Fast Caramelized Onions Using Water from America's Test Kitchen
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- Опубліковано 15 тра 2024
- Fast Caramelized Onions Using Water from America's Test Kitchen
00:00 Intro
02:11 My history with STB (Steam, Then Brown) Method
02:45 Caramelized Onions using STB
08:24 Helen’s Standard Caramelized Onions
09:39 STB vs Standard Caramelized Onion Comparison
11:00 What other veggies work for STB?
11:59 Water vs Wine in STB (cabbage demo)
13:58 Mushrooms with STB
15:14 Green Veggies with STB
15:50 A small reservation about STB
@AmericasTestKitchen Video that sent me down this wonderful rabbit hole:
• For Better Browned Mea...
STB for mushrooms: • Mushroom Spread a.k.a....
STB for broccoli: • Broccoli Makeover
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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 😊
Lan Lam is a genius. She's able to explain the most counterintuitive techniques in a way that makes them sound obvious!
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
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.
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 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?
@@serawasnever2902 French onion soup
you should have filed for a patent
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 on tor pans, 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?
YES! another addition to the Helen Rennie caramelized onion playlist!
What a huge service to the cooking community. Thank you!
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!
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!
I've always loved your scientific mind, it's on full display here. Well done as usual.
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.
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.
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 keep coming back to your previous Onion vid, thank you for the update!
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!
Great video and exploration of STB. Also excellent information about what works, what doesn't -- and the why of it all. Thanks!
I'm a retired Engineer.... you are speaking my language... THANKS
I loved when you present another example of that method ♥️♥️♥️
👏 great video, thank you again for all the hard work! 😊
I love the side by side comparison. Thanks!
Thanks so much Helen for the comparison
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.
Thank you for doing all the experiments for us.
❤ Thank you for this tutorial!! So informative. Love it and I am very happy I found this!! ❤
Fantastic -- I used a flat bottom pot and not a lid and it was miraculous. Best ever.
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?
YES I love when one of my fave youtubers react to another one of my faves 💖
MAKES PERFECT SENSE
your videos are relaxing. love your presentation and accent
Very intelligent and thoughtfully balanced cooking tips!
YOU ARE THE BEST HELEN. YES, I AGREE WITH YOUR STB THEORY. MY GRANDMOTHER TAUGHT IT TO ME MANY YEARS AGO.
😊
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!
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’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.
This is an amazing video. Thank you so much for your hard work
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)
Loving the precision and methodology you bring to cooking
Will be more likely to enter the kitchen now 😅
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! 🥰
Thanks so much for all of this great information.
Glad you tackled this.
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!!
Very interesting tip for the cabbage steaming liquid!
that tart looks incredible.
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.
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😅
I have tried it and I love this method! It’s made French onion soup so much faster!
lots of great advice in this video
Great! I will give this technique a try. Thank you for sharing!😄😄
Great tips!! Going to use this method for sure. Will let you know how my pans hold up, Melaney from SoCal.
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
Tried it. Worked great.
Thank you for this video. Very helpful!
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.
Replacing my handy pan. I have learned the value of the saying, "penny saved-pound foolish " here. Thank you 😊. Lady Bell
I like your cooking style so much, thank for your share.
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!
Yes !.. I saw 👀 that video some time ago and I was surprised as well
Agreed! Well done.
OMG helen that tomato gruyere onion tart looks amazing, my mom loves gruyere
I've recently noticed this. I've tried the oil only method and adding in some moisture or covering with a lid. It works!
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.
I have done this for years. We caramelize them to go on top of cheeseburgers fresh off the grill. Delicious!
This was a great video!
Superb explanation! Thanks!
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!
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?
Great idea, best way to cook dumplings also.
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
Hi Helen! Thanks for posting this informative video. I really enjoyed your in depth analysis and comparisons. I have also watched Chef Jean-Pierre's video on caramelizing onions. He uses a different method to draw out the water before the actual browning. His method could be used to make a large amount of caramelizing onions.
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.
Reminder not to use enamel over highest heat - even for preheating or searing! Cracked my dutch oven browning cabbage
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.
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
You are a true scientist, Helen.
Great method that can be done even faster by cranking up the heat initially.
Hi Helen, as always love your deep dives into all things food. great tips and info. I recently got rid of all of my classic Teflon and replaced them with the new generation of non-stick ..... the ceramic coated cookware. They seem to be tougher and also don't have the nasty chemicals found in classic nonstick wares. love how they handle food and just wondered if you had tried them?
So very helpful! thanks!
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.
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.
Excellent video. Thank you! x
I saw that American test kitchen video and I must say that I was surprised that this technique was not known, where I grew up in Michaigan that was the standard way you caramelized onions for French onion soup.
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.
First! Thanks Helen. This is so cool.
I have been using this methods for year with a somewhat well maintained castiron pan.
So no worries about teflon there
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.
Acid! Good reminder about the power of wine in cooking!
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!
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.
I steam in the pressure cooker then caramelize in a nonstick skillet.
Interesting.
Been doing that for years, definitely helps as you can just walk away from it for a while
Been doing this with onions for years works great
Thank you Helen!
Like fashion and and movies…..what’s Old is now New……..few honor footnotes these days😎
How great that I came across your video! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE. I love making caramelized onions for burgers and pizza but dreaded how long it took to make them. What kind of app are you using while you're cooking?
Yay ! Lana made it to Rennie !
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.
This is how I've always done it, I didn't know it wasn't something usual :))