Putting Up Onions

Oops! This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but apparently something went wrong since it was still in my drafts tonight! Oh well...

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Wow! I was able to score 50 pounds of nice onions at our local Cash and Carry for $0.12/pound. I thought it was a good deal, so I grabbed the bag.

Now I'm trying to deal with 50 pounds of onions. I know I can store and use about 12-15 pounds over the next few months in cool storage (a room where the wood stove heat doesn't quite reach...), and I shared some with my parents. 

For the rest? I'm putting up onions! They make a great addition to both the pantry and freezer, so I'm adding to both.

Today I diced up 10 onions, and have those going in the dehydrator. Yes, it smells a bit, but I didn't feel the need to take the process outside, especially since it's snowing. We will just deal with an onion smell for the next few days as I dry them. 

I was recently going through the cupboards making an inventory to see what it would take to get a year's worth of certain foods on hand. I estimated I used a Costco size container of dry onions in about 6 months in my cooking. That means I need two to make it a year. Guess how many onions I'm hoping to dry? 

Yup. About two quarts. That should be an equivalent amount. 

And then I'll dry more to make about a quart of onion powder, but I'll divide it into two jars and mix one with salt in the blender and get onion salt. 

I'm excited! It's a little work, but definitely worth it. Last time I dehydrated onions, the flavor was so much more intense than the store bought variety. I'm hoping for similar results again. 

As for the rest, they are heading to the freezer. I love being able to pull out chopped onions for soups and casseroles and things. Frozen onions don't work well in all situations, but they are great for many. 

So I am also working on chopping onions and freezing in a single layer on a cookie sheet before moving them to quart sized freezer bags. That way I can just break off however many I need and am not stuck with a whole bag that needs used all at once. 

What's your favorite way to deal with excess onions?