Dehydrated onions are a great way to preserve them for longer. They also stay fresher because you can re-hydrate the onion and use it right away if needed!
We all love onions because they are versatile and tasty. One of the major reasons for not having them is that we run out too soon! In this article, I’ll teach you how to store these vegetables so never again will a shortage be an issue in your home
Onions are one of those delicious ingredients used by many chefs around the world but it can often seem difficult to have enough on hand at any given time due to their short shelf life. It’s important that no matter where you live or what season it may be, there should always be some form onion available from either storage space (like root cellars) or even just keeping them well-sealed until needed inside cupboards/drawers, etc.
How To Utilize Dehydrated Onions:
The best way to utilize dehydrated onions is for cooking and baking. They are a flavorful addition to many recipes, and can be added during the cooking process or sprinkled on top of finished dishes.
Rehydrating Onions
Dehydrated onions can be kept in storage for quite some time, but it is recommended to re-hydrate them before using them in a recipe. To re-hydrate, simply place them in hot water for around ten minutes (or more if needed) until they become soft and pliable again. Chop as desired and add into recipes!
Ingredients And Equipment For Dried Onions:
Here are the ingredients and equipment you’ll need in order to make dried onions:
– Fresh Onions (how many will depend on how much you want to dehydrate)
– Olive Oil or Butter for Sauteing (not required but helps with flavor).
– Baking Sheets and Parchment Paper for laying out slices/dices.
– Dehydrator.
– Silicone Trays if using a food dehydrator. Note : You can also dry these veges outdoors in sun, which is great for places where the weather is hot and sunny all year round. The main benefit of using an air fryer though is that it is a lot faster than using sun, plus you can do it at night and keep the house cool.
Preparing The Onions For Drying In An Air Fryer:
The first step in preparing the onions for dehydrating is to slice or dice them into evenly sized pieces – this will determine how long they take to dry out. It’s best to use small/medium sized pieces of onion rather than large chunks because they take longer time to dry.
Step 1: Chop off both ends of an onion so that they are flat (just like pictured above) as this allows more surface area for drying and will also help with cooking later on.
Step 2: Peel the skin off of onion and discard it.
Step 3: Slice, dice or leave as is depending on what you want to use them for. Dehydration times will vary based on how large or small they are, but smaller pieces will generally lead to faster drying times than larger chunks of onions.
Note: If your slices are thin enough (like pictured above), you don’t have to worry about precooking them first in a pan before putting into an air fryer because they will cook up nice and crispy even without any added oil!
So now that we’re ready with our dehydrated onions, there’s only one thing left to do…
Dehydrating Your Dried Onions In An Air Fryer:
Now that you’re all set with everything you need to make your dried onions, it’s time to dehydrate them. Depending on how much onions you want to make and what type of air fryer you have, there are different options available for both so I’ll break them down now:
Making A Small Amount Of Dried Onions In An Air Fryer – If making a small amount in your air fryer (such as this recipe), then the easiest way is just put pre-diced onion pieces into your air fryer basket and pop inside. Set temperature to 390 degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius) because they will not take long at all due to their size. Stir occasionally during drying and allow about 16 minutes total time. Using an air fryer like this Gourmia Digital Air Fryer is perfect because you can set the temperature to exactly what is required for dehydrating onions (in this case 390 degrees Fahrenheit) and not have to worry about checking on them.
Making A Large Amount Of Dried Onions In An Air Fryer – If drying a large amount of sliced or diced onions, then it’s best to dry them in batches so that your air fryer doesn’t get too full and cause the temperature to fluctuate too much within a short period of time. So after pre-dicing your onions, separate each batch out onto parchment paper or silicone mats that are made specifically for dehydrator use (which is what I did because I don’t own parchment paper for baking).
Place dehydrator trays inside your air fryer basket and set the temperature to 390 degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius) because as I mentioned earlier, they will not take long at all due to their size. Stir occasionally during drying and allow about 16 minutes total time. My Gourmia Digital Air Fryer is perfect because you can dry onions in batches without issue – just put each batch onto a separate tray so the one above doesn’t get too hot!
Note: Sometimes when it’s cooler outside, the air inside my house gets cool enough that it causes my air fryer to push out cold air even though everything is set to maximum heat required for dehydrating onions. So if you’re having the same issue, it’s best to try and dry them on a day when there is plenty of sunlight to increase heat/temperature inside your air fryer.
Once you’re done dehydrating onions in your air fryer, they will be fully dehydrated and are now ready for storage.
Well that about does it! Learning how to dehydrate onions in an air fryer is super easy because everything goes into the air fryer basket – no cleaning up afterwards or transferring pieces from one place to another (which would cause them all to break). Plus if you don’t have oven rack space available for drying onion slices, then using an air fryer instead makes things easier. I hope you found this post helpful and if so, please share it online with your friends! Thanks for reading 🙂
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