SmokED Onion Powder — Ancient as the Pyramids, Better with Hickory Smoke
Onion is one of the most ancient cultivated vegetables on Earth. Here’s where it came from — and what hickory smoke does to it.
The History of Onion
Evidence of onion cultivation dates back at least 5,000 years in ancient Egypt, where onions were found in the eye sockets of mummies and depicted in tomb paintings. They were valued not just as food but as a symbol of eternal life due to their concentric ring structure. Ancient Greeks fed onions to Olympic athletes, believing they lightened the blood. Roman gladiators rubbed their bodies with onion juice before battle. Onion powder was developed in the United States in the 1930s and became a wartime staple when fresh produce supply chains were disrupted. It’s now one of the five most used spices in American cooking.
🦠 Did You Know?
The compound that makes onions make you cry — syn-propanethial-S-oxide — is released when the onion’s cell walls are broken. Dehydrating onions removes the volatile sulfur compounds responsible for tearing, which is why onion powder has a milder, sweeter aroma than fresh onion. Those same compounds also account for onion’s raw bite — which is why cooked or dehydrated onion tastes noticeably sweeter and more mellow than fresh.
The SmokED Difference
SmokED Onion Powder combines granulated onion with hickory smoke flavor … a natural flavor enhancer that deepen the onion’s natural sweetness. Hickory smoke and onion are one of BBQ’s great natural pairings — the bold, assertive smoke amplifies the mellow sweetness of the onion without overpowering it. The result blooms in heat and transforms a pantry staple into something that makes everything taste like it came off a real pit.