How to avoid crying when chopping onions

Aug 20, 2009 10:10 PM by A SheKnows how-to guide

Posted in How-To / Food & Kitchen How-tos

How To... Avoid Tears From Onions

Slicing onions got you down? Well, you can stop the tears now. Here's how to avoid crying when chopping onions!

Chopped onion

Step 1: Go hands-off

Chop onions in your food processor. Be sure not to over-process the onions, and to wait a few seconds before opening to give the tiny gas droplets produced by cutting the onion a chance to settle.

Step 2: Just chill

Keep onions in the fridge, or put one in the freezer for a few minutes before cutting. (Although onions don't have to be refrigerated, chilled onions produce fewer tears.)

Find out how to make the best French Onion Soup

Step 3: Wash it away

Cut the onion under cold running water to wash away the irritants before they can make it up to your eyes.

Step 4: Avoid the root

The National Onion Association says that you can reduce tearing when cutting onions by first cutting off the top, then peeling off the outer layers, leaving the root area intact. Why? The root end of the onion has the largest concentration of sulphuric compounds that make your eyes tear.

Step 5: Use eye protection

Wear goggles -- such as swim goggles or woodworking goggles -- to protect your eyes from the vapor.

Step 6: TRY The bread trick

As if the goggles tip wasn't strange enough... Try holding a slice of bread (well, or any food) between your teeth while chopping. How could that help? The theory is that doing so tends to force you to breathe through your mouth, making you less likely to get the irritants up your nose, thereby being less likely to tear up.

Step 7: Consolidate cutting tasks

If you use onions frequently, chop up several at once and store them in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Use them as as needed, which will save you time and tears!

WATCH: How to use and prepare garlic >>

For some fabulous onion recipes, check out:
Walla Walla onion recipes and Caramelized onion recipes

Comments

Comments on "How to avoid crying when chopping onions"

I never cry from onions and I always wondered why, especially since I used to cry if I was in the kitchen when my mom cut them growing up. This solved that - I always keep them in the fridge, haha!

My dad swears by this, but it's goofy as hell. He wears his safety goggles from work in the kitchen to chop onions. I guess they keep out the fumes, but boy do you look silly. I have a ton of pictures of my dad, looking innocently into the camera through his safety goggles.

place your cutting board on the range, no heat, and turn the range hood on high while you cut the onions.

Used the running water and saving the roots to cut off last when I just recently dug up about 15 pounds of onions from my garden. It sure helps. By the way after I chopped up my onions, I blanched them in boiling water with fruit fresh (which is really Vitamin C or ascorbic acid) according to the liquid/powder ratio on the side of the bottle. I blanched them for about 5 minutes, until the onions were glossy. Then I drained them in a colander for about 10 minutes each batch. I then bagged them in air tight zip lock bags, getting all the air out I could. Now I will have onions for homemade stews, soups, roast beef, through the winter months. Thanks for the how to section.