Why I always slice Onions from root to stem
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- Опубликовано: 27 июн 2024
- Onions can either be sliced pole to pole or orbitally and the one you choose can make a big difference on the dish. I use pole-to-pole slices of onion about 95% of because they rupture fewer onions cells and I like the texture compared to orbital slices. Today, we break down the onion and run 3 experiments showcasing the differences between onion slices.
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0:00 Why the direction of onion slices matters
0:57 How do onions work?
1:48 The Smell Test: Orbital vs Root to stem
3:12 Experiment 1: Pickled Onions
4:32 Experiment 2: Oklahoma Onion Burger
6:32 Experiment 3: Caramelized Onions
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MISC. DETAILS
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Filmed on: Sony a6600 & Sony A6400 w/ Sony 30mm f3.5 & 18-105mm F4
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Edited in: Premiere Pro
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I've been a chef for 25yrs, I live in the uk, I was trained only to cut onion using root to stem be it slice or dice. Reason being because the root to stem method gives you slices that will be 99% the same size, so when it comes to cooking it will cook evenly, unlike orbital rwhere the slices are differant sizes meaning uneven cooking. When it comes to taste, I've never found one to be stronger in taste but it does make a differance with what onion you use
. Yellow Onions
Yellow onions are your go-to cooking onions. This onion has yellow skin and a strong flavor due to its high sulphur content, which mellows out during cooking, becoming sweet and flavorful. Its ability to hold up to heat makes it great for caramelizing and roasting.
2. Red Onions
Red onions are subtly sweet and mild enough to eat raw. The vivid magenta color of their skin makes a great addition to salads and salsas. If you find the flavor too strong when raw, try soaking them in cold water before using.
3. White Onions
White onions have a white papery skin and mild flavor that makes them easy to use in salads and sandwiches. Although they are similar to yellow onions, white onions are sweeter and cleaner in flavor.
4. Sweet Onion
Sweet onions are larger than yellow onions, with a light skin. As the name suggests, sweet onions have sweet flavor due to a high sugar content, making them great for sauteing and caramelizing. Sweet onion varieties include Walla Walla, Texas Sweets, Maui, and Vidalia.
5. Shallot
A shallot is a member of the allium family, closely related to onions, garlic, and chives. Whether diced, minced, or slivered, shallots are used for seasoning dishes, either with a soft onion undercurrent or a pop of sharp acidity similar to a hint of garlic. They can also be used to brighten vinaigrettes. Their flavor is milder and more delicate than that of a regular onion (though they can usually be used in place of white onions, and vice versa).
6. Scallions
Scallions,Spring onions,salad onion ogreen onions, are fresh young onions identified by their slender shape and mild flavor. The white stalk has the same sharp, sulfur-y taste characteristic to all alliums, albeit with less bite, while the dark green leaves have a fresher, grassy flavor. When just harvested, scallions give off a strong onion smell that’s noticeably bright and earthy, with notes of garlic and apple.
What a wealth of information!! Thank you soooo much for sharing!!
Thanks for the information. TIL lots about onions.
@ willow Eley Thanks for the info, your comment is more helpful to me as a home cook than the basis of the video. I can see the bias that the creator has in the video, which I think is about one's onion slicing preference. I've also cut onions both ways and don't notice a change in flavor.
However, how you explained the different types of onions with some of each type's unique descriptions is actually helpful in determining what type of onion to use for a particular dish.
I cut my onions whichever way is simpler (usually pole to pole) or in the way what the dish calls for (ex. for onion soup, one can slice pole to pole, where as for onion rings it must be orbital.) The one tip I've found useful for cutting onions is to cool the knife blade and onion by running them under cold water for a few seconds before cutting. It helps keep the onion from releasing too much of the thing that makes one cry and it washes away any dirt that may have been transferred from the peel via one's hands. I haven't cried over onions in a while since using this method. It could be a placebo, but it works for me. Besides, I don't usually cut huge batches of onions as a commercial chef or sous chef may do.
Wonderful rundown
Thank you for the rundown. I never understood the use of shallots, so thank you for the explanation.
I grew up in a family that hated onions because of how the sulfur taste leeched into everything (eyes, cutting boards, even some cooking equipment), but I think that's because they all did nothing but orbital cuts. I left the house and slid right into a Pakistani household... onion everywhere. I noticed that they used pole to pole and I have done it ever since... it's crazy how much of a difference it makes.
Classic first date get-to-know-you:
"So do you slice your onions orbitally or pole-to-pole?"
"Are you coming on to me?"
This got me chuckling, well done.
As a chef we use both. Depends on what I'm making. Sliced onions for pepper steak pole to pole cause it holds its shape better sliced onions for frying orbital.
Could be a funny way of asking if a guy is gay 🤣
@@EthanChlebowski omg what is pole to pole or orbital how do you know which is which to cut
“These root to stem onions taste amazing, but the orbital onions kidnapped my family.”
Pole to pole cutting is called “Lyonnaise” style. From the Lyon region of france, considered the gastronomic capital of traditional French cuisine.
One can do what they want of course, but the Lyonnaise way of cutting onions is for when you want to have the onion forward in the eating experience. The against the grain cut is useful for most types of cooking as you are generally wanting the juices out of the onion as well as wanting the onion to somewhat disintegrate into the dish.
Cutting pole to pole or Lyonnaise style for everything is something an inexperienced culinarian would do thinking something is “better” because it is lesser known. The cuts have their purposes.
If you want the juice / disintegrate the onion, wouldnt it be easiert to just cut them into small cubes? Thats what I do 95% of the time when I use onions and want them to 'give some flavor' to the dish
@@Isitar09 yes dice works great for that too. Depends on the desired end result really.
I was going to post something similar. I didn't know the French teem for it though.
Different dishes can go from well that was food and i wouldn't mind eating it again to that was great food and I will make it again by little details like this.
I look at it this way, if you want the onion to add lots of flavor but accent the chew without being to forward in it, cutting across the grain (orbital) is the way to go. If you want the flavor more forward in the chew and the onion to be an experience in the chew, with the grain (pole to pole) is the way to go. Of course there are pracyical limitations like raw onion on a sandwich and when you want a diced onion but an easy example would be the difference between fajitas and stir fry.
Grandma had an onion soup recipe where she used both. It was one of those all day soups but she started with orbital cuts and finished with pole to pole. The orbital onions basically carmalized and melted away creating a rich broth with no meat added and the with the grain onions added later kept their structure giving a meaty texture to the chew. I think she only added water- no broth. It was in the 1970s to mid 80s since the last time I had her version so it may be just nostalgia but I think it was the best I've had.
@@sumduma55 Thanks for sharing about your experienced Grandma's technique making a very fine soup!
For the longest time, when I was first married, I cut the onion Lyonnais style and I honestly didn't understand why my onions never came out cut evenly lol. Then I started slicing them the other direction, and I don't think I've found a reason to use them Lyonnais style since. Can you suggest a dish that you'd want to use the onion flavor forward, as you said?
“This one smells like onion”
“This one also smells like onion”
There you have it folks it is now officially confirmed that onions do in fact smell like onions, you may rest easy now.
lmaoo
Taiwan is a country 🇹🇼 🇹🇼
My dog now identifies as a pineapple! 🍍. He wears a green jester hat and just sits there ...he's pretty good at it tbh.
Onion Forward 🤔🤭
This is why you need to season your soil and not your onions
next time you do this kind of experiments it would be better to eat them blind to reduce the risk of preferring one over another due to your preconceived notions on what's better, otherwise great video!
+
Alternatively dragging his roommate in as a non biased third party could also be another control
@@ethankaufman8577 not really a control people that know you will shift their answers to avoid offending/conflicting often.
@@ethankaufman8577 Only if I can be substitute roomie!
With these videos my main goal is to get across the theory and understanding of what's going on with the food. I want home cooks watching these to understand what a specific technique or method is trying to achieve. I keep it simple so they can test it themselves to see if it's worth doing in their home kitchen or they can take my opinion on what I prefer and I try to be very clear on this is what I like in the tests that I've done in my kitchen. For example, even if say 7 of 10 people preferred pole to pole sliced onions in a pickled onion blind taste test preparation that doesn't mean we all have to cut our onions that way. I may like, you may like it, and then our buddy may go "Ethan, orbital is way better, what are you talking about!", which is perfectly fine! That being said, I think it would be fun to work in some blind taste tests with multiple people like that as supporting evidence but it's tough to coordinate when I'm a one man show. I'll see what I can do in future episodes as we progress!
My question is this. You went into all these experiments biased and knowing which was which. You obviously had a preference towards the pole to pole cut going into these. I would like to see what would happen as far as preferences if you blind taste tested 2 to 3 unbiased and blindfolded participants.
I mean if ya really wanna know just try uourself.. onions are like.. one of the cheapest things to buy
@@mikado_m What would be the point of making a video if the viewers have to find out the (unbiased) answer by themselves?
@@SmokedHam444 I think it’s a given when watching any video that there will be some sort of bias. Maybe the point of his video was just to explain why he thinks root to end is a better technique. It’s just what he believes to be true and you’re free to accept or challenge his opinion. A blind test would have been nice thoe
@@frankdot.1864 he spoke as if he was trying to be unbiased and then made no effort to actually be unbiased
@@eoghanmyers2330 Sure, but as a viewer, it’s our responsibility to discern whether or not something is an absolute truth or an opinion (which most videos on youtube are). And it’s. it like he’s giving out bad advice.
THANK YOU for putting the findings up front with no nonsensical intro first. This is the mark of a great RUclips channel.
Great video, Ethan!
Senpai! 🙌
The man, the myth, the legend
@Beth Greene whatever people make a bi deal about this shit
why does it matter ffs
Thank you for running the original experiments for me to test in my kitchen, now I'm passing it along!
@@EthanChlebowski this is awesome. You two should do a collab together or something
Ethan the type to propose with a pickled onion ring.
BRUH LMAO
It’s impossible to resist that glorious mustache
I'd still say yes lol
Sounds about right 😶
Bro that actually sounds hot
Me, dicing onions at every opportunity: interesting.
Hot take: when I cook with onions, I want it to taste and smell oniony. I’ll definitely give pole to pole a shot though!
EXACTLY
Why are we using onions if we don’t want to taste them! I’m so plebeian lol
Same as I mainly like onions raw on burgers so I love the strong crispy oniony taste. For other stuff that require red onions I might try this as I had to wear goggles last time I cut them lol 😅
@@YeshuaKingMessiah To add texture without adding too much onion Flavour?
When you use them raw
When you do not want them to completely desintegrate in a Dish
It will still taste like onions lol. He reiterated that multiple times in the video. Pole to pole(known as Lyonaise) cuts simply create a less pungent and off-putting onion flavor and may have a better texture in the final dish.
Yeah just use lesser onions if you want it to be less oniony
I hope the "break it down" series has many continuations
I'll definitely be continuing these types of videos they are fun to work in with regular recipe videos!
The one good thing (for me) about orbital cuts is that I can use the root end to hold the onion together while I am cutting it. I am less able to get consistent cuts pole to pole because the layers start to come apart and are slip slidin' away.
Something I usually do is keep the root end on while slicing pole to pole, neaaaarly slicing all the way but not quite- and then as a last step cut off that root end
I was always told that leaving the root on and cutting it orbitally actually helps with the tearing up. It makes more sense about the cellular alignment though.
Maybe you need a sharper knife. I cut it like an apple, put it flat slide down and just slice.
@@annaku_lickalicious well if you're using a knife and cutting bored, you're normally doing "pole to pole". Have you never cut an apple for a child?
Like Tom and Jessica said, leaving the root on helps! That’s how my dad taught me to chop onions and it’s very useful. They stay together until I’m ready to release them from their rooty prison.
My takeaway is that I should use both styles when cooking them: pole-to-pole for texture, orbital for scent and flavour. Thanks.
I’m a chef at a restaurant. Knife skills are very important I learned. The irritations in your eyes is because you cut the root off the onion. If you don’t and you leave it on. It’s 1. easier to peel. 2. Doesn’t leave you crying like a baby. Also remember to have a very sharp knife. That helps dramatically. No need to change the rotation of any onion to stop crying.
Theres no need to leave the root on either to stop crying. Your better off leaving it or cutting it depending on what sort of cuts you want to make.
Chefs either tell you they dont cry because they leave the root intact or that it doesnt matter. I think you'll find if you prep onions every other day you build tolerance anyways.
You want to assert that the direction you cut doesnt matter yet ironically believe cutting into the root pole to pole is fine but cutting it off orbitally isnt.
I leave the root on and it still makes me cry 😅
I prepped onions everyday for 4 years, and they still make me cry. So, the tolerance thing isn't always true.
@@beautyindarkness8146 I chew something when cutting too much onions. It helps a lot
Now this is the kind of hyper-specific analysis I've come to love you for, sir.
Today I learned that what the onion has Lachrymators which makes us cry, and in Portuguese we have the verb "lacrimejar" which stands for "tear up"
The french word for 'Tear Gas' is 'Bombe Lacrymogène'
And of course all of those come from the Latin word for tear, lacrima.
And in Spanish it’s lágrima
Yeah it's because it's a latin root. In english we also have the term lacrimation which means crying (particularly excessive crying)
And that same cognate is present in the word lachrymose: meaning to induce tears, or tearful.
This video felt more like a "confirmation of why I do things the way I do" instead of a true side by side evaluation. Lots of personal bias here
Almost like that's the title of the video
It's his opinion.... He says there's no right or wrong. He showed us how to test in our own kitchen to come to our own opinion....
Haha, as someone who mainly cuts orbital unless I'm putting a sear on my onions for an omlette filling or burrito or something, I found this video pretty chill. I especially use orbital for my pickled onions and I'd never use water.
I find this dude is pretty cool compared to straight up b-holes like Adam Ragusea and Josh Weisman. The later of which needs to stop sinking his fingers and nose etc into the food.
@@beepboopbleep3695 What's wrong with Adam?
@@XWatchLearnX The final straw for me was his video on spicy food in which he more or less equates loving spicy food with toxic masculinity. He sounds like his first encounter with hot sauce was at a cornhole match at buffalo wild wings.
Outside of my family, probably the spiciest food offered to me casually without even talking about the spice factor was from an Indian coworker of mine who knew I loved food. Her husband didn't mind that she brought me food all the time and it was always some degree of spicy that I didn't have to share.
Anyways, he reminds me of the kid who reads the chapter ahead of when it's assigned and then pretends he knew the answers all along cause he's so desperate to seem smart. Meanwhile always looking for culture points. He just tries to score internet points with really bad takes and I feel like someone the youtube algorithms have blessed him so he won't be stopping anytime soon.
Watch: Chef John, Not Another Cooking Show, Jaques Pepin. These guys just like to share about cooking.
Sorry I hate Adam so so much.
great video, i get it with pickled onions and i definitely will try caramellised onions your way, but I really love that "wormy" almost non existing texture.
In my opinion raw orbitally sliced onions on burgers provide a better texture because they chew through easier and keep the integrity of the burger stable for longer. and for the stronger taste there are a lot of different types of onion for a very good reason
Just some small feedback, it was kinda confusing when ‘orbital’ was on the left and then in the next cut it was on the right and vice versa; thanks for the great content, though, as always!
Glad im not the only one confused lol
Just hold your phone upside down for those parts
I'll try to keep that mind, sometimes I miss things when editing since I'm the only one looking at it!
@@EthanChlebowski No excuses Ethan! 😜
@@marks9444 Exactly! He’s the one putting out the content, so he should keep up with what’s going on. IMO
I love how the bottom line in cooking channels with a food science aspect is always that your preference ultimately defines what you should do. No right or wrong way to do things 🥰
A few years ago I knew literally nothing about cooking so I was always trying to follow recipes to the T. And all of them would say things like “to desired taste” or something like that, and it kinda helped me realize that cooking doesn’t have to be exact!
I would trust this video more if he did blind tastings, instead of knowing already which was which and - more importantly - which he would use 95% of the time.
This video is not an comparison analysis. Its about him trying to justify his preference.
@@red-dm1tl how can you justify preference without making a comparison?
@@Sirmooshalot he did make a comparison. What I meant was this prioritizes justification, not fair comparison.
@@red-dm1tl that's fair. But I think a blind test would still help with supporting his case. If he can tell that one of the two is better without knowing which he is tasting, that would feel more compelling to me.
@@Sirmooshalot I agree. Its what I criticizes him for too. He want to make a video about an interesting new take on cooking like Adam Ragusea, but fails to. Because he does research but does not innovate.
The thing is, if theres secret simple trick to cooking, itd have been an industry standard.
Adam's work because he invents methods specifically for homecook. He optimizes workflow for family portion cooking. And he also explains why itd not work as well in professional kitchen.
Ethan presents an idea, but make very little effort to reinforce other than "It tastes better to me". It make his video very one dimensional. But i believe it comes down to skill and charisma.
Adam Ragusea is a teacher. He teaches people for a living before he does youtube. Its very apparant in his video style.
Damn. I'm so happy that I found this channel recently. Always super interesting insights in to cooking and preparing food that are actually useful day to day. Ethan is very relatable for some reason and I absolutely love that he eats the food he makes on camera. It makes everything feel that much more real.
I never knew I needed a 7 minute video on slicing onions until now.
Poop.
You absolute mad lad
Wut
You joke but...
how's fiona doing?
I used to do that a lot as a child
I happened upon this video as I am getting ready to try my first batch of pickled red onions. Absolutely invaluable info. Thanks so much Ethan! Keep up the great vids :)
I’ve experienced with this technique for dehydrating onions, which I LOVE! And it’s not as overwhelming in the smell when cut this way. I snap each one to know they’re dried. I use these often, especially for camping, but I use it everyday! Great suggestion, it works great for me!
Doing all your experiments in a non-blind fashion (i.e you know which is which when you're smelling/tasting) really introduces your biases in, especially when you clearly had an "i want pole to pole to be better" agenda for the video
+
Exactly what I was thinking when he was tasting the pickled onions. Seemed like such an overreaction.
@@hooliganbubsy7298 yeah like "UGH THE TEXTUREeEeE" SIR i doubt it is that bad
But why would he have a "pole to pole is better" agenda?
@@ienfrg it's not an agenda it's just a personal preference. People always like the things they believe to be validated.
Man... Just sliced Onion orbital und the whole video was one big regret of my thoughtless decision 😂
@DownloadPizza but the texture on the pickled onions and the caramalised onions looked very different. How will that change how it feels when you eat it? It might be more oniony but if it feels wierd in your mouth then that takes away from the flavour overall. I never thought I'd be thinking so deeply about onions lol
@@skiddy1984 orbitallly cut onions definitely don't feel "weird" they just aren't for everyone, this is something you get an understanding for just by cooking (no ammout of video watching or listening to other people's opinions can do what cooking attentively can) thus I'd recommend anyone try cooking and cutting their onions both ways for different dishes and seeing what you personally like, end of the day good food is good food and everyone enjoys slightly different textures and tastes.
@DownloadPizza Agree. More flavor/aroma = better, but just my preference.
Wenn man dich auch auf RUclips schaut 😂😂😂
Like I said one is not inherently better than the other, it really comes down to preference!
RUclips algorithm got me here and I'm glad it did. Well done @ethan chlebowsk this is what an educational cooking video should be. Thank you.
THE MORE YOU KNOW! great video!
i feel like there could be a good pun here. help me out
I love how there’s an entire video testing which way to cut your onion is best. This is the content I am here for. Love this. Agreed, Kenji got me cutting root to tip too.
*Smells onion* "This isn't very onion forward..." 😂
You speak very well, Ethan. It's something that I really appreciate about your channel. Thank you.
My dad saw me slice orbitally, took the knife from me and taught me pole to pole. He worked as a sous chef in a New York restaurant back in the early 80s, so naturally I never questioned him. Now I know why.
When ever I see that majestic red stash, I get a little feeling in my eyes too.
Ingredient report:
Mayo was not seen in this video.
Pickled onions were seen at 3:32 - 4:32.
This has been your ingredient report.
Doing our Lord's work.
Godspeed Friend.
Im going to need this in every adam ragusea video.
this made me laugh bc of the mayo profile pic lol
Wow, really needed this, thanks! Any vegetables hurt during the making of this video? I saw some onions getting stabbed officer!
Was this your easiest ingredient report so far?
I can’t get over his knife skills that’s mandolin perfect onions done by hand I could watch him chop stuff for hours
I keep a small fan at my prep station. When cutting onions, a gentle breeze not only keeps the crying to a minimum but it feels really nice.
I suspect the orbital pickled onions being "wormy" in texture was played up quite a bit. I suspect that he didn't like the mouth feel as much, reasonably so, but to notice that much of a difference seems strange. Especially since you usually put it with other things, rather than eating a bowl of them straight.
I agree. I sensed a bit of a stretch there as well.
That was the first time I had tried pickled ones side by side like that and was actually really surprised at the difference in texture. I used to cut them orbitally if you check a really old video like this one: ruclips.net/video/-yxQJNITFwE/видео.html but I would always place them on top or in dishes so it was never isolated like this test eating a plain forkful of both. Give it a shot yourself!
@@EthanChlebowski So you are concerned by their "wormy" texture when you eat them in a way that you normally wouldn't eat them? Hmmmmmmm. I slice them orbitally, my wife slices them pole to pole. No biggie.
I have been rewarded for staying up until 2:00 AM.
I like that you gave the conclusion up front. You deserved my like.
Learned it from my mother and have been doing it without thinking about it and knowing the science behind it helps. Thanks.
So how do you recommend dicing onions? That’s what recipes usually call for. At least in my world.
Best way in my opinion is to cut in fours pole-to-pole then slice in julienne, turn the stack of strip 90’, dice them. It’s a perfect brunoise cut, even if it sounds overly complicated, it’s fast and easy after you get it.
@@Unknowlogy If you're going to bother, that's what I do. But, grocery stores usually have onions already diced either fresh or frozen.
Cut the pointy end off, cut in half, slice pole to pole keeping the top in cut and then cut orbital. Watch videos of professional chefs and that is how they dice onions. Also not cutting off the top (with the wiggly bits on) seems to stop alot of the eye watering.
This is the guy who does all the work finding the best ways to cook, so we don't have to
well, technically he does all the work of finding the authors who already did the work, which is good enough for me
Except, he’s more just curating this information. You can find this stuff out anywhere. He literally says he’s recreating tests from the food lab.
To alleviate textural differences and retain pungentcy, could orbital onions first be quartered rather than halved? Would this reduce the felt curvature while still providing aromatic punch?
Thanks for the clarification
I've only ever cooked sparingly in my life. My pregnant wife is currently on mostly bed rest so I've taken the initiative to start learning to cook more. Cooking is something I've wanted to learn more about for awhile now. Just wanted to say, I find your tips to be helpful and easy to follow.
The problem isn't the orientation that you're cutting but the fact that you're cutting off the root. If you leave the root there, keep cutting until the root is all that's left then it won't make your eyes water when cutting orbital.
Great information, for me it depends on the dish. For example, for roasted onions i will 'pole to pole' and for fried, orbital.
Been here since 100k. I am so proud of you Ethan
I really appreciate that you show your sources, most don’t. You don’t know if what they are saying is opinion or fact. Keep showing the deep dives on the basics. Most people learning need to know the basics. Most channels don’t show the basics or show why we do what we do and why. This is why your channel is different than all the others. Keep showing people they don’t need to spend a fortune on every device. Learn the basics then safe storage. You should do a food safe type deep dive. Show the horrors of not keeping clean and organized.
I never really thought about it. I’d slice pole to pole infrequently and dice for everything else. I always keep some diced onions ready and use them for everything. Sprinkle on a taco or ready to go meal prep.
But then I discovered you were right. It’s a smoother flavor with depth and not sharp. Makes perfect sense due to the less damage to those cell walls. Now I keep sliced onions on hand and just use them. They are better.
Thank you Ethan!
Would be more convincing as a blind taste test :) (or triple sample and you pick the odd one out) because I’m not super convinced that this has as massive of an effect as purported. Good vid tho.
Agreed. Really love to see him do a blind taste test as well.
i always do pole to pole, learned while working in a kitchen
Definitely a really informative video! never really got the differences in cutting an onion but I'll definitely be taking this newfound knowledge into consideration next time I cook!
It was funny to see a specific video about this, as I adopted a cutting practice that I usually don't talk about with other cooks. I cut the onions diagonally at a 30° or 45° angle and I don't use either cut. I do the same when cutting lemons, cut at a 45° angle and noticed that when squeezing the juice comes out much more easily.
Ohh I will try that. Different cuts make or break the taste of something - I like working out how to cut fruit to make it taste the best lol :)
As a general rule of thumb, If I'm using onions raw I'll cut orbital and if I'm cooking them I go pole to pole
Raw...like for salads for instance?
I totally agree with this
@@someothername9462 salad or sandwich
@@bobby_greene it's a good rule (cooking = pole to pole, raw = orbital)... I will copy it!
Holy crap. For years I've been slicing pole to pole. I was called a mad man in my kitchens. I knew I was right. Thanks a ton Ethan!
@Erik Hatzenbuehler why so?
@Erik Hatzenbuehler lol okay.
There probably isn’t a right way. Like all things in nature, everything is a trade off. Your way probably leads to less eye irritation with a trade off for something like ease of cutting or strength of the taste. But based on the experiments he’s made, it seems like the conclusion is: it doesn’t matter much.
@@blablabla7796 indeed.
@@blablabla7796 I prefer the orbital cut due to the same reason he hates it, because of the wormy texture. But everyone's different, so enjoy it the way you like.
“Pole to pole makes you cry less.”
Me: say no more. I’m sold
UPDATE: Tried it out this weekend, and not one tear was shed! This was awesome!
What an awesome freaking video. Cooks and chefs that use food science make the best food.
Alright I've been making pickled onions weekly for years. I was highly skeptical of this one, but I'm converted. Great vid Ethan.
2:36 it looks like you had about twice as much onion in the orbital sample.
True and he kept the lid closer as he opened it where as he did the opposite with the pole to pole sample, like getting more aroma and accompanying effects from the orbital sample as a result
I mean, you can try this yourself for a few pennies. See if you smell any difference.
@@GamersComputer seriously. Go buy onions and test it yourself. People get so picky now a days. 💪
Your videos are so fire bro. I’m so glad I found your channel. Thank you for your hard work!
I just found this channel from my RUclips recommendations and I love it! Subscribed!
This guy is like the Bill Nye of cooking, by far my favorite food channel.
Ethan is fantastic but the "bill nye" of cooking title rightfully belongs to Kenji Lopez Alt, check him out! You'll love!
90% of the time, when I cook onions, I dice em pretty fine. I'd be interested to know when long strips are desirable. Obviously they're easier to manipulate so you'd want them for pickling since you'llbe spooning then right onto your food, but for burgers, caramelized onions, soup, stiry fry, salads, etc. I feel that a fine dice is better
I dice for sauces, salsa, ka-bobs etc of such. Chunk or fine depends on what you are making and your preference.
I slice long (pole to pole) for Oriental dishes I may be making, burgers, carmelizing etc of such...with the exception where I might be making gyoza ..or other won ton recipes.. where onions will be wrapped up in something small.
Round (orbital) slices I make only for times when raw round onions on burgers include presentation or preference, otherwise they are reserved for fried onion rings.
Hotdogs need properly caramelised pole to pole sliced onions
Fajitas are the only time I do sliced vs chopped.
Salad, fajitas, pizza, hambs, stirfry, coleslaw and yes pickling & carmelizing
Everything else, I chop. Rarely dice. I don’t like them to disintegrate if possible.
I even sit down and eat them as a veg tho lol
Usually used with garlic, often with celery or green pepper also. LOVE onions!
Dude, I just recently found your channel and have been enjoying them a lot, but this one. Wow, you saved me so much trouble.
I have been trying to caramalize onions for a couple of tries now with failure around the two hour mark. They'd end up dry and I'd have to toss them.
I realized now because of you it's probably because I have been cutting them orbitally all my tries.
Well I am in the midst of trying again and I cut them root to root and the difference is substantial. The look so much more jammy and evenly cooked.
I allways teach this to my students, it is so important to know. Basically the onion for us its one of the most important ingredients in everything we cook and it determinate a lot of things. thanks for teach this
Your Oklahoma onion burger game could use some work. You're using WAY too much beef, but I'm nitpicking. Glad to see the style getting love. There's a place in my town started by a dude from El Reno that specializes in onion burgers and they're the best thing I've ever eaten. Started making them at home and I've got it down to a science.
Only problem I’ve ever encountered slicing pole to pole is that the onion can start to fall apart. The layered “shells” are no longer touching the cutting board on both ends and could make it harder to cut?
As far as raw onions go, you’re going to break the cells with your teeth while eating so I’d think the onion would taste stronger slicing pole to pole? I always slice orbital so I’ll have to try. Interesting video.
Harold McGee’s book is my food bible, this is like watching aspects of it come to life. Nice one
This is the kind of food Trivia that i absolutely love to know about
Ty m8
There's an additional refinement: when you cut pole to pole, you can do parallel slices or make radial (wedge shaped) cuts. For all the reasons that pole to pole is better than orbital, radial pole to pole is better than parallel pole to pole unless you're really bothered by the angles.
i hardly understand a word of this
(in like a youre smarter than me about cooking way)
@@dazey8706 He's saying that when you slice an onion, you can choose to either keep the knife straight up and down along the onion (parallel cuts, this is what most people do) or rotate the knife around the onion as you go (radial - the knife blade is always perpendicular to the onion). And he's saying that rotating the knife around the onion is better, because it ruptures less onion cells than the other way, same as the subject of this video.
@@jackrbuckley ah thank you :)
This was so extra but this is the content I appreciate. 🧅🔪
So just tried cutting a onion from root to stem and my mind is blown! I’ve been getting onions wrong my whole life getting wormy like texture! It’s so much better root to stem, thank you so much for this video! ❤
That is absolutely fascinating! Who woulda thunk it ! My world is now complete.
I’d imagine that rupturing fewer cells while cutting helps to preserve the “oniony-ness” for during eating.
Yeah, that confused me. He seemed to be saying that the orbital slices resulted in a more oniony flavour… but when you’re eating them, surely your teeth are rupturing all the cells in the pole-to-pole slices?
@@colinjudge1261 I suppose it does also depend on how thoroughly one chews their food for it to make a noticeable difference.
I did this tonight with a Vidalia onion and finally understood the “sweet onion” name
Actually, I found this fascinating. Will test it out myself. Thanks for video. Well done. Never heard of this before. Those burgers sure looked good! 🧅🍔
Never thought I’d watch a full video at normal speed comparing two ways to cut onions, haha…but I did! Interesting video. Will check out some of your others
I do it root to stem because that's how Gordon Ramsay told me to do it and he knows more than me lmao.
When slicing pole to pole I find myself following the grain of the onion, angling my knife as I cut from right to left. Have you experimented with the difference between keeping your knife straight up and down vs angling as you cut? How do you think this would change the texture/onion kick?
Thanks and keep the great content coming!
i remember hearing from kenji and some other chef saying angling your knife gives you more equal cuts, have you done any research on it?
This is not something I had thought about before but yea I hate wormy onions and now I know how to avoid that! Thank you for yet ANOTHER great video!! :)
Yes! I love cutting my onions from root to stem when caramelizing them
*sees orbital*
Aerospace engineer and chef inside of me : this is the orbital onion Dynamics. Profound!
For a minute I was confused what "orbital" meant in this video. A polar orbit would be root to stem...
They really meant equatorial/latitudinal :)
Man, even on a my day off when I want to shut off my brain off I'm still learning new things from you
I use onions a lot and didn't realize I've been cutting them orbitally all this time. Life changing!
Thank-you for this! Never thought about it, but this makes sense! This is how I slice jalapeno peppers before I caramelize them with onions for my burger. Great!
For caramelized onions I prefer orbital cuts because of the texture and looseness in contrasts with the "compact" feeling of "pole-to-pole" that is just not my cup of tea
For caramelized onions it genuinely makes no difference
@@boxergirl84 I caramelize my onions into unrecognizable burned piles of yum. I always have diced them, but I'm going to do this experiment to see which texture I prefer. Never even knew why sometimes onions are nasty texture and sometimes not. I assumed it was just cooking length or type oil.
I've started to blend all my onions while making Indian curries.
I enjoyed your video :) I didn’t know that and I’m glad you told me something that will keep my eyes from watering as much
Information I didn’t know I needed but just learned something new. Thanks for sharing and thank you algorithm 🙏🏾
Adam Ragusea got white wine, Ethan Chlebowski has pickled onions. Simple as that.
Babish has his Kosher salt.
It is what it is !😤
When a recommended video from some guy you don’t even know informs you that your entire life has been a lie ... you subscribe and grow. *wipes tears*
LOL
thank you this explains why sometimes my carmelized onions look great and sometimes they don't. because i usually just slice onion per what i feel like that day or what shape i want the pieces. I've never considered the taste implications of it.
When I was a kid and daddy went out of town on business mom would make onion and mayo sandwiches and tomato soup for supper. We were so much more relaxed when dad was gone so onions became my favorite comfort food. I've never had an onion I didn't love. I cut them orbital from tip top to root and sometimes sideways and I never smell or cry from onions. I use a big sliced onion almost every day and I'm 80 years old. God bess the onion ! My partner in good food and good health !
"Let's taste test onion burgers! "... Casually drinks liquid death.
LPT for everyone: freeze your onions for 10-15 mins before cutting and your eyes won't water!
Or, save yourself 8 minutes and watch this video. 🤣
Gonna try this!
My grandma was adamant that literally staring at running cold water (like eyes super close to the stream) worked to alleviate the burn. It worked for me as a kid!
Who plans their meals that far in advance? Hahaha
This is so informational! Thank you
Something so simple and on point 👌 👏