My new way to prep onions has saved me 15 minutes on our Friday night rush

For years, I'd just chop onions as needed during service, which always slowed us down. About two months ago, I started pre-cutting and storing them in a salt water ice bath in the walk-in. Last Friday, we got a 12-top order all needing caramelized onions at the same time. Having them ready to drain and go straight into the pan cut our ticket time from 25 minutes down to about 10. The texture is better, too, less mushy. Has anyone else tried a similar trick with other veg that needs a long cook?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.ben1mo ago

Does the salt water bath change the flavor at all, or does it just help with the texture?

the_fiona1mo ago

Oh man, I tried this last week with a whole chicken and it really helped the texture more than anything. I mean, the flavor was a tiny bit saltier on the outside but not in a bad way. Honestly the biggest difference for me was how much juicier and tender it turned out compared to skipping the soak.

jessica7071mo ago

Oh wow, okay so you're saying the texture was the main win? That's interesting because I keep going back and forth on whether the brine actually does something or if it's just in my head. So when you say it was juicier, do you mean like the dark meat was more moist too or just the breast? Because I always struggle with dry breast meat no matter what I do. And did you use kosher salt or regular table salt for yours? I've heard different things about how the size of the salt grains matters but I don't really get the science behind it.