How to keep onions?

[watcher]

The wife came home with a 50# bag of onions and even though we use a lot of onions I don't think we can use 50# before they start going bad on me.

I know I could dry or freeze them (cooked or raw) but I'd like to keep them fresh. How do I keep them from going bad in a hot humid climate?

[Brighton]

Cool and Dry is the rule, ours are kept in our somewhat heated room between the house and garage during the winter, but as soon as the temps start creeping up and the humidity, they start sprouting or rotting.

[Dixie Bee Acres]

If you have a basement or cellar, loosely pack them in a crate or basket there, cool, dark, dry. Pack them with a good layer of straw between them.

[Chief Cook]

I got this, I got this!! LOL I was blessed with a whole mess of onions and this is what I did. Get panty hose, stop laughing, drop in an onion, tie a knot, drop in an onion, tie a knot until the leg is full. Then tie a loop at the top and hang it in a closet. That keeps it dry and dark. I am talking about a pantry type closet, cause it might make your real closet smell oniony! I ended up with four legs of onions and used them forever, and only lost one. Well worth it. Use scissors to cut under the knot, but above, the onion you are going to use. Hope this works for you!

[Dixie Bee Acres]

I have done that in the past too.

[watcher]

There is a problem. There is no "cool and dry" here. The only AC we have works hard to keep the living room in the low 80s and the humidity outside right now is 58%. That's why I'm wondering what to do. . .I'll try to old standby of hang them and if things start to go sideways I'll slice 'em, bag 'em and freeze 'em.

[OH Boy]

Definitely dice some up and freeze them and also dehydrate some too. With 50 pounds you have a lot to deal with. They will be going bad before you can eat that many fresh ones.

[siletz]

If you can't keep them cool and dry then they won't store very long. I haven't tried canning them like this but it is on my list of things to try: http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/20...ed-onions.html

[suitcase_sally]

Originally Posted by Chief Cook

I got this, I got this!! LOL I was blessed with a whole mess of onions and this is what I did. Get panty hose, stop laughing, drop in an onion, tie a knot, drop in an onion, tie a knot until the leg is full. Then tie a loop at the top and hang it in a closet. That keeps it dry and dark. I am talking about a pantry type closet, cause it might make your real closet smell oniony! I ended up with four legs of onions and used them forever, and only lost one. Well worth it. Use scissors to cut under the knot, but above, the onion you are going to use. Hope this works for you!

Might I make a suggestion? Rather than tie a knot, use twist ties to pinch off the onions from one another. Rather than cut the hose, start at the top and just reach in and get one, then un-twist the tie to reach the next one. You can re-use the hose this way.

[ldc]

watcher, I'm in Louisiana, there is no where cool and dry at my place. I end up freezing and pickling them. The humidity and temps are just too high, even inside as I skimp on AC when possible. Good luck with whichever method you choose!

[watcher]

I'll probably wind up chopping and freezing them. I'll do some cooked and some raw.

[gweny]

Super cheap and super easy mini-cellar from a 5 gallon bucket...

ImageUploadedByHomesteading Today1404008522.816691.jpg

I am putting in 4 of these this weekend. 2 for potatoes, 1 for onions/ carrots, and one for apples. I plan to cut the bottom of the buckets off and fill the first few inches with rock.

[Allen W]

Keep them dry, I've hung them in the barn all summer and never had trouble until the weather cooled and it started getting foggy and damp. Only store the rounder or flatter ones depending on the onion type. Once the root end starts expanding their storage life is over, use them somehow before it's too late.

[Keithk2]

My onions were always sprouting when I kept them in the kitchen so I resorted to shredding them up (good ventilation is a MUST for this) and drying them in the dehydrator or a warm oven for a couple days then packing them in a dry, airtight contained. I've saved even more space by grinding up the dried shreds into onion powder and storing that in a mason jar but that's even more work I rarely feel the need to do. Re-hydrate with equal volume of water or just toss them into the pot and they work beautifully.

[Rustaholic]

Growing up here in Michigan we grew our own onions and pulled them leaving the tops on. Mom braided the tops and hung them in the pantry downstairs under the stairs.
I know you are a long way from Michigan and yours have no tops but I just wanted to write that.

[PrettyPaisley]

Originally Posted by ldc

watcher, I'm in Louisiana, there is no where cool and dry at my place. I end up freezing and pickling them. The humidity and temps are just too high, even inside as I skimp on AC when possible. Good luck with whichever method you choose!

I used this exact recipe last fall and it made the best soup!!

[ronbre]

chop, double bag, freeze
chop dry
store away from everything in a very dry dark place

Originally Posted by Chief Cook

I got this, I got this!! LOL I was blessed with a whole mess of onions and this is what I did. Get panty hose, stop laughing, drop in an onion, tie a knot, drop in an onion, tie a knot until the leg is full. Then tie a loop at the top and hang it in a closet. That keeps it dry and dark. I am talking about a pantry type closet, cause it might make your real closet smell oniony! I ended up with four legs of onions and used them forever, and only lost one. Well worth it. Use scissors to cut under the knot, but above, the onion you are going to use. Hope this works for you!

I tried that method last year..it DID NOT work for me! Lost at least 1/2 to 3/4 quarters of them..Hung them from the rafters in our basement thats not heated..