HOW TO PRESERVE ONIONS FOR 6 MONTHS WITHOUT FRIDGE. WHAT EVERY HOME NEEDS TO KNOW

Let me start by saying that onion is a layered bulb vegetable that makes you cry when you cut it, but makes your food sweet when you cook with it.

As a child used to asked my mom why she's crying every time she cuts onions and she will just forced a smile.

Onion is a vegetable and not fruit, a bulb plant grown underground.

It botanically called Allium cepa which belongs to the same family as garlic, shallots, and leeks.

It grows as a round bulb with many layers wrapped around each other, covered by a dry papery skin. Inside, it is fleshy, juicy, and has a strong, sharp smell that makes your eyes water when you cut it.

Onions can be white, red, yellow, or purple, and they are used worldwide to add flavor, taste, and medicine to food.

In the northern Nigeria, Onion is very cheap during harvest but two months later, the same basket costs 3x. If you don't know how to preserve onions, you will always buy expensive and you will always throw away rotten ones.

I learned this the hard way. I bought half bag of onions in August, kept it in a nylon bag in my kitchen, and by September, half had rotted, grown green shoots, and smelled terrible.

That ws my experience two weeks ago, though I lost money but I learned.

Let me share everything I now know about preserving onions like a pro, with or without fridge after my thorough researched.

1. The dry air method (this method can last for up to 6 months).
   Don't wash your onions.
   Cut off the green leaves, leave 1 inch of stem.
   Spread them in a basket, jute sack, Onions need to breathe.
   Keep them in a dry, airy, dark place.
   Not on the floor where water touches.
   Hang the basket if you can.
   Check weekly and remove any soft one before it spoils the others.

Believe me that if you do this, your onions will last 3 to 6 months.

1. The sun-drying method (this method can last for up to a year)
   Slice onions thinly in rings.
   Spread on a tray and sun-dry for 3-4 days until completely dry and crispy.
   Blend into powder or keep as dried flakes.
   Store in airtight jar or bottle with silica gel or dry pepper seeds to absorb moisture.

This dried onion powder is sweeter than fresh onion and never spoils. Try it and thank me later.

1. Fridge (for those that have steady light)
   Chop onions, put in container, freeze.
   It will last 8 months and when you want to cook, just pour directly from freezer to pot, don't thaw.
   You can also fry onion in oil lightly and freeze the base. This is called stew base preservation.
   It saves time and gas.

Some mistakes that make onions rust fast are:

• Storing onions near potatoes, potatoes release gas that rots onions fast.
  Keep them far.
• Storing in plastic nylon, it traps heat and sweat.
• Storing wet or freshly harvested onions without curing them in sun for 2 days.
• Leaving rotten ones inside good ones.

My take to you,
If you are in Nigeria, buy onions in season (Nov - March). Preserve using dry air method. You will save good amount of money.

Food preservation is not stinginess.
It is wisdom.

Onion that you preserve well is money you preserve well.

How do you preserve your onions at home? Do you have any other local method I didn't mention?
Drop it in comments let's all learn and save money together.

Author: @DavidUman