How to: Onion Juice

First grab an onion take off the top and bottom bits and peel it

I have used one small red onion so far but I think I will graduate to a bigger one from now on or two/three small ones it is much easier to blend this way in terms of quantity and put whatever excess in food. I had to add a tablespoon of water to aid the blending process for this one.

Next you will need a juicer, blender, grater or mortar and pestle. In order of easiest appliance to use and shortest time possible;

Juicer – quickest and easiest method, put in the whole onion through the juicer and it juices it for you, clear onion juice with no particles in it.

Blender – quick as well but you have to chop the onion into large chunks blend to a puree consistency and then strain the pulp using a sieve/strainer to get the juice, a few tears may be involved.

Grater – time consuming and you will still have to strain the pulp using a sieve/strainer. Be ready to shed some tears as well. (see update at the end of this post)

Mortar and Pestle – labour intensive be ready for a workout and tears from the onion, first you chop the onions in small pieces and then go ahead to pound the pieces into a pulp and then strain to get the juice.

 

Blender, Grater, Mortar and Pestle

I don’t own a juicer so I use my blender instead one of these days when I am up to it I just may try the other labour intensive methods of using a grater or mortar and pestle; I like to challenge myself see update below:) About two minutes of blending and straining later and voila we have onion juice! I don't have photos of the process I was too busy wiping my tears away literally! There are some tutorials on YouTube if anyone is interested.

 

The purplish colour is because of the type of onion I used if you use white onions the juice will be clear

How do I use my onion juice?

I have previously added onion to my homemade deep conditioner but I now use the juice on its own as a scalp treatment. I only apply it on my wash days; I apply it onto my scalp, edges and nape the same way you would oil and then massage, leave it on for 30 minutes or longer; usually longer for me like an hour or two if I have other chores to do round the house and then pre poo on top of it if I am wearing my hair out and then proceed to wash it out. It washes out very well and there is no lingering onion smell in fact I think the smell is more concentrated in the pulp rather than the juice because it is not as pungent on my hair as it usually is say if you were cooking with onions. I have applied this treatment with braids on as well and it washes out well.

Why onion hair treatment?

Onions have a high sulphur content among other important nutrients like vitamins C and B6, natural sulphur helps regenerate hair follicles and thus promote hair growth. I am trying to apply the same principle and see if it will accelerate my normal growth of half an inch in most parts and three quarters of an  inch in other parts per month. I have read plenty of reviews online of people who have been successful in re-growing bald patches and even thinning edges using this treatment. Some people even claimed that it reverses grey hairs and darkens hair in the process. I plan to do this treatment for the next few months on all my wash days and see if there will be a significant increase in length. I will keep you guys updated on the progress at my next length check sometime early next year. Apparently garlic also works in a similar way but I think it is much easier to work with onions unless you have plenty of time to peel a whole lot of garlic cloves.

Storage

I usually prepare my onion juice fresh each time as it is more potent that way sometimes I may prepare it at night then keep it refrigerated to use the next day just to save on time. I believe it can be frozen and also stay in the fridge for up to a week depending on the temperature of your fridge of course but fresh is always best. I have only ever kept mine overnight but if I had to I would keep it in the fridge for the same amount of time I would keep homemade fresh fruit juices or smoothies which is less than a week. 

Update 5/11/2013 I actually grated an onion today and it was so easy and fast too so in the absence of a juicer my opinion is if you are using a single onion it is much better to use a grater than a blender so grater it is for me from now on...don't knock it till you try it:)