Onion rings

So, out and about we had lunch at a country pub with a US Bbq theme.
With my (excellent) hamburger came some onion rings. Crispy batter, but a nibble delivered crunch followed by a slimy onion worm, urg. Obviously I should have, and did with the next one, bite FIRMLY so one gets just the appropriate bit of onion. Is this just a flawed product or is the way it is?

This is my first experience of this item.

Anyhow what do you think about onion rings.

That's pretty much typical for onion rings. My favorite ones, however are not quite like that. They come from a local hot dog stand and apparently, the batter is looser, resulting in sliced onions with some of the fried batter clinging to the soft onions and lots of the fired batter in chunks. Also of interest is the Australian themed "Outback Steak House" where one of their signature dishes is the Bloomin' Onion. A whole sweet onion (vidalia?) is sliced almost all the way through in thin wedges. It is then battered and deep fried, which causes the wedges to spread apart and is served with a dipping sauce.

I haven't eaten onion rings in decades, but I would think that eating with a knife and fork would help solve this.

Or not eating onion rings!

[Robin Garr]

I'm a big fan of onion rings. I think eating them may be a learned skill, though. Bite clean through so as to avoid extracting a long stretch of steamed onion without its delicious crunchy coating. Also, making them well is critical, and I'm sure that this is not always practiced. It's the same principle as any bound breading, get the onion bits very dry, dredge them to build a receptive coat, and then apply the breading.

[David M. Bueker]

When onion rings are good they are amazing. Too often they are badly executed.

A good onion ring contains a ring of onion that snaps when you bite into it. It does not give you a long, wet worm of soggy onion.

Little ones are better than big ones, as a rule.

Agree with David.

Onion rings are fairly common garnish on steak dishes in chains restaurants here. Never had one that wasn't crispy.