Introduction: DIY Onion Powder

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About: I'm a 41 year old theatrical designer and educator. I have boundless curiosity, chimerical aesthetic, and Sisyphean perseverance. The results of my whimsical adventures can be found here and on my instagram.

Well maybe you are in a pickle like I was the other day.  I had just seen ectadie's instuctable for how to make cute owl cheese crackers.  Inspired I start gathering my ingredients and surprise surprise I had no onion powder.  Faced with this I Had three options as I saw them. First I could go to the store and buy some. *Shudder* That would involve getting out of my PJ's so it was off the table.  Second I could shake my fist at the sky and hope the crackers would still be tasty without onion powder.  I was getting ready to go this route when it hit me.  I was browsing instructables there had to be a way.  So I did a quick search and came up empty handed.  I thought the lack of a diy onion powder instructable was unacceptable.  I decided to rectify this and garbed my camera to document option three.  Make your own!  Now lets get started.

Step 1: What You Will Need

Tools
  • Oven or Food Dehydrator
  • Knife
  • Cutting Board
  • Mandoline Slicer or Impressive knife skills
  • Kevlar Glove (not necessary if you have the aforementioned impressive knife skills.)
  • Baking Sheet
  • Cooling Rack or Aluminum Foil(it just takes a lot longer)
  • Spice Grinder or Blender or Food Processor or Mortal and Pestle
  • Jar(for storage)
Food Stuffs
  • Onion (One of the good things about making your own powder is you can choose the variety of onion you want for a unique flavor)

Step 2: Preheat Your Oven Grab Your Tools

Turn your oven on to 150°F (66°C) and if you are like me by the time you remember where you hid your mandoline slicer the oven should be good to go.

Step 3: The Cuttening

Now that you have all your tools let's get slicing. First cut the bottom and the top off your onion to make it easy to peel.  Peel the outer layer off then don your glove and get your partner in crime to take a picture.  Now that is out of the way it is time to use either your knife skills or your mandoline slicer to cut the onion into little .

Step 4: Spread and Bake

Spread your super thin onion slices out on the drying rack trying not to layer the slices.  Then place your rack on top of your baking sheet and put it into the oven.  Now it is time to find something else to do for the next 3-4 hours.  Hey I never said it would be quicker than going out to the store.  If you are going to surf the net and don't want to set a timer you can click here for my favorite online timer already set for you.

Step 5: Crush, Grind, and Enoy!

Well thanks to the power of instructables it has been 3.5 hours and our onions are all dry and crumbly.  You can tell your onions are done when they look like the picture below and break easily under pressure.  Now that your onions are ready to be powdered if you are like me the pieces are to big to go right into your grinder.  So place the large pieces into your Jar using your thumb make them smaller.  Once that is complete dump the pieces in your grinder and get to cranking.  Once you have your powder you can finally make those tasty crackers that started this adventure.  Any leftover powder should go in an air tight jar and can be treated just like you would any commercial onion powder. 

I hope you enjoyed this instructable and will never want for onion powder again.