How to Store Onions

Onion is one of the most used ingredients for cooking various delicacies all around the world. Be it vegetarian or non vegetarian food, onions are an integral part of many recipes. Many of us generally buy onions in bulk and face a problem when they get spoiled within few days. The primary reason behind onions getting rotten soon is their improper storage. Many of us do not know how to store onions in a good order. This article will tell you that.

Best Place to Store Onions

The best place and only place to store onions is any place that is airy, dark, dry, and cool. Onions easily get spoiled in humid and damp areas. Hence it is extremely important to keep them in cool and dry places. A room with 40 to 50 degree temperature is an ideal place to store onions as this is the exact temperature that onions need to remain fresh and crunchy. Also make sure that the storing place is well ventilated. Instead of using polythene bag or a closed jars, it is advisable to store them in a mesh bag or pantyhose that will allow them breath easily. You can hang the bag in the airy, dry, and dark place to avoid any contact with water or humid surface. This is also the best way to store onions for the winter as the floor tends to get damped during winter and the moisture can be easily caught by the onions. This results in spoiling of the onions. Also make sure that you do not store onions with potatoes or other vegetables as onions can absorb the moisture from them.

Best Way to Store Onions

Following are some of the steps that would help you in the process of storing onions that would allow you to relish on fresh onions for more than six months from the date of purchase:

• First, make sure that you buy a good variety of onion that is known to produce better storage results. For example, yellow onions can be stored easily for longer time.
• While buying, ask for old onions and not the fresh ones. The fresh produce can be slightly wet and hence can get spoiled easily. Older produce is more likely to be dry and that saves a lot of your time as you do not have to dry them.
• If you buy fresh onions with leaves then you need to dry them thoroughly. And this process may take four to five weeks. You need to spread the onions on the terrace or balcony where there is enough sunlight. You need to separate the onions from the leaves, you can use the leaves for cooking or preparing salads etc.
• Once the onions are dried completely, remove the excessive flakes or loose matter and put the onions in a mesh bag or wire basket or any other airy container and always keep it at the dark, dry, cool place. You can also slip onions in the pantyhose and tie the knot between each onion. Then hang it in a cool, dry place and cut below the knot whenever you need to use onions.

Storing onions is quite easy, as all you have to take care of is the location where you store them.

If you find slimy or discolored onions, immediately separate them from others and throw them away. It is also not advisable to eat such onions as they are rotten and can damage your health. In warmer places, onions can sprout and it is alright to eat sprouted onions. According to health experts it is safe to eat sprouted onion if it has a green center. So, the next time anyone asks you how to store onions, you know what information to share.