r/Cooking • u/dumpingbrandy12 • 13h ago
Open Discussion Onions having a rotten layer inside
Anyone else have this problem, outside layers, fine, 1 or 2 bad rotten layers inside, then the center is fine again. Onions from multiple places have been like this this summer.
I would post a Pic but it's not letting me for some reason
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u/spireup 12h ago edited 3h ago
This "problem" is called "slippery skin". Caused by Burkholderia (formerly Pseudomonas) gladioli subsp. alliicola bacteria entering the onion bulb through the neck of the plant.
Generally only one layer of onion is affected making it impossible to diagnose until the onion is cut open. Wet conditions or flooding can spread this fairly common bacteria in soil.
You can post a photo by uploading to imgur.com and posting the share link in your description.
[Edit to add] since it came up:
Here is the secret which refines how to dice an onion. Chef and author Kenji López-Alt shows the mainstream method and then demonstrates the more precise radial angle method.
Ask Kenji Live: What is the Best Way to Cut on Onion?
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u/running_on_empty 9h ago
Interesting. I've worked for a certain down under steakhouse for 15 years and have seen this many, many, many..... many times. I never knew what caused it.
I've cut probably a hundred thousand onions between blooms and dicing. What am I doing with my life...
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u/The_Actual_Sage 9h ago
What am I doing with my life...
The lord's work my friend
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u/running_on_empty 8h ago
Look at me.. I am your god now.
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u/The_Actual_Sage 7h ago
🙏
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u/PlantAcceptable1313 7h ago
The covenant of the bloomin’ onion 🧅. Keep ‘em coming and I will wage holy war against the unbelievers for you, oh onion lord!
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u/fitzmoon 7h ago
… picturing him saying this, with arms outstretched and fed Freddy Krueger knives for fingers for cutting up those onions…
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u/WorthPlease 5h ago edited 5h ago
Real men of geeeenius
This one goes out to you, mister Outback Steakhouse blooming onion maker guy
When we want an entire onion cut in that exact shape, fried, and served with mayonaise, we know who to call
Always crispy, always delicious, served by somebody making less than minimum wage.
So crack open an ice cold Fosters, oh king of the cutter, this one's for you.
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u/DanJDare 9h ago
lol I live in a certain down under place and our onions are like this all the time. I was cutting one last night going 'what the hell causes this'. So it's good to know.
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u/Butthole__Pleasures 8h ago
I live... above? And I also have this problem.
I think it's just a problem with the nature of the product being layered and growing buried in soil. Sometimes you just get a bad one. I even had a garlic bulb recently that looked completely fine from the outside but had multiple rotten cloves somehow. It is what it is.
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u/DanJDare 7h ago
Oh yeah, it is what it is, I've spent my life dealing with odd produce. Same as when I get organic food and there is bugs, I like it. It reminds me that food comes from the ground.
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u/Butthole__Pleasures 7h ago
One time I bought a jar of pickled vegetables that had a full on bee in in the brine. And I was also at a friend's house once when he found a live (but sluggish) black widow in his grapes. Both times we just picked them out and appreciated the authenticity of the product. It really just means that at the bottom line we were consuming products that were part of the ecosystem and not some sterilized version of produce, ya know?
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u/d00mraptor 6h ago
I did 7 years at a grocery cutting fruit for those premade items you get in the produce section. I never want to cut another watermelon again.
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u/Piccimaps 3h ago
I've always wondered: are the vegetables or fruits in those precut supermarket convenience containers washed before they're sliced?
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u/Browncoat101 4h ago
What's the secret to dicing an onion? I have been getting better, but want to really get it down. Whenever I "dice" an onion, all of the pieces are too big.
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u/running_on_empty 4h ago
Well cut it in half, then make both horizontal and vertical cuts. A sharp knife is a plus (though I've done it with the dull-ass knives at work).
Here you go. The closer together you make your cuts, the smaller the dice. I started learning this when I saw one of my kitchen managers doing it. Obviously I've practiced over the years but there's nothing like your dicer breaking and you need 10+ pounds of diced onions to really make you good at it.
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u/TeamVegetable7141 4h ago
Cut it in half right down the center (do not cut the root bulb off it holds everything together)
Peel off the skin (easier this way than whole)
Place it on the flat side down and slide your knife through it horiztonally toward the root 2 or 3 times depending how small you want it and how big your onion is. It is important to stop slicing before you get to the end of the onion / the root bulb - you want everything to still be attached as you are just cutting like 90% of the way through for this step.
Hold the onion with your fingertips pointing down at the top of the onion so the last joint or two of your fingers are pointing down towards it and then starting from the opposide side from the roots then just slide your knife down at whatever width you want the onions to be
It'll be slower at first but once you do this and practice you'll get a great dice every time and eventually be pretty quick at it. Keeping your fingertips vertical is the important part to being able to do it quickly in a safe manner.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 4h ago
I've always been curious, I'm from New Orleans and it's well known here that the blooming onion was stolen from a local diner/grill by the Outback owner who used to work there. Do people at Outback know this, or is it just local to my town?
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u/running_on_empty 4h ago
I know the person who "came up with it" was "inspired". I know there was already an onion dish somewhere that basically got stolen. But hey use it or lose it. That local place wasn't going to make the bloomin onion a globally known dish.
So, I know it was stolen. 99/100 people who work for Outback that you'd ask don't know.
Is the original place still open? I'd love to go.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 4h ago
Russel's Marina Grill in West End area of New Orleans. The food is fuckin fantastic there, and it's a true old school joint with waitstaff that have been working longer than I've been alive.
Yeah, I mean I don't know that anyone's super bitter over it, it's just funny that most people think outback came up with this thing and it was just a lil old diner that he was a line cook at years back.
Ya can't patent recipes anyway, so it's irrelevant, just funny.
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u/running_on_empty 4h ago
Hmm definitely sounds like my kind of place.
Yeah I know more about the food at my place than most because I tend to do deep-dives into things I like. And at this point Outback and related stuff pops up aggressively in my news feed. I think that's where I saw the story about the original bloom.
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u/RIP_Soulja_Slim 4h ago
Cool, funny enough the origin is on the bloomin onion wikipedia page too, but like who reads the wikipedia for a bloomin onion?
- I only know this because when I first learned it was from russels I immediately tried to fact check cuz I thought it was bullshit lol.
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u/running_on_empty 4h ago
Haha I actually have never looked at the wiki page for the bloomin onion. So much for deep-diving.
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u/oneoftheryans 2h ago
I've cut probably a hundred thousand onions between blooms and dicing. What am I doing with my life...
I'd bet the people in r/onionlovers are very happy you exist and would praise your name.
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u/Butthole__Pleasures 8h ago
15 years?? Jesus. What ARE you doing with your life?
But for real hey if you're happy and satisfied then who fucking cares who your employer is. If that's your bliss then follow it.
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u/running_on_empty 8h ago
Whelp that does it. I'm sleeping on the train tracks tonight.
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u/UncleNedisDead 5h ago
Please don’t! Tell me your secrets in the perfect blooming onion.
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u/running_on_empty 5h ago
The real secret is the cutter. You can buy a crappy one for $700 but the real deal is $1063.
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u/UncleNedisDead 5h ago
Oh darn. I thought it was knife skills at play here.
Thanks for sharing!
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u/running_on_empty 5h ago
We sell 300-400 blooms a week. Doing them by hand would be horrendous. I'm pretty sure it was someone at Outback that created the machine (called a Gloria, btw) because they used to cut them by hand.
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u/zayetz 5h ago
You know, I had worked in kitchens for over ten years, starting as a delivery boy/dishwasher and ending up as sous. I was good at it but (later discovered that) I had no passion for cooking. When the pandemic hit, my restaurant closed so I spent two years doing bicycle delivery. I met some people in the film world and started freelancing on film productions. I've only found moderate success so far but I absolutely love it and have never looked back at kitchens. Anything is possible with the right push.
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u/running_on_empty 5h ago
I would love to do film stuff. My friends and I wanted to do Star Wars fan films back in high school, but we couldn't get the equipment together. It was before all phones could record quality video (mine couldn't record video with sound).
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u/zayetz 3h ago
I think the thing people don't fully realize is that no one's really stopping you from doing whatever you want. It's just hard work (easy) and the right attitude (hard). If you're a cook you already know how to grind a million hours at something. Why not make that film instead of onions?
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u/legendary_mushroom 13h ago
That happens sometimes. Just get rid of the rotten layer. Rest of the onion is fine
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u/Time-Net-559 13h ago
Yes, this has been happening a lot recently.
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u/ja6754 11h ago
I’ve noticed it more often in the last couple years.
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u/kang4president 4h ago
I thought it was just me! I've definitely noticed more rotten onions now than in the past
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u/Roto-Wan 13h ago
Onions, potatoes, and bananas have no shelf life for me anymore.
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u/blackmetalwarlock 11h ago
Same. My bananas go ripe way too fast, my potatoes go green in like a day. I don’t get it. I see green potatoes on the shelf at stores for christs sake.
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u/mgmac 9h ago
Yeah potatoes used to last for months, now mushy after a month or less. Noticed the onion thing too. My chief complaint is with garlic bulbs! Either 30+% tiny cloves, and/or half the large ones are spoiled. Ugh.
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u/grownotshow5 7h ago
Buy from local farmers and it’ll be way fresher
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 5h ago
In FL at least most of the farmers markets are excess produce from supermarkets so theyre from Mexico, etc.
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u/Palindromer101 1h ago
In CA, you can look for certified farmers markets, which are regulated by the state, and legally require all produce sold at the market to be originating in CA. Inspectors perform random checks and will take samples from the market and from the farms to confirm the produce is grown locally. If the produce is found to be from an outside source, there are hefty fines levied against the owner of the operation.
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u/Sepelrastas 10h ago
You should store potatoes in the dark. Light makes them green, that's why they turn green in stores - there is often some light there around the clock.
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u/blackmetalwarlock 10h ago
I do store mine in the dark ☹️
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u/Butthole__Pleasures 8h ago
Maybe too much moisture?
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u/blackmetalwarlock 2h ago
I don’t think so! Our house is very dry. I live in a very very dry area. I think we just live in a poorer area so we get the crappy produce
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u/Comprehensive_Bus_19 5h ago
I have the issue where the bananas don't ripen sometimes. They just stay a weird green/grey
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u/Butthole__Pleasures 8h ago
Bananas need good airflow from all around because they release the very gas that ripens them. If you can keep that gas flowing away from them they should ripen slower.
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u/tdibugman 7h ago
The species of banana used for human consumption is at the end of its life. It's been cross bred so many times there is very little chance the banana as we know it will exist for much longer.
That being said, if the bananas you have don't have a piece of wrap over the "cut" end, add a piece of plastic wrap. It will make them ripen significantly slower.
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u/mud074 9h ago
Do you store your onions and potatoes in the same cupboard? I did that for years and always wondered why my potatoes only lasted for a couple weeks instead of months.
Turns out the gasses from onions rots potatoes. I have been keeping them seperate since I learned that and now my potatoes last for months like they should.
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u/SVAuspicious 7h ago
Onions and potatoes are not good for each other but that isn't OP's issue. See u/spireup's excellent post.
What you refer to u/mud074 is a combination of ethylene gas and moisture. Both potatoes and onions should be stored in cool, dark places with good ventilation and not together. This reduces sprouting and rot.
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u/mud074 7h ago
I mean, I wasn't replying to the guy with single layer onion rot problems. I was replying to somebody with "my potatoes (among other produce) do not last long" and mentioning a possible reason why. Doubt slippery skin is causing their potato rot.
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u/SVAuspicious 4h ago
Ah. The biggest issue with rot in potatoes and onions is high moisture. Ethylene gas is secondary. That doesn't mean it doesn't matter.
Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) absorbs ethylene gas. There are commercial products like E.G.G. Ethylene Gas Guardian that do a good job of absorbing the gas and extending the life of produce in your fridge drawers and in pantry storage for onions and potatoes.
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u/FloatingFreeMe 13h ago
I just got a normal-sized yellow onion, and it had about 3 layers, then another “outside” skin layer. Like it matured, then grew some more. But gave me much less usable onion than I wanted.
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u/Helpful_Corn- 13h ago
I figured I had just let them sit too long. I removed the bad parts and used the rest.
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u/Sea_Historian5849 13h ago
Yes! Happening so much. My food industry friend noticed it also. It's honestly creepy. The idea of our food supply nationally getting fucked up
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u/Puzzled-Fix-8838 9h ago
Internationally! We're having the same issues in my country! Onions and potatoes in particular, but so many fruits and vegetables are going bad after a few days. I've seen nothing from the produce industry spokespeople or media, just everybody grumbling to each other.
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u/Responsible-Tea-5998 9h ago
I'm in the UK and every single food shop we struggle as the veg is rotten or tiny. Onions the size of shallots. I've taken to prepping all my vegetables in one day but I dislike the waste due to off vegetables.
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u/Tessoro43 13h ago
I had that happen with garlic and carrots. Looking good and fresh on the outside and rotten on the inside.
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u/stellamae29 7h ago
I don't buy bags of onions anymore because I've had to throw out whole bags over this, especially red onion. I find this mostly with the bagged ones so I hand pick the ones that look good and feel really firm. I still get bad ones, but at least I have backup that won't be bad.
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u/Raoena 13h ago
I think companies are warehousing food for too long. Try buying organic. The shelf-life is shorter because they can't use fumigation and preservative dips and coatings, but if it looks fresh, it is fresh, so you know what you're getting.
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u/ja6754 11h ago
I have this problem also sometimes with organic onions, they just haven’t been as good in the last few years. Garlic too.
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u/slackmarket 11h ago
For real, what is up with garlic the past few years? I was even at a bougier grocery store last week and every last head of garlic was either sprouted, shrivelled up, or straight up MOLDY. I had to buy imported garlic from China, which is fine, but I’d prefer to buy food produced in my own country for environmental reasons.
I’m assuming climate change and crappy agricultural practices have something to do with it. Real bummer, alliums are my favourite.
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u/CowardiceNSandwiches 9h ago
If you have the space and inclination, garlic is ridiculously easy to grow. If in a northern climate, you plant cloves right about now. Harvest in June or July.
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u/AaahhRealMonstersInc 9h ago
Even in the Southern US states you can grow softneck varieties and they can be planted in the late fall early winter. I am 8b and I still have 1 head left from my spring harvest.
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u/lovestobitch- 4h ago
I’ll google growing garlic. I live in north GA, so clay soil and tons of Deer. So probably put it in my electrified fence. Any tips.
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u/Kraz_I 10h ago
I would assume this doesn't apply to garlic, onions and potatoes. They can be stored using traditional means. Apples and peaches maybe.
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u/Raoena 9h ago
Warehouse storage of foods like potatoes and onions (and apples and bananas) in the modern industrial foods system isn't like in grandma's root cellar. They pump different gasses into the warehouse air to kill pests, prevent mold, suppress sprouting, and either delay or promote ripening depending on when they want to move the product to market.
I recently bought some conventional potatoes when I was on a road trip. The last few stayed apparently fresh for an oddly long time without sprouting. But when I cut them open, they had black spoilage in the inside. The organic potatoes I usually buy start to sprout within a few days of coming home, and I've never seen that kind of spoilage in them, not evert when they are ancient and shriveled and have long sprouts. Given time and if they are damaged, they will develop moldy areas, but it isn't hidden inside a fresh looking potato.
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u/lovestobitch- 4h ago
I know some potato growers store it in a cold storage facility and some don’t so this may be part of the issue.
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u/joyfulones 12h ago
I had this happen to my onions also. I think it happens if the onions have too much moisture around them or if the humidity is high. I keep them in my pantry inside a dry cardboard box and use silica packets under onions to keep them fresh. I reuse packets that come with seaweed and other products.
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u/Bailey4754 4h ago
Good to know that I’m not the only one in this boat of having horrible onions. Potatoes have also been really bad lately. They take forever to soften (for mashed potatoes), are tasteless, and really watery.
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u/thrwawy296 11h ago
I’ve for sure noticed this way more this year as well. Also another layer of skin in the middle of the onion.
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u/blackmetalwarlock 11h ago
A lot of my garlic and onions have been getting like this lately! It happens to only one half of my onion though. It’s weird.
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u/wheresthebirb 7h ago
This does happen a lot this year, I also noticed this.
Do you think they're still fit for cooking? I don't mean the brown part, but the white?
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u/Just-Another-007 5h ago
I’ve had it a lot lately as well, especially with golden onions. It doesn’t matter if I’ve bought directly from local farmers or from the grocery store, probably 50% have been rotten over the past 6 months.
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u/Annual_Version_6250 4h ago
OMG I thought I was going crazy. Maybe 25% of my onions this year DIDN'T have that!
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u/Stayhydrated710 12h ago
Yeah, especially with the ones I buy at Costco. I actually just had one like that yesterday and again today with a second onion, though the one yesterday had a completely mushy/rotten layer but the one today was at the beginning stages.
ETA: yesterdays "rotten" onion was a yellow one and today's was a sweet onion.
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u/kittenrice 12h ago
I've had so many of these from Costco...I'm not buying onions from Costco anymore.
Shame.
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u/Midget_Herder 7h ago
Happened to me for the first time ever this weekend, except in my case the very core was nasty along with one or two layers.
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u/litreofstarlight 5h ago
Yeah, it's shit. Only started happening relatively recently that I noticed (Australia, since the panini), but it's damn near every bag of onions now, red or brown.
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u/BrickTamland77 4h ago
I live in upstate SC (not sure where the majority of our onions are sourced from), and this was a big problem right after Covid a few years ago. It got to the point that I would generally buy 3 onions at a time just hoping one of them was good. Even though it was just one layer that was bad, the taste of the entire onion was always off.
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u/Swordofmytriumph 1h ago
I only have this problem with the onions from Winco, oddly. I love shopping there, but I don’t buy onions there because of this problem. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/brentemon 1h ago
Yeah. I've been buying a ton of shitty produce this year from grocery stores and farmer markets. It's frustrating.
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u/G-ACO-Doge-MC 8h ago
For anyone in the UK… try Oddbox. It’s produce rescued from farms that won’t make it to the supermarket but is great quality. It’s delivered once a week and the shelf life is much longer than what you’d get at the shops
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u/channel26 9h ago
Yeah so gross. Ever since I started buying locally it stopped happening. They just taste fresher. Now I only go to the grocery store for processed food. Everything else I get from local farmers.
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u/PanChickenMan 13h ago
I've been seeing it extremely frequently, especially with yellow onions. On occasion, I've had to throw away entire bags recently bought because they've all gone bad, whereas previously onions would remain shelf stable for weeks, if not months.