dip the grease, to let the dripping caramelize. I use to brown the meat in the hot pan but now I put the meat back in and brown the surface with a butane torch. Deglaze and off I go.
The torch can be useful to speed browning of meat. The brat I sometimes cut up and put back in the pan with butter to brown up. I use the butane torch over the top to dry the pieces so they are ready to brown when flipped. Key to browning is getting the surface moisture off otherwise the temp on the food surface can't go above 212 F.
This method is low attention and is a great way to defrost frozen foods. Also, in a crisis, it is low fuel.
I should add, a little free (not in/on the food) water that will go to steam early is a good way to get the outside of all the food to 212 F fast. Then the steam will stop condensing on the food and dissipate when you remove the lid and you go right to higher heat browning/cooking.
STB works great with bacon too! Almost all the caveats you demonstrate apply to bacon as well.. type of skillet, etc. The biggest method difference is that the water should start by covering the bacon. Second difference is that much less stirring is needed, just helping the strips stay separated is about all, until dry, then quickly brown on each side (a flattening weight works well for that too), drain … et voila! Lovely, tender-crisp, almost totally non-fat bacon with excellent aroma and flavor, with a bonus of lovely bacon grease left in the pan. Medium heat works best.
In both cases you need to cook the onions until they start to break down, it just speeds up the first part of the process because the water/steam cooks the entire surface area of the onion rather than depending on the bottom of the pan to do all the work. Seems like a pretty simple idea.
Crazy that I use this method to cook link sausage and never thought of applying it to onions or mushrooms but I will now. Thanks.
Since seeing her video I've used this method a number of times. It does work. No magic required, all cooking science. Also helps saute some other things a little faster like peppers, too, but onions is the most noticeable difference in speed.
Reminder not to use enamel over highest heat - even for preheating or searing! Cracked my dutch oven browning cabbage
Works for potatoes too. I use this method, though with much less water, to make home fries for breakfast.
When I was on a diet I decided to use less oil, so I used to put stock in the pan, a small amount, the onions, and other veggies on a very low heat and forget about them, though occasionally stirring. They caramelised fine
17 minutes is a LONG time to simple see how to do this. A pinned summary of how to cook this would be great. Thank you for your content!
Thanks so much for all of this great information.
Dude I thought of this the other day and it worked so well so many times that I figured there’s no way I’m the first one who came up with it, hence my presence
I remember before I saw Lan Lam's video, I saw Lucas Sin's video about cooking mushrooms in water before browning them. It's a great technique! You also need less oil to brown the mushrooms since they're already pretty plump with water and don't absorb so much oil.
Replacing my handy pan. I have learned the value of the saying, "penny saved-pound foolish " here. Thank you 😊. Lady Bell
I steam in the pressure cooker then caramelize in a nonstick skillet.
Interesting.
Been doing this with onions for years works great
Check out Chef Jean Pierre's method of caramelizing onions. It's a completely different approach. He makes large quantities and ends up with a lot of onion juice that he uses for soup broth etc.
For teflon, aside from the big environmental issues with it, I find that they tend to wear out usually in around 6 months to 1 year on average. I cook with a lot of water and I'm a 220 lb lifter with a 3.5k avg daily calorie need though, so my use case tends to be way higher than the average eater. I also usually cook for 3 as I cook for my brothers as well, who eat nearly as much as I do.
Extra note: I've switched away from using any nonstick and have been happy with my results overall, I do tend to make soupy foods where I can just wash the leftover caramelizations into my food anyways though.
I was waiting for this video. At the time I tried applying Lan's technique to your caramelized cabbage recipe but it ended up just extending the cook time by a fair bit since the extra liquid needed time to cook off. Then I realized your original recipe still used the stb principle since it starts covered with a lid
I love the side by side comparison. Thanks!
I did stb onions in a stainless steel skillet. It came out great, and I think what I did differently was turned the heat very low after the steaming, turned and scraped the bottom with a metal spatula, and deglazed with a tiny bit of water when there was any sticking. Just did that a few times until the onions reached the right color and consistency. I also didn't press on the onions.
I used a Corning Visions pan, starting in the microwave to release the moisture and dry out the onions some. Then add sugar and vinegar, microwave some more and move to the stove for some serious browning.
OMG helen that tomato gruyere onion tart looks amazing, my mom loves gruyere
Been doing that for years, definitely helps as you can just walk away from it for a while
I've always used this method just as my mother did. When making pulao rice dish, it requires the onions to be a very dark brown, so adding water at first to the onions to get them soft first speeds up the browning process.
But why do I have to use water from America’s Test Kitchen? That’s a long drive for me - can I just use RO water from home? 😜
Sorry, had to poke a little fun at the title - thans Helen for yet another great, informative video!
My Cajun grandmother used this method for many foods, especially when cooking "daube", which is a braised round steak cooked with onions, and she ALWAYS used a cast iron skillet.
I have heard of a restaurant trick of browning bacon by first putting about 1/2 inch of water in the frying pan. After the water is cooked off, then the bacon browns
Made some today - deeeelishus! Worked brilliantly.
I loved when you present another example of that method ♥️♥️♥️
My wife and I like or green veggies crunchy, so STB would not do for us, except cabbage. I never thought about caramelizing cabbage, but your white wine tip is genius and will make caramelized cabbage the star of our veggie dumplings or eggrolls. Thanks so much for the info!
My family has cooked summer squash this way for years, but we just called it stewed squash. :) STB. Yes, it's mushy, but I adore it.