Seen Your Leftover Onions Lately? I Didn't Think So...

Hutzler Onion Saver

The onion is a staple food at our house, so there are usually half onions (red, yellow or both) buried somewhere in our refrigerator. For years, we just stuck the partial back in the produce bag or tucked it in a zipper bag and tossed everything back into the crisper drawer. Weeks later, we'd find it again beneath the potatoes, somehow converted into the spawn of the slime monster that ate Cleveland (the little Cleveland, in Texas). Apparently lots of people have had that happen to half onions, so the folks at Hutzler produced yet one more made-in-China plastic gadget for our kitchen: the Onion Saver.

Description This looks almost exactly like a large, perfectly-shaped onion, down to its stalk and ribbed surface. Ours is the deep purple-y color of a red onion, though there's one with the beige color of a yellow onion's skin, too. It's about the size of a Walla-Walla sweet (a tasteless  fake onion, IYAM); about 4½" in diameter and 4½" high. But this "onion" is actually a hollow plastic shell that opens at the middle (BPA-free, of course). The top fits tightly, rotating slightly to lock the two halves closed. Inside, the base is a grid to keep the contents off the bottom for full air circulation. It's dishwasher-safe (top rack, of course) or you could wash it the old-fashioned way.

In Use

After about ten days, this ¼ onion is
dried out somewhat, but not slimy (yet).

The onion keeper is supposed to keep cut onions from drying out as quickly, and to trap the smell before it permeates your leftover cheesecake. You can hardly smell the contents with the keeper sealed, so perhaps they're right. We never have leftover cheesecake for a test, ourselves. Onions stored in the keeper do seem to survive marginally better than those stored in bags or plastic wrap, though maybe not enough to justify the price. OTOH, the keeper's size and distinctive design make it easier to find your leftover partial onions, so perhaps it's worth it after all, in the long run. Of course the real reason to have one is ‘cause it looks cool...

There is also a garlic saver (my other favorite food!) and a tomato saver.

Summary

PLUS: it's easier to find your leftover onions, seals tightly, is dishwasher-safe
MINUS: not a whole lot better than a plastic bag
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: If you have a few extra bucks to spend on your kitchen, get an Onion Keeper. It's cute, and functional, too.