Pearl onions are recognised by their tiny shape and white colour (they can also be found in a brown or red colour, although this is not as common). They are much smaller than regular onions and are notoriously difficult to peel due to their small size. In the UK, they are known as either button onions, baby onions or silver skin onions.
They are used in a variety of stews, soups, and meat dishes. They can be used for stocks, or glazed and served alone, and they are also popularly used in salads when pickled.
While very similar to white onions, they are not only smaller but also somewhat sweeter and milder. They are mostly used specifically for their small size, as some dishes can take good advantage of this.
These onions are often used for pickling as their natural sweetness works vey well for this. In the UK, they will be easier to find in their pickled form, but it is possible to find fresh ones.
They are also commonly sold frozen. Because they are so hard to peel, most people prefer buying them from a freezer section of a supermarket, as they come peeled and can be added as they are to any dish.
They bring many health benefits, including stabilizing blood sugar levels and acting as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory.
M&P Engineering is a leading designer and manufacturer of food processing equipment, including our world-renowned onion peeling machine.
M&P Engineering’s onion peeling machine uses a system of self-adjusting floating knife assemblies to top, tail and peel onions in a dry peeling process. The dry onion peeling process is able to work with up to 750kg of onions per hour. See it in action here.
M&P Engineering also offers a wide range of food processing machinery in addition to onion peeling machines, including our freshcut machinery: the Carousel Grid Cutting machine and the Radish Top & Tailer.
To learn more about us and our machines, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of our team today. Call us on +44 (0)161 872 8378 or contact us here.