Onion Rings – Homemade and Double Dipped For Crunch

Onion rings are one of my most favorite bar foods ever! We don’t often splurge on them though since they are definitely not the healthiest choice on a menu. But once I decided to set out on my “maiden voyage” to initiate my brand new deep fryer I knew onion rings would be a perfect first fry!

Remember my ” quarantined shopping spree” in our garage? Read about it right HERE.

I haven’t made onion rings in YEARS. So I jumped online to check out some different versions. That’s when I stumbled across a U Tube video by a guy named “Shotgun Red – The GrillMeister.” He and his camera-pointing wife Sheila showed his version of that crispy dish, and I decided to try MOST of his method on my first attempt.

I dragged out that new deep fryer and I cleaned it. Then I placed it on an inverted cookie sheet to keep the heat off of our countertop. Next I added about 1 1/2 quarts of vegetable oil. (It was all I had in our self isolated house.)

Preparing Those Rings…

Next I began to prepare the onions. “Chef Red” suggested using sweet onions, but I just used the onions I already had on hand. I sliced them into rings about 1/2 inch thick and I separated the rings. 

Next, I put the onions in a bowl and covered them with ice cubes and cold water. I let them soak for about an hour. (At least 30 minutes is recommended.)

While the onions soaked I dumped some all purpose flour into a shallow dish. Just flour. Nothing else. Next I set out a cookie sheet and topped it with a cooling rack.

After the rings had soaked I shook off the excess water and coated them with flour. Then I arranged them on that cooling rack where I let them “rest” for awhile. About 30 minutes, I think that floured resting step is the most crucial part of Chef Red’s method. It allows the onions to become “sticky” so the eventual beer batter stays on the onion rings when fried.

I heated the oil in the deep fryer to 380 degrees.

While those rings rested and the oil heated I prepared my beer batter. (I found a bottle of Blue Moon in the back of the frig that must have been there for a year! So I figured it would be a perfect way to use it up.)

Fry, Baby, Fry!!

I dropped each ring into the batter with kitchen tongs, but I fished them out with a chopstick. I picked up several at a time and threaded them on the stick so I could shake off the excess batter before dropping them into the hot oil.

Meemaws Advice:

Don’t crowd the fryer! You need to move them around as soon as you drop them into the hot oil so they don’t stick together!

The finished product was a thing of beauty…

I served these yummy rings with a juicy burger, and it was a perfect combination.

As you can imagine, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs that Saturday night, and I had made MANY too many onion rings. So off I went to deliver all those warm and crispy leftovers to several neighborhood foodies.

And about all that oil? I saved it for next time. I stuck a small funnel into the top of the bottle the oil came in. I lined the funnel with cheese cloth to catch any onion breading particles and I poured the cooled vegetable oil right back into the bottle. I’m storing it in the refrigerator to use another time. (Waste not want not…remember?)

Now…check out this recipe, and give it a try for yourself! The only change I’ll make next time? I’ll use the fryer on the screened porch or in the garage so our house doesn’t smell like onion rings for days after that yummy meal!