Onions in pantyhose, Vidalia chocolate cake & other tips

[rworange]

Raley’s supermarket publishes a free magazine with recipes and hints.

This month a tip was to cut the leg off an old pair of clean pantyhose. Drop an onion in and tie a knot ... onion, knot, onion, knot until you run out of either onions or pantyhose. Hang in a cool, dark, ventilated area.

Cut onions off as needed.

A web search seems to verify this works and it is especially good with onions that don’t last as long, like Vidalia’s. This is one site that mentions it and even has a link to a recipe for a chocolate cake made with Vidalia onions.

http://homecooking.about.com/od/foods...

If one onion goes bad, it won’t spoil the others.

Raley’s claims that if L’eggs pantyhose are used, the synthetic fiber repels rodents and insects. I didn’t check to see if Raley’s had L’eggs on sale this month. I didn’t see varmit-repelling mentioned elsewhere, so I don’t know if it is just L’eggs or any pantyhose. I wonder if L’eggs repels insects while you are wearing them.

Raley's also says that wrapping the onion in Renold's wrap will prolong the storage time of the onion. They don't say if that is in addtion to putting them in pantyhose or instead of.

They also mentioned that washing your hands with Colgate regular flavor toothpaste removes the odor of onion from your hands. Chewing Wrigley’s Spearmint gum will keep you from crying while slicing onions. I’m really going to have to check that circular for what’s on sale. These hints seem VERY brand specific.

There is only one brief Chowhound mention a few years back about storing onions in pantyhose and the poster said the onions lasted a year if kept this way. (Love the way the Chowhound search engine highlights the words being searched

)

Other onion things I learned while googling to verify some of this:

- onions shouldn’t be stored with potatoes because the moisture potatoes give off makes the onions rot quicker.

- if the onion has sprouted, the sprouted part can be used as a substitute for scallions. Never thought about this before. I bet that green part could be used in soups and quiches.

Ironic that my first topic on the new software would be on Home Cooking.

So does anyone else have any good onion hints?

[foodieX2]

Many moons ago I was a buyer for a big dept store and one of my accounts was Ralph Lauren. Their warehouse was in Vidalia and they would send me a case of onions every May. Inside was instructions on how to keep them fresh-pantyhose. This was back in the mid 80's and I have been storing my onions this way ever since. It is no fail but I do get stares when people see it. ;)

[ciaolette]

I have been getting the greatest vidallia type big sweet onions from the farmers market, they are not fully dry yet, come with the green tops attached.I have been cutting off the tops, and then storing them in the fridge, otherwise they start to rot.
What is the best way to store them if I were to buy more than a weeks worth?
How dry would they need to be before they could be hung in hose?

[toodie jane]

This trick has been around since pantyhose was developed. Home gardeners thought it up, maybe Nancy Bubel, who published it in the 70's in Organic Gardening and Farming magazine. You can't beat home gardeners for ingenuity. Why grow something to cook yourself if you can't store it so it lasts? (I've always envied cooks with a root cellar. Anybody out there use one?)

My dad always kept a tube of Pepsodent in his fishing tackle box. Great for fish (or onion) smell.

[CulinaryKate]

My boyfriend wears swimming goggles when he cuts onions, because he is really sensitive to the onion burn; it totally works, and looks hilarious to boot

[JMF]

Chilling your onions before cutting them prevents tears. I store several days worth of onions in my crisper bins so they are cold when I pull them out to chop. I never get teary eyes anymore. I hadn't realized how much of a difference it was until a few days ago when I chopped room temp onins for the first time in years and immediately had burning eyes.

[krissywats]

This is, as I understand it, the only method that really works because what is burning your eyes is an enzyme that is released when cut and that enzyme coming in contact with the mucus membranes of your eyes - chewing, holding your nose, bread, gum - none of that will work but cold onions keep the enzyme from releasing as quickly. (Although nothing seems to work with shallots!)

It also might have a lot to do (as with most things) how sensitive one is to the enzyme.

[Scott V]

I'm pretty sensitive to onions as well. When I worked at a deli in college I started putting on sunglasses before chopping large amounts on onions with a slicer and it worked for me. Still do it at home.

[OCAnn]

I throw my onions in the freezer 30 min to an hour before chopping to eliminate tearing.

[Marsha]

The "don't store potatoes and onions together" is certainly true; I ruined a bunch of onions that I had bought on sale that way. The pantyhose idea is intriguing, but slightly repellant too, unless we are speaking of brand new pantyhose. I need to find a cool, dark, ventilated area with enough room to hang strings of pantyhose filled with onions before I can try it, I guess.

[Marcia Morgan]

Well, you surely want the pantyhose to be *clean*, but new isn't necessary, and the method does work. My father used to send me a fifty pound case of Vidalias before they were well known outside of a small area of Georgia. After sharing many with friends and neighbors, I hung them in pantyhose in our garage where they lasted quite well.
The UPS guy was somewhat befuddled when he delivered them. He asked if they were oranges and was stunned to learn they were onions.

[zorra]

A few springs ago I grew 1016 onions, and sure enough, they lasted a long time in an old pantyhose leg. (Not a year--they'd all been eaten by then!)

I don't know about toothpaste, but if you have a stainless steel sink, you can get onion and garlic smells off your hands just by rubbing your wet hands on the wet sink.

[heidipie]

I love the sink-as-deodorizer tip!

(I also love how on the new site I can read through a topic and respond as I go. So much easier to share the love!)

[krissywats]

Yes, this is what I do, as well. So simple and works like a charm. I use TONS of garlic and onions and never have the smell on my hands.

[LindaWhit]

I've often put a small piece of bread in my mouth while chopping a lot of onions - seems to help with the crying as well. Don't chew it - just let it sit in your mouth. It will, of course, get all gushy, depending on how many onions you're slicing/chopping. :-)

[Gary Soup]

My late sister, who lived in Augusta, Georgia, used to use precisely that method to store her Vidalia onions.

"Ironic that my first topic on the new software would be on Home Cooking"

I'll say.