Chopping onions by hand can be challenging.
While I find onions one of the most crucial ingredients to have in a meal, the process of hand-chopping them is not my favourite.
I would instead use a food processor.
Having such tools is what motivates me to cook after a long day of work.
There are also a few tips I use to make the process easier.
Hand chopping onions can be time-consuming when many onions are needed.
In addition, onions make you cry. So you can imagine chopping ten onions or more.
I write this article to highlight the best way to chop onions using a food processor.
First, it is essential to understand why it is better to use a food processor.
Avoid watery eyes.
Not only do onions cause you to shed tears, but they inflict pain in your eyes. Onions absorb sulfur from the ground while they develop.
This sulfur assists the vegetable to create a compound named amino acid sulfoxides.
As we cut the onion’s layers, some of the enzymes in the onion mix with the sulfoxides and form a sulfonic acid that is released into the air.
Your eyes produce tears as a mechanism of defence.
The tears are helpful as they remove this substance from your eyes. Nevertheless, it is painful.
Chopping onions with a food processor
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The blades
I want to talk about the blades first. There is the S blade. This blade has its name after its shape. It is made, of metal and it is a standard attachment for many food processors.
This blade mixes and chops. In a fast and continuous run, it blends and purees.
Procedure To Chop Onions In A Blender
Step 1: Attach the S blades into your working bow.
Place the S blade inside the working bowl and lock the blade.
Step 2: Peel your onions and cut them into quarters.
You want to remove the outer covers of the onions. Afterwards, I like to quarter my onions to reduce their size
Step 3: Place the onions inside the working bowl of the food processor.
The working bowl will hold the onions as the blade chops them. Before you turn on the food processor, ensure you properly attach every item. You also want to place and lock your lid.
- Simply stack and press to chop: The patented stack & press design makes it easy to assemble and use. Simply press the lid to chop and release to stop. Since all you do is stack the lid on top of the bowl, no difficult twist-locking is needed.
- Perfect size for everyday use: Chop and mix up to 3 cups of ingredients every day of the week with this 3 cup chopper. It's the perfect size for everyday use, yet small enough for easy storage.
- Easily chop, puree and emulsify with stainless steel blades: Durable stainless steel blades make easy work of a multitude of ingredients including onions, carrots and nuts. Oil dispenser on lid makes it easy to emulsify dressings, dips and sauces.
- Easy to clean: The bowl, lid and removable blades of the Hamilton Beach chopper are all dishwasher safe.
- Power through tough ingredients: This small food chopper has a 350 watt motor to provide all the power you need to prepare all types of food including onions, nuts, herbs, hummus, dressings and homemade baby food.
Step 4: Use the pulse button.
Most food processors (can you dice vegetables in them?) have three buttons. My food processor has an on/ off switch and a pulse button.
The pulse button will turn the blade and chop the onions rather than blend. I like to press it in short intervals to avoid over-heating.
I will repeat the procedure 4-7 times. Avoid over blending since it causes the onions to have a bitter taste and flavour.
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Step 5: Drain the onions if necessary
The onions will deposit at the bottom of the working bowl and, some might be on the walls. Remove them to start your cooking.
A safety tip to consider is to avoid using an automatic setting for your food processor to chop the onions.
This habit causes off-flavours and might increase the rate at which the food will turn stale.
A food processor cannot dice and cut onions into tiny even squares. It will simply cut into various size pieces.