Questions about beets and onions!

[Bridget399]

Ok... I've been searching the internet all morning and have only made myself more confused!

I want to "dry" my onions but was wondering if my warm, dry garage would be better then my cool, damp basement?
I do not have a truly cool and dry place to do this...

And about the beets... Do you boil the beets with part of the stem on and remove it after cooling? Or does it really matter if I cut it off before?

BYC is always a big help with any of questions! I can't wait to see your responses!!

 

[Hollywood Chickens]

what do you want the end result to be with the beets?

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

damp would not be a good place to dry something. If you don't have a food dehydrator I would look on the internet for suggestions of using your oven on low temp maybe.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I always dry my onions on an old window screen in my garage.

If you cut all the top of the beet off before you cook it, it will "bleed out" while it's cooking.

 

[Bridget399]

Quote:
I just want to can them for later use (and for pickeled eggs).

 

[Ridgerunner]

I want to "dry" my onions but was wondering if my warm, dry garage would be better then my cool, damp basement?
I do not have a truly cool and dry place to do this...

Warm and dry will be better than cool and damp.


And about the beets... Do you boil the beets with part of the stem on and remove it after cooling? Or does it really matter if I cut it off before?

Leave and inch or two of the stems on the beets when you cook them or they'll bleed real bad as mentioned above. Also, do not cut the roots off and be careful not to tear or scrape the skin on the beet when you are cleaning them.

 

[ranchhand]

I highly recommend rubber or plastic gloves for dealing with the cooked beets. Either that, or have purple hands for several days!

 

[Bridget399]

Quote:

That's something I'd think of only after the fact!! Thanks!

And thanks to everyone for your suggestions and ideas. I can always find my answers on BYC!

 

[katkat92]

I tie onions with twine or old pantyhose and hang them in the kitchen and also in my pump house to store them.

Beets I like to leave on a few inches stem and root cause they bleed so bad, boil till soft them you can dump them into cold water and just slip the whole skin and top off or if you want to eat them hot just skip the cold water and slip off the skins/top with a fork and butter knife. Yummmmmmmy!