Storing chopped onion in Freezer and in fridge

[sepandee]

I was wondering whether one can store chopped onion in the fridge and freezer. Well, I know i can store in the fridge, but for how long?

Also, I make a lot of persian recipes, which call for stews with browned onions (fried to the point they're golden brown). Can I store that in the freezer as well? I've seen a lot of persian moms/grannies do it.

[alkapal]

rather than let red onions go bad at my mom's house, i have stored them in the freezer, chopped and in a little glass jar. they don't take on the "freezer flavor", and hold up nicely for tater salad, sauteeing, etc. easy to get out of the jar, too.

[swsidejim]

freezer - I never do it, I dont see what is sohard, or time consuming to pull out a fresh onion, and a chefs knife and chop what you need.

fridge - occasionally when I have extra from some hotdogs. I will kepp them for maybe 2 days in plastic container before tossing.

[porker]

Like I say, my habits have changed somewhat as my career choices evolved, but at one time it made a very big difference.
I was using about 5 gallon-sized tubs of chopped mixed veggies per week. When prepping various sauces and condiment, pulling this outta the freezer saved alot of time.

Also during Sept/Oct, I'd go to the farmer's fields myself and pick giant sized green peppers for $6/ bushel, pick up onions at $9 for 50lbs and celery at $18/box. Come December-March, the same products would 5 to 9 times the cost - a huge difference.

[swsidejim]

Now I see your dilemma, and can see why you need this info on different storage/preservation methods.

[porker]

I'm not the OP, I'm just sayin...

[upstate girl]

Of course there's nothing hard about pulling a fresh onion out and chopping it. But sometimes I may only use half an onion for a recipe and then not use another onion for awhile and in that time it goes bad. If I chop it up and freeze it, I save it from going bad.

[swsidejim]

eat more onions. ;-D

I dont think I have ever had an onion go bad, I can always find a use for some onion.

[porker]

really rotten onions have quite a putrid, special kind of aroma...

[swsidejim]

I dont hink I have ever encountered this, an onion does not last long in my house. Just yesterday I neded 3 whole onions for my chicken stock, stufing for my chicken, and chicken soup I made.

[porker]

Once again, its a matter of scale. I'd buy about 2000 pounds of onion in the fall, hedging against higher winter prices. If these pups go too far into the following summer and there's a few bad apples, as it were, you do get some going south in a big way.

[jfood]

This year jfood was planning on multi-tasking while making some onion soup. Since he likes the 2+hours caramelizing method he was going to make two batches, one for the soup and one for the freezer. Then pot one receives the stock and pot 2 gets portioned and frozen.

Imagine being able to go to the freezer and have slowly caramelized onions at your disposal after a long day.

[rose water]

My Iranian mom has fried onions in the freezer all the time, for use in stews and things where the texture won't matter. She freezes them in 1/2 cup or so bunches in an airtight container.

[greygarious]

Do it all the time - freeze in bag or container, generally used within a month but would keep longer. They cook way faster, straight from frozen, than fresh-chopped, since freezing breaks down cell walls. Sauteed onions at all levels of brown-ness freeze fine too, for months. Just pry off whatever you need, and return package to freezer. The fat from frying keeps them from being as hard as fresh frozen onion. You can refrigerate chopped onions for many days, depending on type and freshness of onion, and how finely chopped - when they turn too mushy they start to smell off, too - it's very obvious.

[upstate girl]

They lose they're umf in the fridge after being cut up--maybe a couple days? I chop them and store them in the freezer all the time. A couple weeks. I only use it for cooking and it works very well for me. So convenient.

[porker]

When I had a need for bulk amounts of onion/celery/green pepper, I'd buy 'em real cheap in September/October, chop, feeeze on trays, then break into bags. If you freeze them directly in a large bag, you get a frozen lump of veg. Freezing on a tray gives an IQF effect and is easier.
I can then use it throughout the winter.
They ain't much good where fresh veggies are a must, but they work great in soups, stews, and some sauces.
I've had them for almost a year with good results, long as they are stored alright. I don't have experience with sauteed onions, but I'm assuming it'd be fine.

[MMRuth]

I don't see why you couldn't store chopped onions in the freezer, since one can buy frozen chopped onions - I do think they tend to be a little watery though.

[sepandee]

For how long though?
And what about fridge?
And what about browned onions?

[fallingup]

I've kept chopped onions in the fridge for up to a week. It's a little iffy to eat them raw at that point since they lose their crunch and punch, but they're perfectly acceptable for cooking since you'll want them to soften and mellow out anyway.