Onion Confit

[heidih]

Perhaps a silly question, but if I choose to not add herbs when I make it does it still qualify to be called an onion confit?

Oh yes. The herbs are just a preference. If I am making a lot to be used in the future for many different dishes I keep it super simple and add no herbs. I make sure to label in the freezer or fridge so I do not end up with rosemary essence in my SE Asian dish...

[Blether]

Lots of recipe ideas here, and one I like the look of here at recipezaar, too.

What about keeping onion confit ? I'm a beginner at the game but I scored a bunch of beautiful fresh new-season onions out in the countryside, and I've put confit on the list beside the caramelised onion chutney I have bubbling on the stove right now. I'll have onion confit made from 4lbs of onions. How can I keep it ?

[heidih]

I wonder Blether if fresh onions may not have enough "oomph" to withstand the long cooking process. Are you talking about the fresh onions still with their tops attached? My instinct has always been to use the fresh ones right away and to use the older ones for the long cooking. That said I have no scientific basis so I am curious.

[Shalmanese]

Building on that, is it possible to make spring onion confit?

[Blether]

I wonder Blether if fresh onions may not have enough "oomph" to withstand the long cooking process...

Yes, Heidi, with tops still attached, and fresh, plump, unblemished white outer skins. I'm sure they were picked the morning that I found them in the market. Flavourwise they're fine - they've a good, oniony bite, enough so that I'd hesitate to use them fresh in a salad in any volume. And post-chutney-making my pad smells nicely sulphurous.

Sadly the chutney recipe's turned out sweeter than I'd prefer. Maybe I'll make stuff a bit sour to go with it.

[Blether]

It's taken me time to get round to posting it, but I completed my onion confit, cooking it perhaps a little longer than I'd intended - it was getting thick & jam-like even before it cooled, and is that bit more bitter than ideal, on its own at least (but by no means offensive, even in a sandwich).

I decided to freeze it in chunks, so I could put those in a ziplock. I discovered that even at even at my measured freezer temp of -22C, cooked down this far it doesn't freeze, it just gets thick, like heavy peanut butter or bean paste. Almost more convenient - today I used a whole cube in a pot roast, but it's easy to take out any quantity just with a teaspoon, like this, straight from the freezer:

Edited June 13, 2010 by Blether (log)

[judiu]

Blether, have you tried combining the two, a little of the slightly too bitter onion confit in your slightly too sweet onion chutney? They should play well together...

[Blether]

That's a thought, judiu, for sure.

[TeakettleSlim]

I love caramelized onions, and have an aversion to any crispiness in onions whatsoever. This is inconvenient if I just want some onions in a quick omelet or something. Was hoping to find an easy way to make a vat of onions done just so to use in everything.

Hoping this was the answer, I tried crock pot onion confit last night after reading the first two and last two pages of this thread. (Probably the answer to my exact question is buried in here somewhere, but I ain't got time to find it). A simple version: Crock pot, low heat, 16 hours, 5 lb yellow onions, 1 stick butter. They turned brown but not caramelized; were soupy, not thick. The flavor was a bit boring ("hello, I am a thoroughly cooked plain onion"), so I added about 5 oz of red pepper-garlic jelly, some dried thyme, black pepper, and a bay leaf and let it go a bit longer. Still kinda boring (now sweet and boring), and still soupy. I'm finishing it off in the oven right now, trying to reduce the liquid a bit and get it thick like I thought it was supposed to be. I didn't expect it to be like true caramelized onions, but I did hope for more complex oniony flavor notes than what I'm getting.

Am I doing something wrong, or did I mis-imagine what the final product should be like? Should I put it back in the slow cooker and let it go some more? Maybe on high heat?

[chezcherie]

i think your oven technique may do the trick. next time, you might try placing the lid askew on the slowcooker for the last hour or so, to help evaporate some of the liquid. when i have a lot of onions to do (after i've taught a knife skills class, for example, and have the byproduct of 18 students' onion practice!), i load the slowcooker up--about 6 lbs seems to be the capacity of my current model--along with a big pinch of salt and a stick of butter. i let it go about 8 hours on low, then slide the lid aside a bit, turn the cooker up to high for about an hourr and we're in business. sometimes i finish them in a large sautepan, if they still have too much moisture for my application. slow-cooked onions---mmmm.

[Pumpkin Lover]

Holy moly -- I've had this thread bookmarked since it began in 2006, and just came back to it now -- and people are STILL posting on it! So great.

Made a stove-top batch of onion confit in my cast-iron skillet today. Fabulous -- 3.5 lbs of yellow onions, a little less than 1/2 cup of olive oil, 4.5 hours of cooking, with splashes of cassis and balsamic.

However, I only got a half-quart of finished confit. I want to make more than that: I'd like to have about a full quart total. As well, I want to use my oven overnight.

How many pounds of onions would you guys recommend for a 7-qt Le Creuset dutch oven (it's actually a doufeu)? Can I possibly get a quart of confit if I fill up the 7-qt all the way with onions?

[woodburner]

I still vivdly remember the nite I started the topic, its awesome to see it still rumbling forward:))

woodburner

[Shalmanese]

I love caramelized onions, and have an aversion to any crispiness in onions whatsoever. This is inconvenient if I just want some onions in a quick omelet or something. Was hoping to find an easy way to make a vat of onions done just so to use in everything.

Hoping this was the answer, I tried crock pot onion confit last night after reading the first two and last two pages of this thread. (Probably the answer to my exact question is buried in here somewhere, but I ain't got time to find it). A simple version: Crock pot, low heat, 16 hours, 5 lb yellow onions, 1 stick butter. They turned brown but not caramelized; were soupy, not thick. The flavor was a bit boring ("hello, I am a thoroughly cooked plain onion"), so I added about 5 oz of red pepper-garlic jelly, some dried thyme, black pepper, and a bay leaf and let it go a bit longer. Still kinda boring (now sweet and boring), and still soupy. I'm finishing it off in the oven right now, trying to reduce the liquid a bit and get it thick like I thought it was supposed to be. I didn't expect it to be like true caramelized onions, but I did hope for more complex oniony flavor notes than what I'm getting.

Am I doing something wrong, or did I mis-imagine what the final product should be like? Should I put it back in the slow cooker and let it go some more? Maybe on high heat?

Nothing really interesting happens until all the liquid has boiled away. They key is to get that one as quickly as possible while not burning the onions. One thing I've tried that helps significantly is to cook the onions just until they weep all of their juices, then strain the juices into a separate, wide pan and reduce over medium heat. If you let it reduce down enough, you actually get this incredibly intense onion jus that wouldn't be out of place in a fine dining restaurant. After it's reduced 90%, add the onions back in and do the slowcooker thing.

[RobertCollins]

Now I have read the whole thing. It amazes me how much work people have gone to to develop this Onion Confit. In reading this the only thing I think I haven't really had answered is a true definition of what Onion Confit really should be or IS.

I will add that the EYB [Eat Your Books ] program helped me to search my library but, no luck. I found three of the already referenced authors and they collectively did not seem to agree with each other or what I read here. I would love to find a book like "Stocking Up" or some such that would give me a definition of what an Onion Confit WAS.

Absent that I'm going to try my hand at what the fine folks have charged 4 hour + against my reading time here and copy their recipes and methods.

Wish me luck; I'm armed with 5# yellow,5# red and 2# shallots for the mix.

[Richard Kilgore]

I did my annual onion confit over the past two days, but think I am going to have to concede defeat for the first time. I bought the most aggressive small yellow onions in a four pound bag from Wal-Mart. Beware! These delicate-looking little puppies snarl, gnash their teeth and bite! 36 hours of slow cooker could not defeat them. The smell while cooking banished the crock pot to the patio. Nothing to do but feed it to the trash can. Don't want to chance the dogs or other critters getting to them.

Last year they were the best I have ever cooked...because I used 25 year Balsamic vinegar - and civilized onions.

Not one to forego a favorite, I'll make another pot of onion confit for the new year.

[jasie]

Onions are cheap right now... $0.39/lb for yellow onions. So guess what's cooking? The whole apartment SMELLS of onions...

6 large yellow onions

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp of beef base.

Splash of pinot gris

Now the waiting begins...

[skr]

I preserve my onion confit by putting the confit in 4oz and 8oz mason jars and pressure canning them for 45 minutes.

[furzzy]

I preserve my onion confit by putting the confit in 4oz and 8oz mason jars and pressure canning them for 45 minutes.

Do they not have enough acid to can with a water bath?

[Dave the Cook]

I preserve my onion confit by putting the confit in 4oz and 8oz mason jars and pressure canning them for 45 minutes.

Do they not have enough acid to can with a water bath?

I wouldn't think so. Raw onions are in the mid-5s on the pH scale. If memory serves, you want 4.5 or lower to use a water bath.