With a dehydrator or oven, it’s easy to convert fresh onions from the harvest or onions you carry over from last year into homemade onion powder. It can be done anytime, regardless of any season. Additionally, if you need to use onions quickly and they have become a little softer, then this is a terrific choice. Utilizing homemade onion powder is so versatile!
Why Pick Homemade Onion Powder?
Then begin with, if you make something from scratch at home, the flavor is always superior to that of the store-bought counterpart.
Materials Required
To manufacture your onion powder at home, not much is required. There are a few tools that will simplify the task.
Dehydrator
You must first dry your onion to manufacture powder. Using the preferred Excalibur dehydrator for this, but any dehydrator would work. Below is an instruction on how to make onion powder using your oven if you don’t have a dehydrator.
Dehydrator liners
it’s crucial to note that the onion scent may remain on your liners, so it’s advised that you get a set of liners specifically made for drying things like onions, garlic, and peppers. For slicing your onions, use a knife or cutting board (or, if your food processor has a slicing attachment blade, your food processor).
Blender, food processor, or spice grinder
For making onion powder from the dried onion slices. A mortar and pestle might be used for this, but a blender will speed up the procedure significantly. Unless it is made specifically for grinding spices, Storage Jar – A straightforward Mason jar and lid will do, but you can also use spice jars for other things!
If you don’t want to make it at home, you can buy it from well-known onion powder manufacturers like Bagora Dehydrates.
How to Make Onion Powder at Home?
To begin, you should peel each onion, making careful to keep the loose skins for making homemade bone broth later. Remove any residual onion peel (keep those, too, for broth) after slicing the onion in half and cutting off both ends.
We don’t need to cut our onions precisely because we’re manufacturing dried onion powder. It’s good to try to chop your onions into consistent pieces if you want to make dehydrated onion pieces so they all dry at the same rate (using a mandolin or a food processor with the right attachment can significantly help with this process).
Onions will dry out more quickly the thinner you cut them. Spread the finely chopped onion pieces evenly over the fruit leather sheets-lined dehydrator trays.
It is advisable to purchase a specific set of dehydrator sheets just for dehydrating stronger foods like onions, garlic, and peppers because their potent flavor and odor can linger on those sheets. You don’t want your upcoming batch of homemade fruit leather to taste like onions!
Similarly, if you go by the dehydrator while it’s running, your eyes can even start to water, and your house will smell like onions! I’d strongly advise you to have the chance to relocate your dehydrator outside, into a garage, or another room of the house. Your dehydrator should be set to 150° F and left on for 6 to 8 hours or until the onion slices are totally dry and crispy.
By slicing an onion in half, you can determine whether your onions are dry. They ought should snap with a satisfying sound and ease. And make sure all of the onions are dry by checking several, especially any larger bits. The dried onion slices should be added to the container and processed until powdered using a food processor, powerful blender, or even a spice grinder.
How to Dehydrate Onions without a Dehydrator?
You can dehydrate your onion slices in your oven if you don’t have a dehydrator. Depending on your oven, you might need to cycle through turning it on and off every hour or so if it doesn’t go below 170° F. Another choice is to use a wooden spoon to support the oven door open so the heat won’t build up. Additionally, you can dehydrate your onions using your oven’s “keep warm” setting, which is often set to 100° F. It will simply take a little longer.
How to Keep Onion Powder Fresh?
When you're done using your onion powder, you can store it in a mason jar or any other spice jar for a long time. It should remain tasty for up to a year in a tightly-sealed container, depending on how well it was dried. Given how simple and inexpensive it is to create, you could even think about doing it twice a year. Use this powder within a year for the tastiest flavor and nutrition.
Conclusion
Onion powder facilitates cooking, which also imparts a rich, smoky flavor. This recipe is simple and may be adjusted to achieve any yield you require. A kitchen with an emphasis on flavor must have onion powder. It is a crucial condiment that enhances spice mixtures, rubs, and salts.
It is ideal for instances where you want the flavor of onions without the texture. It is also prevalent in spice rubs, especially ones used for meat, such as barbecue. The flavor of onions is easily distributed throughout soups and sauces thanks to their quick and even dissolution. Before grilling, baking, searing in a skillet, air-frying, roasting, and other cooking methods, you can also sprinkle it straight on the contents. In breedings, it is frequently blended with flour and other spices.
