Green Onions – Easy to Preserve and Regrow
So, we use green onions a lot. Quite a few of the recipes we use call for them. I also like to throw them into different things like my favorite summer salad or soups, dips….
The Problem
Green onions are pretty cheap and you get a lot. But, they don’t last forever as much as we would like to believe they can. I always kept them in the fridge in the original packaging. Then they’d get this slimy texture after a while. Before using, you needed to wash the sliminess off and hope they were still usable afterwards. Then I started letting them sit in water on windowsill. I feel like I get a bit more life out of them this way.
Bonus- you can regrow them in water! I usually only get one regrow out of a pack before it decides not to grow anymore.
The problem still exists of using them in enough time before they are, well kinda gross. So, where do we go from here?
The Solution
I watched some youtube videos, each person had their own method, so I went about it combining their ways.
First, I used my handy kitchen scissors and chopped them up to a bit after where the white part starts. This is so I can start regrowing a new batch. I cut them into a bowl, and then laid them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
The cooking times and temperatures varied online. I went with 195 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours. It’s my first try and whatever happens happens.
Three hours later, and I brought them out. I definitely went too high, but they’re usable. Next time I’m going to try them at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours and see what happens.
Regrowing Green Onions
I was then left with the roots. I rinsed them off, peeled the top layer off of and trimmed the roots down. They’re now ready to go into some fresh water and regrow for the next batch. Or for when I prefer fresh, non dried, in a recipe in the near future.
5/5/2020: Second Attempt
While the previous attempt was satisfactory, I knew I could do better.
I had Matt grab three packs of them on a recent shopping trip to Aldi. I used what was fresh for a few days, chopping and starting to regrow them. The other day I took the other two packages I hadn’t yet opened, and placed them in water.
Like last time, I separated the main white root area from the top green section. Chopped up the green area and spread it out on a tray. I then cleaned and trimmed the root pieces. The glass containers they were in are being washed, and will get brand new water to see what we can grow from these roots.
Drying
Last time when I dried the onions out, I used our regular full size oven at 195 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours. They were a bit too dried out in spots. Today I used our toaster oven and set it at the lowest temperature it has, 150. Still drying them for three hours, but I think at the lower temperature I should get a much better result.
Much better results. Last time they dried out too much. These were pretty perfect. I would have preferred a lower temperature, but the lowest that the toaster oven goes is 150 Fahrenheit. When the timer had 30 minutes left, I turned off the toaster oven, so it cooled down to a lower temperature towards the end. That may or may not have helped.
Toaster ovens are a great kitchen appliance. For something small like this, or heating up a slice of pizza, I prefer the toaster oven over the regular oven. There are so many options with toaster ovens, check out some here.
I was able to fit them in a tiny mason jar. I’m curious as to how long they will keep. Not sure.
Some of this batch was used in German Potato Salad aka Kartoffelsalat.
I’ll update the growth process with pictures and dates below:
Do you dry any vegetables or beans on your own? What are your methods? What should we try next?