Forum: cooking.stackexchange.com
Tags: <onions><caramelization>
Title: How to caramelise onions?
Question: Often recipes ask for caramelised onions.  What are some good techniques for cooking them this way, as it seems to take a while, and often even if they are on a low heat they can brown a bit too much if they are not stirred continually.

Answers:
sents: text: Low and slow is the only way to go, I'm afraid.
text: You can add some broth and simmer them down (as opposed to just cooking them in oil) but make sure you add little enough that it will all evaporate...
text: Don't want to be pouring off flavor.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/218/Satanicpuppy
score: 19
sents: text: In addition to what everyone else has said, you may want to add some salt as the onions caramelize.
text: The salt will help draw out the sugars, and allow them to caramelize more.
text: Some techniques I've seen also suggest a little sugar to help the caramelizing process...
text: but personally I think that's cheating.
text: That's up to you though.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/260/Nick
score: 15
sents: text: I think you've answered your own question.
text: Low & slow, with constant stiring.
text: To hot & fast will burn the sugars you are attempting to bring out of the onion.
text: I don't believe there are alternatives to doing this.
text: But maybe someone will correct me.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/20/Tree77
score: 6
sents: text: In a very low effort way you can do it with a crock pot .
text: Put in 2-4oz of butter depening on crock pot size and as many onions as the crock pot will hold.
text: Set it on low.
text: Come back
text: 8 hrs later.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/2045/Laura Thomas
score: 5
sents: text: I generally use butter, EarthBalance, or extra virgin olive oil, and lots of time.
text: If I'm in a rush I will sometimes turn the heat up a little, but the that nearly always causes an inconsistent or lower quality result.
text: Also I find it helpful to separate them onions early in the process.
text: Generally we slice them into rings before cooking.
text: I separate the disks as I place them in the pan.
text: I've found that while this increases the space they require for cooking, it greatly improves the quality of the results (again supports even cooking).
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/161/acrosman
score: 3
sents: text: Take a warm pan, add oil, add onions.
text: The higher the temperature of the pan, to about medium levels, the more frequently the onions need to be stirred in order to not burn them.
text: Lower temperatures take longer to produce the caramelization but mostly give a more uniform result, as one can keep the onions on the heat longer.
text: You'll need to find out what heat works best for you by experimenting a bit.
text: Also different oils make for different flavors, I prefer x virgin olive oil.
answer_details: author: cooking.stackexchange.com/users/7092/Frankie
score: 2

Summary of the answers:
You need to cook them low and slow with constant stirring, but may want to add a little broth (enough to evaporate) and some salt in addition to the oil.
To caramelise onions they need to be cooked slowly over a low heat. Try add a little broth to stop them drying out.