Onion Slicing Test (Pole to Pole vs Half Rings)
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- Slicing Onions for Cooking (Pole to Pole vs Half Rings)
00:00 Intro
00:59 Onion Slicing Theory
01:47 Pole to Pole Slicing
02:25 Half Ring Slicing
03:41 Cooking Both Batches and Comparing the Results
In-depth tutorials on Steam Then Brown (STB) Method:
• Fast Caramelized Onion...
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ANOTHER video about onion slicing? I mean it's good and I'm here for it so I'm not complaining
I can't believe I never thought to cut onions pole to pole like that! Thanks helen!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one. Reading the comments, I started to think that I was the only one who never even thought of that, haha.
I had to go cut an onion @ 3am 😂
I always have that slipping problem when cutting half-rings and never thought to simply cut the onion pole to pole, thanks for the tip!
For salads I tend to go across the grain. It’s easier to get super thin slices because you can see where the cut is. Also. You don’t have to cut off the root end so you can save the rest onion for easier slicing later since you’ll almost never use a whole raw onion on a salad.
Funny that you'd mention that: in a Greek "village" salad, as we call that type, it's very much the norm to use an entire onion, or even two, depending on how much salad you make. Same holds true for other Greek salads with raw onions.
@@RaspK I can relate, in part of the middle east and eastren europe people eat lots of raw onion with or even as a side to their main dishes. my grandad would almost eat it like an apple XD
A nice way to get super thin slices pole to pole is to separate some layers of onion, press them down flat in the cutting board and cut the individual layers pole to pole
@@Epicdps true, and I do that sometimes but when only literally want three paper thin slices it’s easier across the grain still.
@@mikabitar2945 Yep! In Crete, where I specifically hail from, raw onion cut in quarters is a side to split peas (which are typically eaten by first boiling them until tender and then mashing them into a paste), and some people will easily have an entire onion with them, it goes that well!
To be able to cut half rings to the end, I need to leave either the top or the root so that I can hold to something.
It slows down peeling, of course and I would recommend removing the root and not the top but if you stop the half ring a few cm before the root, you will be fine for home cooking.
Yeah, leaving the root ball on is the preferred technique for half rings. Good catch.
@@ShineAqua That’s right. It is also the preferred technique for dicing, so it easily becomes a habit not to cut the root ball off
Simple but interesting topic. Our chef in school told us that pole to pole cutting is best for pickles because the onion tends to stay crunchy cut this way. But if you want flavor that you should cut across the grain since it brakes down faster and the cut exposes the more of the cells.
I have been a half ring slicer, but you convinced me to switch!
I also like across the grain for onions that are to be eaten raw (typically red onions). I slice them as thin as I can and soak them in ice water to remove the harshness.
For raw on sandwiches or most cooking, I go lateral (equatorial), but for braises and longer cooking, I like cutting the onion longitudinal, especially for caramelized onions. I noticed the difference in flavor based on the cut back in 1979 when working in a hotel kitchen and I really played with the idea and experimented for a long time. Longitude was sweeter and lateral was more pungent.
To dice, I use both, using the "keep everything connected to the root" technique. Great, informative vid, as always, Helen. Thanks!
As a kid I learned to slice across the grain because the root held it together for me. As an adult I can appreciate the advantage of same-sized pieces and will start doing it pole-to-pole. Thanks for this educational vid! 😄
👍🏻 Thanks Helen, always thought-provoking!
I'm definitely pole to pole for several reasons ..
- as you pointed out, ring slicing ends up with odd pieces, whereas pole to pole yields similar pieces with every slice, or at least related. It makes me feel more satisfied with my work somehow.
- I particularly like pole to pole pieces that participate in roast vege dishes when they're held together by a bit of the root stem (i always cut off as little as possible from the south pole, and try to include it as evenly as possible in each slice). Otherwise i find the onion can become lost and overwhelmed by the rest of the cast.
- i also find the root stem "fans" very helpful for keeping slices from becoming haphazard splinters that rebel against my efforts to compose an orderly sandwich.
- and finally, the root stem is a welcome ally in keeping the onion together as you slice it. Especially when the job is complicated by annoying tears!
Weird huh? 🤪
I do use the half rings method when I want the onions to thoroughly cook down to create a gravy (such as in a curry, for example).
“This onion was so unstable”
Didn’t think I’d relate to an onion today but here we are.
Very interesting. I've been cutting pole-to-pole for many years if I want slices for cooking. This is not because a trained chef yelled at me and it's not because of anything I read anywhere, but because I liked the more evenly-sized pieces that resulted. I never put raw onions in salads; I use scallions instead.
If I want diced onions, a trained chef would absolutely yell at me: I don't leave the uncut bit at the end and use the knife horizontally. I slice the onion in half pole-to-pole, put the cut side down, cut it pole-to-pole into four, give it a quarter turn, and cut it crossways into four. Then - oh, the horror - I use the blade of my knife held close to the board (but not touching it) to pick up all the bits and sweep them into the pan. I've been doing this for decades and I can chop onions pretty fast this way. I'm far too old to try to change to the trained chef method now.
This is great! I used to wonder the same thing not long ago. As a beginner, I did it both ways and settled on pole-to-pole because of the easier handling.
I vary depending on the goal. Pole to pole is great for fajita or other dishes where you want long strips, but across the grain is better for dishes where you don't want them featured. Across the grain is also better if you have a veggie/onion-reluctant eater since they are less noticeable that way.
Thank you for doing this! Excellent info as usual!
I went to culinary school in Sweden but I never learned this. That said, I did train as a baker and pastry chef so while they did teach us cooking as well, it probably wasn't as deep as for the ones who studied to become a regular chef.
Either way, I have to admit that I have never thought about this before. I always cut it in half-rings. After watching this video I might try it the other way just to see how it feels though.
Hi Helen. I’ve been watching your videos for a while. And now I work in a reputable kitchen
Great topic Helen! - I use both methods and have noticed no difference in the end result.
More often than not, I am slicing and dicing with the end result being of evenly sized pieces, which I will prepare accordingly to whatever I am making.
Brilliant, again. I'm a recent convert to pole to pole for the same cutting reason you said. But sometimes I want the onions to dissolve over a longer cook, like a casserole, so go back to half moons.
For very long braises like various types of beef stew, I have found half-rings basically dissolve into the sauce whereas pole-to-pole slices retain their shape.
I cut rings on a mandolin for pickled red onions because it is much faster and consistent.
I cut half rings to dice an onion as needed.
I use pole to pole for sauteed onions on sandwiches or other applications when appropriate.
I cut half rings for salads since I can cut the much thinner.
Great video, as always! Thank you!!!
I've found pole to pole makes nicer looking pickled red onions, whereas half rings become kind of... murky? Been a while since I tested this out so would be nice to know if others have had the same experience.
I find the half-rings get flabby when pickled. "Murky" works too.
I cant believe I am here! A big tough guy general contractor, learning best to cook onions cutting pole to pole 🤣😂 ... Thank u sweety 🌍🎼
I was a half ring cutter until I watched your video - now I’m going to have an easier time cutting my onions pole to pole!
Pole to pole for caramelizing because of your video many many moons ago. But half rings for dishes where the onion remains uncooked such as salads. There’s an old family dish I make called cucumbers and onions-cucumbers and onions in a diluted vinegar solution. I think it’s fairly common in the Midwest? Great for cookouts and the flavors get better over time. But for that dish it’s half circles for the look and for tradition.
Interesting, some good tips and learning jere!
I usually cut the stem end off and quarter it pole to pole leaving some root on each quarter. Then I peel back the skin. Next I slice the quarters across from stem end towards the roots. This way I am cutting onion off the roots, and I get less tearing as I cut onions.
Thank you. I am only now learning new ways to caramelise onions.
I'd never tried slicing pole to pole. Wow is that amazingly easier. Thanks for the tip.
Helen, to let you know. I made plov in an instantpot with prior frying of the onions. Now, I did not caramelize my onions, but I got the water out of them, and spiced them with turmeric and a khmeli-suneli mix from Georgia. Half of the onions I used was sliced across and half with the grain, precisely because I heard the same story that one will melt away and the other stay. Guess what! Virtually everything melted away...
When slicing into rings not cutting off the root and using it as the handle for slicing works really well. You can then discard it after.
I did the half ring slicing , now I'm a pole to pole slicer for 2 reasons . One size and ease. I'm converted.
Actually I use both methods. When in need of small or very small brunoise, pole to pole is the only way, fast and clean. But in a salad, caramalized, as vegetable, or in a dish where I want the onions to stay recognisable, I often cut half (or even quarter) rings.
Exactly, I do the same as you.
Awesome video thank you
2:48 For half rings, don’t cut off the root. (Or cut off only the stringy root bits, but leave the “stump” intact.) Cut off the stalk end, then cut the onion in half and peel. The root stump will keep the layers together, allowing you to cut nice half rings all the way down.
Same thing works for whole rings, too, though it’s a bit harder to peel.
When you get just past halfway across the grain, spin the onion around and start cutting at the 'small' end again. I find this helps with the slipping because the rings are pushing 'uphill'.
Great channel.
Half-ringer, here. I stick a fork down into the root end of the onion which gives a good grip for the final few slices. I've never considered cutting the things any other way. Next time, I'll cut pole-to-pole. It looks easier to do, I don't dirty an extra fork, and the cut pieces look more uniform; three good reasons to switch.
Leaving the root on has the same effect as your fork trick
I do both.
For pickles and raw, I do cross grain. You get a better texture and flavor this way. Plus, to cut all the rings, you cut from the outside to the center. Once you get the center, you rotate and cut towards the center again. The onion does not slip in this way. Cross-grain is the ONLY way to do fried onions, or onion rings. Rings need to stay rings for crispy frying!
For everything else, it is pole-2-pole. This style cuts more even slices and it is easier to get diced or minced onions this way. For most cooking, it is pole-to-pole for me.
It would be great to see you do more teaching videos. How to cut onions , tomato , etc love your channel
I've also read that when you slice onions pole-to-pole you break less cell walls so you get less of the chemicals that cause you to cry. I have no idea if there's really a noticeable difference.
After chopping two I am Blind
with stinging tears🤗😂
@@chrispedersen6999 sharpen your knife
If you don't lop off the root-end, it nicely holds the onion together for half-rings; you can discard the last bit when you reach it. The peeling is only a little bit harder.
For the direction, I would imagine that (just like fennel or a log of wood), the "across the grain" would lose the (desirable) fibers holding the cooked morsels together to make it visually appealing.
yes lets go helen!!!! wooo!!!
Why do some people slice onions a specific way? As Tevya said in “Fiddler On The Roof”: TRADITION!
Slice them in any way, place a few small pieces in the mouth of a blindfolded cook. As s/he chews them, ask, “Which way were they sliced?”
Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
Both. Half circles of red onions for salads, full circles of yellow onions for sandwiches and burgers, pole to pole for pastas , roasted veggie mixes, or other cooked dishes, and p2p for carmelizing because it's an easier slicing method.
If you are going to cut in the 1/2 ring style 1. leave the root end completely intact other than peeling. 2. Stick a fork through the very end near the root so that you have a stable handle and the layers are held in place. At least this is how I do it and have no problems with "unstable" onions or slippery onions as I finish slicing.
I have to say I have never tried the pole to pole method, only because my mother and grandmother only used the 1/2 ring method and they are the ones who taught me my cooking basics.
Cheers
Depends on application, in Chili I like the different sized/cooked bits. And I often eat raw with cornbread (darn good : )
Wow thats so weird i thought my mom was the only one who ate raw onion and cornbread lol.
I can't even imagine those two flavors together haha.
That's so cool
@@tauceti8341 Ty. Raw in soup beans is great too : )
edit/add: Tell your Mom I said Hi and enjoy the good food : )
When slicing half rings, I slice half of the half onion keeping the rings in place, then rotate the whole half of onion so that I can hang onto the parts I've already sliced for support of the other half of the rings I'm cutting.
For caramelized onions I do like to do pole to pole because the pieces of onion stay together better. If I'm doing a french onion soup, for example, I want those onions to be present, not just melt away...
I'm a across the grain, but not half ring person 😂 After peeling and cutting off the ends, I slice it through the middle between, not across, the two poles. When cutting if the other end gets slimmer I just turn it around so if my knife slides, it will slide to the board instead of my fingers. And if you have a sharp knife, the slipperyness won't matter, as long as you don't press the onion too hard holding it. Also, I kinda like the different sizes, it gives the meal more texture 😄
Thank you for slice that!
I'm a pole to pole person...but those caramelized onions have me thinking French Onion Soup! (I think I have some beef bones in the freezer).
I would just enjoy Tips on
HOW NOT to CRY😂
Thank you Helen❤️
Easy, you need a good Japanese knife. It so enjoyable.
Whatever way I slice my onions, I try to leave the root end on because I've heard that helps with reducing how much it makes you cry. I do pole to pole for cooking because it's easier and more even piece sizes and shapes. I try to make sure all my cute are perpendicular to the surface of the onion and cut the root off at the end
I am now a convert from Half Ring to Pole. Thank you.
I generally slice PtP for (Indian) cooking because it's faster, and HR is reserved for stuffed omelettes where I prefer the aesthetic of long, noodley onion. I don't think I've seen much difference in one vs the other in terms of final product.
Thank you, Helen, for your educational and entertaining content. :)
someone may have already mentioned this but a technique I use when slicing an onion. Once I get down to about the last third I turn the onion around and hold it from the larger side. I do this for safety.
When slicing half-rings, start from both sides and work toward the middle. This gives a larger finishing bit to hold on to and is therefore safer.
0:50 according to Kenji Lopez Alt it‘s the exact opposite since slicing pole to pole results in less cells breaking and thus having milder flavor
I cut across the grain when I want the onion to cook down until it almost dissolves. I cut it pole to pole when I want the slices to retain their shape.
for very small/ almost minced onion use at first pole to pole but keeping far root so the onion half is intact . then fine chop across the grain. for example for frying to make Indian sauces
When cutting half rings leave the root on the onion and you will be able to slice away to the end without the knife or onion layers slipping away.
I think perhaps you missed something on the half rings part of the experiment: you cut the root end off first. Why? It holds the rest of the onion together, just as it does when dicing. Really does away with that trouble around getting the last few slices. Slice until you reach the root; toss the root in the bin.
I cut onions both ways, but I'm leaning more and more towards cutting rings all the time. Yes, pole to pole gives somewhat more consistent lengths, but you still get short pieces and long pieces...and you get those strange big oval pieces whenever a cut catches the layers of the onion just so. Another thing: restaurants may never want to slice less than an entire onion, but I do. I take a few slices off an onion for a sandwich or a bagel pretty regularly. Again, the root holds the leftover part together until I make my next sandwich.
I love culinary myth busting! I feel like cooking is so riddled with misconceptions and old wives tales I turn very skeptical every time I hear any bit of cooking advice.
I have tried both cuts for salads, I find that pole to pole is sweeter and less smelly.
On a different note: I'm very careful when it comes to cut onions; never to store them on plastic container, only glass and even so, not for too long.
Onion is a drawer and it can absorb the toxicity of the plastic which in turn will be transferred into the food.
Best practice, is: cut onions be used right away.
Some people slice onions, put it on a plate inside a freshly painted room to help get rid off the smell, others, to get rid off germs in the air when someone is sick with a cold or a flu or the like...interesting.
Oh yes…in my elder years I have DEFINITELY become a cut with the grain person! It has improved all of my recipes, and I’m a forever Southern cook. I find my dishes have a much more consistent texture and doneness.
The way to deal with the unsteadiness of half ring is to rotate it 180 degrees and start cutting from the small side again.
I use both techniques interchangeably & never pole to pole for onion rings. I never knew with vs across was ever a thing.
I swear I love this channel!! Always give great kitchen advice to make you a better cook!! ❤
For slicing half rings, turn the onion around after you start cutting one side. That stops the sliding out of the middle sections.
I cut the onion in half across the grain, skin it, and then peel the the outer layer down and over the root or top end to use as a handle.
I intend to come back and read EVERY comment! My regular method is too much to explain here but of late it’s been pole-to-pole because I’m in a hurry to get it into the pan!
I pretty much only use rings (or half rings) for salads and onions rings. And Tom Kha Gai coconut ginger soup. They just look better as small rings and larger half rings in soups and salads. But I prefer pole to pole for dished like Cashew Chicken.
That's why I use a mandolin cube cutter. I can't be bothered to cut those pesky roots, I'm so terrified of slipping and cutting myself.
I had to stop the video when your knife slipped I was freaking out haha! Oh my gosh. I had to take a couple of breaths.
When celebrating July 4th The way my sisters use the kitchen knives freaks me out its so dangerous haha
Radial cut for me. Fast and easy!
Always have cut with grain for the faster slicing option like you said but i was under the belief that those cooked faster. Disproved somewhat. Does steaming first help cook at same rate???
I do half rings. I dont cut off the root. Im not an expert, just a home cook but it seems reasonably fast to me. I didnt even know about the pole to pole method, it seems finicky, but i'll have to give it a try.
Simple reasonning; do you want to see/feel them after or not ( like a stir fry or onion soup) cut with the grain. Not? cut them crossgrain.
Onions definitly intimidate me, they're the only vegetable that fights back haha
I've always wanted to try baked and carmelized onions, they look so delicious
I'm definitely a pole to pole person because the slices are more consistent. Especially for BBQ onions
Pole to pole, for the purposes of surviving the cutting process. (I tear up easily with onions anyway, and the local ones in my area are always spicy.) I feel like I'm breaking more cells open cutting half-rings. I would cut half an onion and have to spend a good five minutes in the next room before I could proceed cooking anything.
Most of the time I cut my onions pole-to-pole. When I cook beef and onions in soy sauce, Asian style, I like to cut them into rings.
I was half onion, but I think I like the idea of it being easier to work. I feel so dumb for not even thinking about it…. At least I’m thinking now…..thanks
i'm starting to suspect that all these caramelized onion videos are just excuses so that helen can always have caramelized onions on hand
The difference I've heard is that half rings result in more onion flavor because you are crushing the cells more than when you cut pole to pole. This makes me think that maybe using a more dull knife would make the effect worse, but using sharp knives you may not notice much of a difference. I started cutting pole to pole a few years ago because that's how all the real chefs do it!
Pole to pole everytime. The other way causes the same dangerous seperation you displayed. Thanks for sharing all your in depth videos. Jayman...
Hi Helen, question… can you do a video on making Uzbek Plov in an instant pot?
There's something I don't get: when cutting half-circles, why did you cut the root off first? In your own video on dicing onions ("Onion Dice without Parallel Cut"), you leave the root on. Half-circles are the same kind of cut across the grain, without any of the fanning, straight-down, or parallel cuts. If you leave the root on, that problem you had with the slippery layers would disappear because the root holds the layers together. Still... which cut I use depends on what I'm making.
I cut the root off the first onion because it makes peeling easier. BUT -- keep watching the video, I tried keeping the root for the second onion and it's still way more awkward.
I like cross grain (from the middle of the onion) for my hamburgers.
I can only think of one instance where i do not slice my onions pole to pole... when making onion rings. Honestly though, i prefer to make Amish onion fritters inatead and for those i cut pole to pole.
Thank you cooking mommy
I used to try and be consistent, but I am now a random orientation onion slicer. Life is easier.
Try testing it for raw eating, across the grain is more intense, it opens up the cells more giving more flavour but this is not to everyone's taste! Then you would go poll to poll.
I've always been a half ring person, but I am going to try the pole to pole technique. I'm all for easier. By the way Helen, that was a terrific impersonation of me every time I struggle to ring slice the last inch of the onion.
I cut them into half rings because that's how my mum taught me and she's always right!
I chop my onions for caramelization, maybe i’ll try the pole to pole. Slices
I cut onions in so many different ways. Depending on what you are cooking and the consistency or the sauce. Get a Japanese knife if you want to cut onions in a 100 different ways
Definitely pole to pole. 😊