Any reason I can't caramelize onions and freeze them for later use?

[flamin lib]

I like using them for French onion soup, on bruschetta (sp?)with olives & anchovies, and as a topping on sandwiches but it takes awhile to caramelize them so I don't do them often. Thinking maybe do up 5-10 pounds and freeze in useful size packages.

[Warpy]

1. Try a small batch first

Onions are high moisture and can get weird when frozen, although I've successfully done so in soups, stews, and stir fries.

Offhand, I'd say there's so much moisture cooked out of them during caramelization that it should work. It's just not the kind of thing that occurs to most of us since there's little perfume nicer than a pan of onions being cooked to order.

Just try a small batch to determine whether or not the convenience is worth the loss of flavor and texture in the freezer.

[The empressof all]

2. You know you can do it in your crock pot

Here's a link for a few recipes. The Balsamic ones are amazing btw.

http://crockpot.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/685/

I do this in the crock pot once a month and freeze in small baggies. The onions get a little on the soggy side but the flavor is perfectly fine. If you have a food saver device they probably would freeze better.

I use olive oil rather than butter for health reasons......Like everything it's better with the butter.

[flamin lib]

3. Link? Didn't see a link. nt

[The empressof all]

4. It's there now...

:rofl: sorry about that....Just thinking about that smell made me a bit swoony...

[flamin lib]

5. Thanks, never thought of using the slow cooker! I may adopt your

monthly regimen.

[MajorChode]

6. They will be a bit more mushy than fresh

Freezing causes ice crystals to grow within the cell walls of the things you are freezing. This punctures those cell walls which makes food mushy and sometimes dry. That's why frozen food never tastes as good, although some things take better to freezing than others. Onions hold up better to freezing than most, so I'm sure you'll get decent results, but it won't be as good as fresh.