The Best Type Of Pan For Caramelizing Onions

Caramelized onions are an exercise in time and sheer patience, but when your hard work pays off, it really pays off — the result is a batch of sweet, soft, and savory onions that taste incredible. While there are only a few tricks you can use to cut down cooking time, you do need to be mindful of some other factors for the best results. We spoke to Dennis Littley, chef and culinary expert at Ask Chef Dennis, about the type of cooking vessel that's ideal for caramelizing onions, and if it even matters.

Littley said it does. "The best pan to caramelize onions is a shallow pan that distributes heat evenly across its base and has enough width for all the onions to be cooked together," he explained. A pan made of either stainless steel or cast iron is ideal because of the material's heat-distributing properties.

And it needs to be big enough to allow for the onions to cook in a single layer, which Littley said is more important than you think because it allows the onions to cook quickly. He continued, "It is this quick cooking process that causes the onions to slowly release their water content, eventually developing an equally rich, deep-brown color without being burned."

In contrast, there are types of pans that aren't ideal for the caramelizing process. "It is very easy to cause your onions to cook poorly if you do not have the right pan," Dennis Littley expressed. "A poor choice would include using a lightweight pan, including Teflon-coated non-stick pans. These pans can develop hot spots that will burn portions of the onions before others have developed even a slight tan."

With lightweight pans, you run the risk of further disappointment when you miss out on fond, which is the layer of browned bits that stick to the bottom of your pan (fond is what you're utilizing when you deglaze a pan). Littley said the fond adds a depth of flavor to the onions, and without it, your onions won't taste as rich.

The size of the pan can also affect the fond development. "Choosing a pan that is too small and/or over-crowds the pan can cause the onions to steam, and therefore will never properly brown," Littley said. If you don't have a large enough pan, he suggests using multiple smaller ones instead, as the surface area is important if you want to end up with an ideal end product. A perfect batch is practically culinary heaven, and if you need some ideas on how to use caramelized onions, we have plenty for you.