Happiness is a Big Bag of Onions

50 Pounds of Onions

I got frustrated trying to put together dehydrated one-dish meals and casseroles because I never seemed to have enough onions. The out-of-season prices for onions here at our local grocery store are astronomical. Finally, Mike suggested that we go ahead and buy a big bag of them. 

Baseball Sized Onions

So, a few weeks ago I purchased a 50 pound bag of onions for 58¢ per pound from a grocery wholesaler. See my post on Bulk & Wholesale Food Sources for more details.  The current price for onions was around $1.75 per pound. As you can see, that’s quite a savings.

See my posts, Onions and Onions - to Weep or Not to Weep for the easiest way to process onions for dehydrating. 

 

Waiting

It took nearly three weeks, but I finally got fifty pounds of onions dehydrated. They were huge! I found that two thinly sliced onions filled nine racks. I just didn’t have enough dehydrating racks to get the job done.  I have 24 available racks.

• I loaded my machine with twelve racks (the maximum it will hold).
• Then continue slicing and racking until my next set of racks were full.  Notice that I put chopsticks between each rack. This allows ventilation and helps prevent mold from developing.
• These sat on the shelf until the next morning when my first set was finished.

 

Ready to Dry

Most of them went into the American Harvester, but a few went into the FoodPantrie.

·         When they are dry, they will be crispy and crumbly. If not, continue to dry them.

·         After drying, I crushed them in my fingers before bagging.  If I found any leathery pieces, I put them back into the dehydrator for another day.

Linda’s Note: I bagged them into zip freezer bags first. Over the next few weeks, I plan to put together some one-dish meals and casseroles. These onions will be added to those recipes.  I’ll take a pint canning jar and put a few onions in it and store it in my spice cabinet for handy use in recipes on a regular basis.  The rest I will vacuum seal in quart bags and store for future use.  I figure I’ve got at least one or two year’s worth of onions here.