Picking the Perfect Onion

By taking a little extra time to pick healthy, fresh onions from your local produce supplier you’ll be rewarded with beautiful onions that have longer storage life and add fantastic flavors and textures to your dishes as well as nutrients for better health.

Yellow Onions
When looking for the best yellow onions to buy, choose those that feel firm and heavy for their size. Overall the onion should have a warm copper–like color with a papery–dry skin that shows no signs of bruising, spotting or dampness. Avoid yellow onions that look green as, unlike bananas, they do not ripen.

White Onions
Look for large, firm, white onions that have a smooth, dry, unbroken, pearl–white skin. Avoid onions that show signs of bruising, spotting or dampness. Because white onions can be stored over many months, as a general rule, the smoother the onion the fresher it should be.

Red Onions
Look for red onions that have a solid feel to them and have a gorgeous dark, purple–red outer skin. The neck should be tightly closed and the outer skin should have a dry, crackly feel and an overall shiny bruise–free appearance. It is harder to see bruising on a red onion, so look carefully.

Sweet Onions
There are many varieties of sweet onions sold across the U.S. but unfortunately not all onions sold as “sweet” truly are. Peri & Sons Farms’ Sweetie Sweet® onion is a truly sweet onion and unlike some short–season onions, such as Vidalia and Walla Walla, our Sweetie Sweets are available from mid–July through December.

We also grow a more traditional premium sweet onion that, although not as sweet as our Sweetie Sweet, has a nice combination of sweetness and pungency.

When looking for perfect sweet onions choose those that have a very light, golden–brown color. Unlike yellow onions, sweet onions should have a tissue–thin, shiny skin and firm, tight, dry necks. Yellow onions in comparison will appear darker and have a thicker skin. Avoid onions that have soft spots or surface bruises.

Julia Child once said “It’s hard to imagine a civilization without onions.” and we wholeheartedly agree. That’s why we believe that picking the best onions possible from your local produce supplier is well worth the effort.

Peri & Sons Farms would like everyone to share in our Onion Obsession, so join our club and we’ll periodically send you news and information about our wonderful world of onions. As always, we are happy to answer any questions about onions you may have so call or email us anytime.