I'd use Vidalia onions.

I starch, batter and then fry. SE Kansas is the onion ring capital of the US -- HUGE platters of OR for like $4 at most restaurants -- all homemade and all delicious but best eaten hot -- they get soggy and greasy as they cool off!

Well, I'm probably too late now, but one recipe: I dip 1/4" or slightly thinner onions (large enough they don't over cook, if they over cook, you're left with nothing but the coating - ugh!) into AP flour, baking soda, and salt. Then I dip them in blended egg and milk, place them on wood skewers that I hang across an empty bowl to let the batter drain off. Then drop them onto a plate of panko bread crumbs or plain bread crumbs - using the skewers to move around the coating. Those are for substantial onion rings. And they will hold a bit longer than those with just a milk batter and flour.

I've 2 others, but prefer this one, with panko.

So, if your using your beer batter recipe, which looks very good to me, no, I wouldn't freeze the onion rings. You might put the cut rings in the fridge first, but I never do that. Just don't over-fry them.

BTW, I do love thin onion rings in a buttermilk and seasoned flour batter. But find the thin ones tricky as sometimes the onion overcooks and instead of a hot, juicy onion inside, I get... nothing!

I do what Martha does. For starch, I use a mixture of flour + cornstarch. I agree that they are not so good cold, and so you have to find a way to keep them warm. I always make additional vegetable to go with them, and turnips are my favorite for tempura, but I also like bell peppers, green beans, and asparagus. Typically I make hush puppies for July 4, and they need to be eaten hot as well.

if the tempura is fresh made, barely mixed and onion rings battered in those ... oh my. I like thicker cut onions, not the thin ones, cuz they seem greasier as they chill.

Prep your rings and have everything ready to go, make the tempura last. dip and fry.

Beer batter and buttermilk is great too. Love vidalias

I don't make them or fry, but a friend does and just got back to me....(now I want some!). Maybe I can convince him to make them next weekend, hmm.

He does a batch of thin cut and a thick cut. Separate bowls covered in buttermilk to soak. Stacks them, then covered and into the fridge for 3-6 hours or what ever is convenient. An hour is probably fine.

He spices his flour a bit. For every cup of flour he adds a half cup of fine corn flour and a couple Tbsp corn starch. The thin ones are drained and into the dry flour mix, then straight into the hot oil. The thicker rings get the beer added to the flour mix, first dry flour, then fried. I like both but the skinny ones are to die for.

Same amount of work and pleases everyone.

I do know he does not give the beer batter a rest. I watched once. No egg though, huh.

Best oil for frying? My only high heat oil I have is Avocado. That should be fine. I want to crisp some leeks for steak tomorrow and might do a bit of onion. Yum.

Yeah, I think beer batter and egg wouldn't be the way to go. Beer batter is to make it lighter in texture, I think...?

Huh, oil? Duck fat : ) Nope, that's fries, and only if you want to add some of that flavor (I can't even get duck fat), which you wouldn't for beer battered onion rings. I'm going to vote for plain old canola for beer battered : )

Yeah, now I want some good onion rings!

I'll do half an onion thin and the other half thick with beer in the batter. My expert friend does not make the batter thick but rather thin. Still good crunch. Just adds the beer a bit at a time to get it like he wants.

Thanks, everybody!

The beer batter recipe was specifically requested, and it says that the batter is for onion rings as well right on the recipe, so I'm not worried about the batter. The recipe figures you know what you're doing though, so the only "method" is a recommendation for 350° F. The oil is safflower. Unless given other, better advice, the pan will be a Wagner cast iron frying pan. Serving isn't an issue. It's only steps from the kitchen to the table, and it'll be a very informal meal, so if the rings come out in batches, it's fine. (The reference to resting above was after battering and before frying, which is something I saw on TV.)

I'm glad to read all your various approaches to onion rings. Sleevendog's corn version sounds interesting. as do all the variations on flouring and breading. 2Many's skewer method sounds great for the panko.

There are three votes for starch first, so I'll do that.

Thank-you everyone! I'm feeling more confident now.

Happy Independence Day!

deep frying at 350 not quite hot enough for onion rings I usually bump it up to 360 i know 10 degrees does not sound like much but remember the oil temp drops when you put the food in you want the hot oil to sear the batter from absorbing the fat, I don't know how deep your frying pan is but you need the onion rings to be able to float around a little bit, i use my cast iron chicken fryer its a little deeper. soak the sliced onions in ice water for a few minutes, drain, flour, batter

Thanks, JN... I always take something like to fry at 350° F to mean that the oil should be more like 375° before you start, for just the reason you said. Good advice! The pan is deep enough, I think. The trick will be not to crowd it, I think. Why do you soak your onions?

Been using this recipe for years. We love them.

Chefshells Rockin Beer Batter for Onion Rings

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp. salt
1-1 1/2 tsp each cayenne (if desired), seasoned salt, paprika and lemon pepper
1 12oz. lite beer
Couple dashes each Tabasco, fresh lemon juice, Worcestshire Sauce & soy sauce
2 - 3 medium large white onions cut into rings

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients for the batter. Slowly, whisk in beer and other wet ingredients until well combined.

Put onions in batter and let sit 5 to 10 minutes. Get vegetable oil (about 3 cups) more for a deep fryer to 365 degrees and shake onions gently to remove any excess batter and deep fry for 2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown. Do this in small batches so oil stays hot.

Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and place on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with additional salt & cayenne if desired.

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Yeah, I did not think your really needed help. Just a boost. Thought you would just do it they way you wanted to begin with...corn flour is southern/eastern Tennessee from my grandmother. She put corn flour in everything...and my other Nellie, Native American grandmother, ...EasternShore.

A bit nuts that we have had 20 dozen+onion ring varieties over the years...all over the south and NYC yada yada. Great some, ok others. I like most but obviously fresh/hot and fresh oil. (a bit giddy to be making a small batch tomorrow, : )

Well, yeah, I was going to do the specific beer batter because, as I said in the original post, that's what was asked for, but I've been soaking up as much as I could of all the good advice and tips for making them come out well. So far I've gleaned chill before frying but don't need to freeze and do dust in starch before batter. My assumption is that the starch helps the batter stick? Though I'm sure the egg does too.

I'm less uncomfortable frying now than I was a few years ago before learning a bunch from the forum, and testing a bunch, but have only done shrimp and chicken. With coatings, that is. I have more experience frying pastries. I love the corn flour idea and intend to try it some time. Most restaurant onion rings around here are breaded, and I don't really care for them that much, though they improve with hot sauce. But then again, that's what an old friend said about Irish food while he was at university over there. :)

Totally concur with fresh hot and fresh oil! And for heaven's sake, not scorched oil! I like safflower because it has such a high smoke point and doesn't have flavor of its own. And I fry infrequently enough to accept the price. :)

I'm breaking with the pack and don't flour the onions first. I soak them a bit in buttermilk, then cover with flour and fry them. If I want a thick coating I flour them and let that dry on a rack, then dip them in batter and fry 'em.

Usually I don't even use batter, I use the recipe posted years ago here by Diana, it's on this thread with several others.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2394362/onion-ring-recipe-needed

I always fry in my cast iron pan, and it helps the seasoning too, double bonus!

Annie

i soak the onions in ice water to get them stiffer and helps the flour sticks , i guess I must have been shown that years ago

plllog, "I like safflower because it has such a high smoke point and doesn't have flavor of its own." I think that sounds great - seems like your beer batter is light, and you want to keep that flavor (obviously so do your guests since they requested it!).

Do you season after frying? Not sure if you and your guests are reducing salt intake, but I find that's the best time to add it if doing so as the heat/oil while draining keeps the salt in/on. Didn't want you to forget if you were using it! I don't use sea salt or kosher for batter fried veg's or fries or onion rings as I find both too 'large' and strong. Just plain old table salt.

I've a feeling your onion rings will turn out very delicious - just make enough to satisfy everyone! LOL!

OT: sleevendog, you mentioned avocado oil... I'd seen it but hadn't a clue about it. Finally bit the bullet and have been using it for cooked and non-cooked things ever since seeing your past references to it - thanks for inspiring!

Flour the onion rings....dip into egg batter ( if you must add some beer instead of milk to thin, then into breadcrumbs and into the hot fat. The bread crumbs must be home made....save your ends and crusts for months and grind them in a processor.

Avocado is one of the high-heat oils....520 or about that.

Annie, my friend does not batter as I posted, but then adds beer to the batter after the thin cut just floured batch is fried, ..adds beer to the flour for a thicker cut onion for the 'fat thick batter' people. I prefer the no-batter. Just spiced flour/corn flour.

In the search link ann_t's recipe is not battered or the PioneerWoman's link. Interesting...I thought most like batter fried.

So many ways to make such a simple thing. Everyone has a preference.

Thanks for the addition info everyone! I will eventually try just flour, and maybe even breadcrumbs, especially if there's a request (though it's not my favorite), but I'm sure I can apply some of these techniques and recipes to other things too.

2Many, thanks for bringing up seasoning. There is salt in the batter. Iodized table salt. I use sea salt for finishing, but the tiny bit of bitterness from the iodine if it's even noticeable in the cooking isn't sufficient reason to give it up. I could go out of my way to snack on nori, but it's so much easier to just let it be in the salt. I'll ask the diners if they want any kind of finishing salt or seasoning after a naked test run, since that should be done first thing out of the oil.

It is a light batter, as in fluffy. How not with baking powder, egg, bubbles and alcohol? LOL! I do use unbleached flour, which isn't as light as white (or KA isn't as light as GM AP), but I think it's a better texture, besides lack of bleaching agents.

I'm actually beginning to look forward to this. :)

1. When it comes to deep frying, nothing comes close to taro batter.

2. Or, you can get better batter results by adding trisol.

dcarch

dcarch, I'd never heard of trisol before (you are a font of information!), and googled it - seems it holds crunch much longer than the norm with a little addition of it. Can't seem to find it anywhere online, though.

I do remember once using Wondra flour for a tempura batter (can't for the life of me remember what I was frying tho'!). I found it to be lighter than regular flour which was what I was looking for. I think it was a tender veg...

Trisol at Modernist Pantry.

https://www.modernistpantry.com/trisol.html

TheModernistPantry, HERE, has it all. Quantities are a bit much. They have 'kits' for playing around. I have more of it than I thought but good grief, some of it I have 10 lifetime supplies needed only a tsp of some of it.

I never fry or order it much out, though dim-sum I've had a taste.

I do have onions, leeks, and shallots soaking in yogurt milk at the moment, lol.

you got this!

ci_lantro and sleevendog, thank you - I just found 2 ingredients on that site I've not been able to find prior!

With all your help, the onion rings came out perfectly! There were a few hiccups getting there but armed with the info about how all of you make your rings, i knew what to do. The batter recipe had enough salt that none was needed on the outside. They were much enjoyed and exclaimed over.

Thanks to all! I will in the future try some of your recipes, too.

And yes, mine came out perfectly as well! BUT, that will not be happening very often.

They never made it to the plate. I just have one quick pic but it has a blurry hand reaching in the way, over the tray I was transferring from the oil. Then I did the leek rings, also excellent. Never did the beer batter as all were gone in no time.

I did not make much to begin with....fun to test and offer a rare treat.

Ah heck, I knew they would all turn out, but sure happy to hear it! Truthfully, I've not fried anything in a while, and typically my first issue is what batter to use for what, and my second is how long do I fry without ruining them!

Anyone tried to make blooming onion?

Impressive showoff fried onion. Too much trouble to make. I have done it once. Probably not again.

dcarch