Do onions stay sweeter in the refrigerator?!
Do onions stay sweeter in the refrigerator?
Will hot temperature make the onions more pungent?
Answers:
Onions get there pungency if they have any while they are still growing in the soil at the farm. Hot, dry growing conditions can be a contributing factor.
I purchase "White Onions" for my eating out of hand habit and keep those in the crisper drawer of my refrigerator.
It makes them nice and crispy when you go to eat them uncooked.
"Yellow Onions" I purchase to use in cooked dishes as they are usually the more pungent of the 2 kinds of onions.
Usually I don't refrigerate these, and if they start to grow then you have some "green" onion tops that you can add to your cooking dishes also, kind of a double benefit.
So choose how you like em', and whether or not you want to refrigerate them.
A refrigerator works just like the old time cellars, it helps retard the "green onion tops" from growing, adds crispyness, and slows the chance for mold and rot, which is more common with a sweet onion like a "White Onion".
Source(s):
A Big Onion Eater....................
I don't know how much temperature affects onions, but I do know that onions do not like moisture, so the fridge doesn't seem like a good place for one, unless it's already been cut and you aren't going to use the rest of it. Otherwise, onions like to be kept somewhere cool, dry and dark, which is why a distant drawer or cupboard is good, just not stored with potatoes.
Refrigerating them usually takes flavor away over time. Onions (except green onions) last and keep their flavor at room temperature for quite a while so it's not necessary to refrigerate them. When they start to get "juicy" inside they don't get more pungent. In fact they seem to loose some of their hotness and flavor tastes "off" (I don't like it).
The sweetness or hotness of an onion is usually determined by what kind of onion and can very from one batch of onions to the next.
I've never noticed that storing cut onions in the refrigeration makes any difference in the taste. If they're stored in a vegetable bin, they do tend to stay good for a little bit longer, but that's about the size of the benefits.
Warm temperatures will make the onion start to sprout, and that definitely is not good for the flavor. It's best to store them in a cool, dark place -- preferably in a mesh or paper bag. Plastic will retain the moisture from the onion, and they will start to go bad sooner.
Not necessarily. If you want sweeter onions, buy Vidalia onions or sweet onions from Peru. Your grocer should label them as "sweet"