Letters to the Editor
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Your Recommendation
Hey Farhad,
I just ordered a Roomba Robot Vacuum, based entirely on your recommendation. It is a Christmas present for my dog. I hope she will play with it when she is alone at home.
Merry, Merry, Happy, Happy!
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Knives
Knife sharpener, here I come! Then those tear-inducing, cursed onions better watch out!
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Old technology
I know nothing of the chemistry at work here, but if you light a candle a few minutes prior to chopping/slicing, the smoke from the candle neutralizes the onion's eye-watering agent. Never fails in my kitchen.
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Timely
After getting a batch of particularly potent white onions, this past weekend we picked up a $4 pair of 3M goggles from the hardware section of Target. They fit over glasses and work great.
Maybe I should pretty them up with a couple of colored Sharpies and sell them as "onion goggles" for $20 on eBay.
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Selective surgery
I've had good luck simply cutting a cone out of the root end prior to hacking up the rest of the onion.
(Source of tip: http://lifehacker.com/software/life-hacks/how-to-avoid-crying-when-chopping-onions-103803.php.)
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Onion tears?
My problem is crocodile tears.
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slicing onions
To avoid tearing up when slicing onions, simply burn a candle near your cutting board. Cheaper that $20 glasses that don't fit.
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Crocodile Tears?
You mean you cry when you slice up crocodiles?
Me too, although I cry more when crocodiles undergo stuff like this:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_co00XODExMzA0NA=.html
P.S. Link NOT WORK SAFE and NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN
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Put 'em in the fridge
My long-time solution for tear-free onion dissection? Keep them in the refrigerator. I don't know why, but cold onions don't make me cry. I'm sure there's an explanation...anyone?
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Keep 'em cold.
Keeping onions in the fridge slows down the release of the enzyme, as I recall. It works even better if you pop the onion in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before slicing-- as long as you don't forget and end up with a frozen onion in your fridge.
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The real trick
Speaking as someone who has peeled barrels of onions in the restaurant business, the real trick to not crying is ventilation. Turn on the hood fan, or take it out on the porch. Open the window and let the December wind whip your tears away.
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Another simple trick
Cut them under water -- works better for slicing than dicing, of course.
And while we're on the subject, my wife taught me how to get the scent off your hands: scrub with salt. An old trick she learned working at Wendy's!
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There IS an easier way.
Refrigerate your onions!
Slicing cold onions will not bring tears to your eyes. One more reason why, when I cooked professionally, we kept onions, peeled & unpeeled, in bins in the walk-in cooler (the produce cooler... not the meat & dairy cooler). When we needed onions to slice or to chop we grabbed them & went to work, without tears.
Not everyone knows this chef's truc, but it is effective. I remember one time when an architect came through the kitchen, taking photos in preparation for a renovation as I was putting 25 lbs of onions through the slicer. He watched me for a few seconds and asked why my eyes weren't tearing up. "Zen", I replied. "The onions and I are one, so there is no need to cry over their being sliced." I always wondered if he ever caught on.
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The bottom line: If you tear while cutting onions...
...then you're not cutting them properly, which means you're not cutting them fast enough. That's not a flip comment, that's just something you learn when working in a kitchen.
(Amazing how many people have chimed in with onion instructions. ;)
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Funny. I simply can't see the need for these goggles.
Every recipe in my recipe box that calls for any sort of onion, calls for "Onion, chopped by A MAN."
Works for me!
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It also depends on the type of onion
The sweeter varieties of onion (like vidalias and mayan sweets) don't seem to be as hard on the tear ducts.
Water, refrigeration, and good ventilation all work pretty well, too.
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Stale Bread
Long time ago, my mom and I read somewhere or heard somewhere on the radio or TV that putting a slice of stale bread on your head will prevent your eyes from stinging and tearing up while slicing an onion. We looked at each other and thought "what the hell" and tried it. She purposely did not throw out some stale bread just to try the experiment. It didn't work. But we had a good laugh about it.
Maybe we should have tried pumpernickel.
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Cooling onions
According to Harold McGee in On Food and Cooking (2nd ed.), cooling the onions slows the action of the enzyme that produces the noxious sulfur compound, thus producing less of it when you damage the onion's cells (by slicing).
A sharp knife will also damage fewer cells. A fume hood would pull the compounds out of the room, letting less of them build up in the immediate area of the slicing. I have no real idea why burning a candle would work, unless maybe the heat helps break down the sulfur compounds -- or maybe it creates enough air movement to pull them up towards the ceiling, away from the slicer's eyes.
McGee suggests letting the onions sit in a bowl of ice water, which has the side-benefit of hydrating the peels, making them easier to remove. I never do that, because I'm not that organized, and wouldn't have enough counter space if I was.
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The best way to avoid crying...
...is to learn to dice an onion quickly enough so that it doesn't happen. If it takes you 5 minutes to do it, yeah, you're pretty much going to be in a 14-year old girl watching The Notebook-type situation, but if you can dispense with the task in around 30 seconds -- which isn't at all hard to do with a good knife and a little practice -- then you've got nothing to worry about.
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Not fast enough
I have a very sharp, well maintained chef's knife. And I have good, high-speed knife skills learned from working in restaurant kitchens in my youth. But if I have more than one or two white onions to chop, I'll soon be blinded by stinging tears - not the best situation when working with a knife.
I use a fan and shop goggles.