Onion Powder vs. real onions

[polishpizza]

Anyone have any pro vs. cons in relation to making a sauce?  For some reason I can't stand onions in general (working with them) but do enjoy the taste.  Just starting making sauce...

[mkevenson]

Anyone have any pro vs. cons in relation to making a sauce?  For some reason I can't stand onions in general (working with them) but do enjoy the taste.  Just starting making sauce...

For pizza sauce I don't use onion at all. Either just good San Marzano tomato or more recently Bubba's sauce

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJCzh33argM[/youtube]

now for pasta, that's a whole nuther story. Fresh onion is the way to go.

Mark

[polishpizza]

I should have been more specific, yes I was asking about non-pizza sauce which is kind of stupid on my part since this is a pizza making forum!

[TXCraig1]

The only use I've ever had for onion powder is a (minor) ingredient in blackening seasoning.

Wear nitrile gloves (the light blue ones - available everywhere), clip your nose or wear a swim mask if you must, and go with the fresh onions.

[scott123]

PP, if your issue with onions relates to the sulfur compound irritation that Craig is referring to, beyond the steps that Craig suggested, my recommendation is to cook with onions more.  If you work with onions at least twice a week, you develop a tolerance for them. In the last five years, I might have shed an onion related tear maybe twice- and on both occasions, I was excited to be crying, because, in my experience, the compounds that produce tears are usually indicative of a more flavorful onion.  In the last decade, they've bred a lot of the fierceness out of onions. If you caramelize a lot of onions like I do, an onion that lacks robustness will be almost completely flavorless by the time it's caramelized.

[The Dough Doctor]

Just as an FYI, both onion and garlic contain a compound that will catalyze the pectin in the tomato causing it to gel/thicken to the point where it takes on the appearance of tomato jelly rather than pizza sauce. Yes, it does the same thing to pasta sauce too but because we typically cook a pasta sauce we add enough water to compensate for the thickening and evaporation so we don't usually recognize it as a problem. To correct the problem in pizza sauce, or any tomato based sauce all you need to do is to "nuke" the onion and/or garlic in a little water until it comes to a boil (you're actually looking for a temperature of about 180F) but 212F, or close to that won't hurt anything, assuming you're at or reasonably close to sea level. Once the onion/garlic is heated to this point it can be added to the sauce without visions of it turning into tomato jelly.
I am also an advocate of using fresh onion and garlic, but if I must use a dried form, I really think the onion flakes provide a better overall flavor than the onion powder.
Tom Lehmann/The Dough Doctor

[polishpizza]

Thanks everyone for the feedback, it is appreciated.

[Jet_deck]

For some reason I can't stand onions in general (working with them) but do enjoy the taste. 

This may be a bit late, but let me suggest a method.  Cut the ends off the onion.  Remove the paper skin and one outside layer of the onion. Quarter the onion, put it in a food processor with 3 cups uncrushed ice.  Process until the desired consistency is obtained.  Fill with water, then when the ice is melted, dump out all the water.  No tears, no muss, no fuss.  I employ this method when it is necessary to hide ingredients in a "meal"

[JD]

Onion powder serves little purpose in my kitchen. I believe once you get a good technique down for cutting onions, you don't have time for the vapors to effect you.

If you're standing over the onion chopping away for 5 minutes because of poor knife handling skills, then tears are inevitable. If you can dice/mince/whatever an onion in 15-20 seconds it's no longer a hassle.

[Y-TOWN]

For pizza sauce I don't use onion at all. Either just good San Marzano tomato or more recently Bubba's sauce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJCzh33argM&feature=youtu.be

now for pasta, that's a whole nuther story. Fresh onion is the way to go.

Mark

I joined Bubba's fee based pizza site to get that sauce recipe a few years back. His sauce is really good in my opinion, in fact I used it for an extended period of time. The problem I had with it was shelf life. It is great for a day or two but does not retain the original flavor after a few days in the frig. After a few days the refrigerated sauce does not taste like it did when first made. In my opinion it gets very bland after some frig time.

I talked to Bubba about the change in the sauce's flavor after a few days and he agreed the flavor of that sauce recipe changes after a bit of time in the frig but had no fix for the problem.

I'm glad he put the sauce video on the internet so folks could get the recipe without charge - he is a great guy. In my opinion his sauce is really good if you can utilize the entire batch of sauce quickly.

I tried to make smaller batches which I could consume in a day or two prior to the flavor change, without success. As I like his sauce recipe so well I wish I could figure out how to make it so it retains its first/second day flavor by freezing it or canning it as it is a fairly large recipe for the home pizza maker to normally use in a short period of time.

[TXCraig1]

I joined Bubba's fee based pizza site to get that sauce recipe a few years back. His sauce is really good in my opinion, in fact I used it for an extended period of time. The problem I had with it was shelf life. It is great for a day or two but does not retain the original flavor after a few days in the frig. After a few days the refrigerated sauce does not taste like it did when first made. In my  in fact its very bland after some frig time.

I talked to Bubba about the change in the sauce's flavor after a few days and he agreed the flavor of that sauce recipe changes after a bit of time in the frig but had no fix for the problem.

My guess is that it oxidizes. Storing it under vacuum (no oxygen) might help.

[Tscarborough]

It doesn't have to be vacuum, just no air.  Use ziplocks and get out all the air.

[Chi_Guy]

Pizza sauce is about the only thing I ever use onion powder in.  Because the sauce is uncooked, you can't use fresh onion and garlic or it will have a raw flavor. Letting the pizza sauce marinate for a while with the onion/garlic powders and dried herbs improves the flavor significantly. 

For pasta sauce, it's fresh onion all the way.

[Pizzamaster]

Sometimes you need onion. Sometimes you need onion powder.

[Lydia]

For fresh onions without tears, I've made the permanent switch to sweet onions.

The cool part is that when I store these, cut raw, in the refrigerator and freezer, I don't have an issue with the aroma attacking and penetrating everything else. Doesn't seem to matter whether they are stored in freezer bags or containers.

I've used Maui, walla-walla, texas sweet, spanish sweet..they've all performed well for me.