# ISO Onion rings how-to?



## jeninga75 (Jan 29, 2008)

Searched, but couldn't find anything. Head me in the right direction if there is an existing thread.

Anyway... What is the trick to keeping the batter on the onion? I've tried numerous times with different types and consistancies of batter and it all ends up falling off. Now, I'm not talking about when I'm coating them... batter stays on fine. When I put them in the oil though, the batter starts coming away. By the time I take them out there's less than half the batter left on them and I'm stuck eating deep fried onions lol. 

Does anyone make their own onion rings? What's your recipe?


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## TATTRAT (Jan 29, 2008)

Dredge in flour first, then go into your batter. Also, make your batter a little on the thick side.


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## Maverick2272 (Jan 29, 2008)

And make sure the oil temp is high enough! I made that mistake once, yuk!

They actually have a place out here called Hackney's that people love (I don't, not even close, made me sick eating their onion rings) where they fill the basket on the deep fryer with their homemade onion rings (I mean pack them in there), fry it, then dump it as a 'brick' onto the plate and serve it to you.

There was soo much grease in it, I wondered how they had enough left in the fryer to do another batch!


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## kitchenelf (Jan 29, 2008)

I make a batter out of equal parts of flour and beer - set on counter for 3 hours.

Cut onions into rings and stick in freezer for about 30 minutes.

Flour onions, dip in batter, and fry.  I like my onion rings really crispy so by the time mine are done enough sometimes the onion is "melted".  Freezing helps me keep some onion in there.


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## swift.ness (Jan 29, 2008)

mmmmm.... bloomin onion


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## Shaheen (Jan 30, 2008)

kitchenelf said:


> Cut onions into rings and stick in freezer for about 30 minutes.



Aaah nice tip about freezing the onions!


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## James_T (Jan 30, 2008)

Anyone else actually prefer onion rings to be breaded rather than battered?


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## auntdot (Jan 30, 2008)

Elf, we are going to do a Superbowl Sunday blow it out with the Fry Daddy.

Gotta try your recipe.

Love the idea of making the rings very cold before frying.  It would, I suppose, give you a well cooked coating without the inside onion being uselessly overdone.

Thanks for the tip.


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## miniman (Jan 30, 2008)

One tip I have seen before is to soak the oinions in milk before dipping them in the batter.


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## jeninga75 (Jan 30, 2008)

Sounds good guys, gonna try the equal parts beer and flour and freeze them.  Also going to make sure oil is hot enough.  Is there a particular temp I should be looking for?  By the way, I don't have a deep fryer. I just use a regular saucepan.


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## Katie H (Jan 30, 2008)

First, jen, make sure you use a good, deep if possible, heavy pan to do your frying and fill the vessel no more than 2/3  full of cooking oil.  The oil will expand because it gets hot and as you add food.  To do onion rings, the temp should be about 375F.

However, as you add the rings, the temperature will drop.  This means that you will have to increase the heat to bring the temp back up.  It would be handy to have a deep-frying thermometer to help you determine the temp and know when you are maintaining it.

Deep-frying can be a  bit of a "dance" but you can do it.


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## tupperware (Jan 30, 2008)

*for that added*

add onion powder to the flour.

isn't it beer and self-rising flour?

Try half cracker meal and half flour with salt and pepper and onion powder

Dredge the rings in flour then into beaten egg then in to the cracker meal mix.

The flour holds the egg

The egg holds the cracker meal mix.


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## jerseyjay14 (Feb 5, 2008)

jeninga75 said:


> Searched, but couldn't find anything. Head me in the right direction if there is an existing thread.
> 
> Anyway... What is the trick to keeping the batter on the onion? I've tried numerous times with different types and consistancies of batter and it all ends up falling off. Now, I'm not talking about when I'm coating them... batter stays on fine. When I put them in the oil though, the batter starts coming away. By the time I take them out there's less than half the batter left on them and I'm stuck eating deep fried onions lol.
> 
> Does anyone make their own onion rings? What's your recipe?



the key to keep the batter on is to first coat with flour, and more importantly to have the batter bowl close to the oil and go directly from the batter quickly into the oil so that the heated oil can cook the batter fast enough to prevent it from coming off.  make sure your oil is heated hot enough, at least 350 degrees


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## AllenOK (Feb 5, 2008)

If you really want a good-tasting beer batter, try using a darker beer, like Shiner, and add some malt powder to the batter, along with salt and pepper.  The malt powder helps bring out the beer flavor.


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## sattie (Feb 5, 2008)

I'm not an onion ring fan, but I happened across this quite by accident.  The recipe I use for buttermilk fried chicken has sliced onions in the buttermilk marinade.  After a day of soaking in this, you then toss the chicken in flour and spices and deep fry.  I figured what the heck, might as well toss the onions in too!  I cooked those up, they were great!!!  I don't think it was ever intended to be for onion rings, but they sure were good!  It is not a batter, but it stayed on the onions.


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## Maverick2272 (Feb 9, 2008)

*Fried Chicken is my nemesis!*

No matter what I do, it never works out right!

I was always told if you put the spices on the outside, it will burn? Do you ever encounter this problem?

Next time around I was planning on dredging thru flour and spices, then a beaten egg/milk mixture, then thru crushed up corn flakes for an outer crust, then into the fryer.

But I like that buttermilk recipe, and re-using the onions by frying them as well, cool!


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## Rob Babcock (Feb 10, 2008)

There's no need to flour the rings first.  But you must really mix the batter up well.  Mixing it for 15 minutes in a stand mixer isn't overkill.  Keep the batter slightly on the thick side, but it doesn't need to be like wallpaper paste by any means.  Put your rings in a bowl, add the batter & stir it up good.  Use enough to coat them thoroughly or they'll come out greasy.  Too much and they'll turn into a clump.

I work in a restaurant were we _hand bread_ and fry between fifty and one-hundred pounds of raw onions every day.  That's a lotta onion rings!  It's not all that tricky provided you mix the batter very, very thoroughly.


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## jerseyjay14 (Feb 10, 2008)

Rob Babcock said:


> There's no need to flour the rings first.  But you must really mix the batter up well.  Mixing it for 15 minutes in a stand mixer isn't overkill.  Keep the batter slightly on the thick side, but it doesn't need to be like wallpaper paste by any means.  Put your rings in a bowl, add the batter & stir it up good.  Use enough to coat them thoroughly or they'll come out greasy.  Too much and they'll turn into a clump.
> 
> I work in a restaurant were we _hand bread_ and fry between fifty and one-hundred pounds of raw onions every day.  That's a lotta onion rings!  It's not all that tricky provided you mix the batter very, very thoroughly.



what does your batter consist of?  i've been trying to perfect a good deep fry batter the last week and currently have a mix of:

12 oz beer
1.5 cups flour
3 oz buttermilk
2 tbspn paprika


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## Constance (Feb 10, 2008)

I like to fix onion rings a little differently.

Slice rings as thinly as you can, then shake them up in a bag of seasoned flour. Deep fry, or fry a hand full at a time in a skillet of hot grease. 
They turn out crisp and onioney tasting without all the thick breading.


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## AllenOK (Feb 10, 2008)

Constance said:


> I like to fix onion rings a little differently.
> 
> Slice rings as thinly as you can, then shake them up in a bag of seasoned flour. Deep fry, or fry a hand full at a time in a skillet of hot grease.
> They turn out crisp and onioney tasting without all the thick breading.


 
Constance, try doing that with shallots instead of onion rings.  We do it all the time here at work as a salad and soup topper.


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## untateve (Feb 17, 2008)

This is the recipe I use.  I use my mandolin to slice the onions.  

2 large onions, halved, thinly sliced
1 cup buttermilk

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Vegetable oil (for frying) 

Separate onions into strips. Mix with buttermilk in large bowl. Cover with plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Stir flour, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper in another large bowl. Drain onions. Add to flour mixture and toss to coat. Pour oil into heavy saucepan to depth of 3 inches. Heat to 350°F. Working in small batches, shake excess flour off onions and cook in hot oil until golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer onions to paper towels and drain. 

Transfer onions to platter. Season with salt.

Serves 4.


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## LadyCook61 (Feb 17, 2008)

How about using panko instead of breadcrumbs? 


Cooks.com - Recipe - Crunchy Onion Rings


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## Constance (Feb 17, 2008)

AllenOK said:


> Constance, try doing that with shallots instead of onion rings.  We do it all the time here at work as a salad and soup topper.



What a great idea! I'm putting shallots on the grocery list. Poor DH...I make the list, and he does the shopping.


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## JillBurgh (Feb 18, 2008)

We've soaked the onions in Hot Sauce for a nice kick. Really yummy!

For a healthier alternative, try this baked onion ring recipe I saw on tv. Haven't tried it yet, but I plan to. We've had great luck with everything Ellie Krieger makes. She also soaks in buttermilk, then crumbs with baked potato chips and a little cayenne.


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## Callisto in NC (Feb 23, 2008)

I soak mine in buttermilk first, then dredge, then dip in a batter of equal parts beer and flour.  The buttermilk soak is my key.


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## *amy* (Feb 23, 2008)

You can also go in another direction - bake the onion rings rather than deep fry.  Have a recipe for Tony Roma's onion ring loaf.  Your peel the onions off the loaf & eat.  Let me know if you're interested.


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