Onions are an essential ingredient in many recipes, but proper storage is important to safeguard their taste and freshness. The general advice, and the most fundamental rule of storing onions is to keep them in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight. But there are other ways to ensure onions remain flavourful and retain good quality for a longer period of time:
- Mesh bags or basket – avoid using plastic bags to store onions as these can trap too much moisture. To much humidity can speed up the rotting process, so a mesh bag or a basket, with lots of room for ventilation, can help prevent this.
- Braiding – The perfect way to gather onions in a way that allows them to breathe is to hang them in a cool, dry place. With their green tops still intact, gather 3 onions and tie them together using string. Keep adding onions until you create a braid shape.
- Onion racks – If you have a lot of onions that will take up a lot of space, consider an onion rack. Slatted shelves will allow for ventilation and plenty of space.
- Refrigeration – For shorter periods of time. Perfect solution if you live in a region with high humidity. Refrigeration may alter the flavour and texture slightly but will ensure their shelf life is extended.
- Freezing – For longer periods of time. A foolproof way to ensure the longevity of your onions. To freeze them, dice or slice them, spread the pieces and transfer them to a freezer-safe bag.
M&P Engineering has been manufacturing food production, preparation and filling equipment for many years and offers a range of equipment including its onion peeling machines.
M&P Engineering’s Large Onion Peeling machine uses a dry peeling process, resulting in no waste slurry. It can peel, top and tail onions with diameters between 45mm and 115mm using its self-adjusting floating knife assemblies. The peeler uses compressed air to remove the skin, resulting in optimum end-product appearance.
The large onion peeler has a raw material input rate of 750kg per hour when working at optimum speed but can be adjusted to suit the needs of the processor.
M&P Engineering also have available a range of freshcut machinery, including our Carousel Grid Cutting machine and our Radish Top & Tailer.
If you would like to find out more information about our products, speak to a member of the team on +44 (0)161 872 8378 or contact us here.