Favourite colour onion?

[VegPlanner]

This year I tried both red and white coloured onions are well as the more normal coloured varieties. I was given the onion sets so don't actually know exactly what varieties they are. I only grew about six of each as I only reserved a limited space for onions; though I did have excellent success with all three varieties.

Next year I am reducing the space for potatoes to make way for more onions so I can perform a broader trial. I was wondering if onions come in even more colours; or what other peoples particular favourite colours and varieties are?

[Lesley Jay]

Onions come in three colours, red, white and the brown skinned varieties as you grew this year. I always tend to grow Sturon (brown skinned) but had great success with over winter onions Radar (brown skinned) and Electric which is a red onion. They both grew to a really good size. My favourite for flavour is Showmaster one of the exhibition onion varieties from Marshalls.

Marshalls Seeds Product Detail- 1080-5312: Onion Showmaster - Plants

[VegPlanner]

Thanks for the infomation Lesley; you have confirmed my suspicions on the colours. Personally I found the white onions were my favourite from an aesthetical point of view.

I've just ordered Marshalls autumn planting onions offer which contains Radar so watch this space...

[Peter Pie Eater]

Originally Posted by Lesley Jay

[i] had great success with over winter onions Radar (brown skinned) and Electric which is a red onion. They both grew to a really good size.

I bought some Electric onion sets a couple of weeks back and intend to plant them soon, so I'm glad they come recommended!

With regards to colour...

With regards to cooking. Red onions seem to be more versatile. They're mild enough to eat in salads and the caramelise beautifully when roasted.

In some circumstances, they're not any use. For example if your dish is very light in colour (eg. risotto), the red onions can make the dish look unappetising.

However, in place of brown onions, you can use shallots which have a nicer flavour too and are also more versatile in dishes where the onion shouldn't be cooked too heavily.

I think brown onions come in more useful for dishes that need a lot of cooking. Things like Liver and onions and Onion gravy. Neither of which I like to do (does anyone really eat liver through choice rather than financial hardship?) and I just don't have the patience to spend 2 hours making onion gravy!

So this year, I'm just growing red onions and shallots. For the odd occasion where I might need a brown onion, I'll buy an organic one from the food store.

I must admit, I've never used white onions, so I can't really comment on them.

[paul]

Red !! hands down !! .... or is that up ???!!