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I just finished the unit on no-oil sauté, but what about caramelizing onions?

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Eric Wynkoop - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Recorded

This event was on October 29, 2024

Join Chef Eric Wynkoop in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to course-specific questions, to how to turn your cooking passion into profit or simply hearing the perspective of a professional chef, Chef Eric is ready to answer them all.

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Question

Anna Marie Trotman

I just finished the unit on no-oil sauté, but what about caramelizing onions?

Answer

On the no oil saute technique, you just wanna continue down that path, adjusting, um, you know, the liquid, uh, adding liquid, which cools the pan down, um, versus drying the pan out, which he allows the pan to get hotter and impart color to the food. Okay? Um, now with, with the no oil saute, uh, approach, a couple things to keep in mind. You can spend an inordinately long amount of time managing this process to develop a deeper, deeper, deeper color on your caramelized onions. Um, or you can opt for a little bit less color, but still with ample sweetness that you coax out of those onions, okay? You know, understand that, um, sweetness develops pretty early, uh, in onions, and so you don't necessarily need, um, a darker brown color. Um, so taste it along the way so you understand the process, and then you can start to manage your time and then manage the outcome that you desire as well.

Eric Wynkoop

Director of Culinary Instruction

Eric Wynkoop previously served as a founding faculty member at The International Culinary School, instructor in anthropology at Portland State University, and Senior Instructor at the Le Cordon Bleu program at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. He holds Master’s Degrees in postsecondary education and cultural anthropology, as well as credentials in Ayurveda wellness and cooking. Eric has spent more than twenty years in the food and beverage industry. His experiences include banquet management, catering, personal chef, winery cellar hand, educator, textbook contributor, consultant, and ethnographer. He also brings food and cultural insight from nearly a decade of residence in Japan, studies in Mexico, and research in India as a Fulbright Scholar. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a dual degree in Japanese and Asian Studies, he went on to receive his formal culinary training at Western Culinary Institute, in Portland, Oregon. Eric’s role with Rouxbe is central to enhancing the student experience through quality course content and new course development at Rouxbe. Eric is also the lead instructor in Rouxbe courses, a role which he has enjoyed since 2016.