How can you not cry when you chop onions?

Question

When ever i chop onions my eyes water how can i stop it?

Answer 1

Chop them underwater or inside a large transparent plastic bag. Note to "Hottie" - this means the ONIONS are underwater or in a large transparent plastic bag, not you.

Answer 2

Cut the root last. Firstly remove the skin then cut the onion in half through the centre of the root. Chop the onion into small pieces leaving the root still on until the end.

Answer 3

Don't cut off the root end until you have finished chopping the onion. That is where the sap that makes your eyes water comes from

Answer 4

After I peel the onion , I put it in the freezer for 10 minutes before chopping up.

Answer 5

Chopping onions is annoying. Try peeling the skin off and then wash the onion and leave it to rinse for 5 min. See if that works.

Answer 6

After peeling Onion Brown crest put the onion under running water for few minutes or before cooking put in freeze for sometime.

Answer 7

What can be done to obviate this dilemma? Much like the cure to stop hiccups, it seems that everyone has her own folk remedy handed down from old wives to their daughters over the generations. Some are good and some are foolish, but none are completely effective. The first consideration is that some people are hardly affected at all, while others are overly sensitive to the onion vapors. To the former this onion thing is not a problem (although they may use one of the remedies out of habit); to the latter, only this new system will work (but if you can't even stand the onion juice on your hands you shouldn't be trying to cut them.) All the remedies that could be found will now be presented, in an order that roughly represents those methods from the ridiculous to the reasonable.

Use a sharp knife.
This is more common sense than a cure. A dull knife will crush the onion cells more than a cleanly slicing sharp blade, and the crushed cells will release more of the deadly spray into the atmosphere. Some say that a stainless steel knife is best because it supposedly lessens the severity of the onion juice (and stainless steel rubbed on your hands afterward take the smell away) but this is uncertain. At any rate this method is no cure because even the sharpest knife slices plenty of cells up and releases the caustic gas.

Hold a wooden matchstick between your teeth -- match head out.
Maybe someone thought this up to see how much he could get someone else to act like a clown. The theory is that the match head attracts and absorbs all the bad chemicals. There is no magical matchstick magnetism that can significantly reduce the sulfuric aerosol; so all I can say is try it to prove it to yourself (it didn't work for me).

Hold a piece of bread in your mouth.
Some say to chew the bread also. But as with the match above, the bread cannot have any significant attractive force on the onion spray. When I tried this it seemed to delay the onset of tears (but not for long) so it may not be totally ineffective.

Breath only through your mouth.
This may be combined with the bread in the mouth too. I can see that if no air is flowing through the nose membranes it may reduce the irritation there, but it doesn't help the eyes, which are the main cause of pain.

Chew on a raw onion.
This method appears so ridiculous I can see no physical reason why one would want to put another source of onion spray even closer to his sensitive mucous membranes.

Don't chop the onion root -- or do it last.
The reasoning is that the root end of the onion has a higher concentration of these nasty chemicals. That may be so, but the difference is not very great since the non-root onion releases plenty of noxious fumes.

Keep the outer skin on the onion as long as possible.
This is an attempt to contain the onion in some part to reduce the surface exposed to the air. The reduction in onion mist is minimal at best since all that sliced onion flesh is exposed to the air.

Chop the onion under water, under running water, or pre-soak in water.
This 'under water' lore seems quite pervasive; I cannot imagine trying to hold and contain all the diced onion bits (which float away) under a sink filled with water. In theory if the onion was exposed only to water and not air the sulfoxide would be washed away by the water and never become airborne. A variant is to have running water nearby the chopping area in the hopes that it will obtain some of this aforementioned magical attractive power (this didn't work for me.) Another scheme is to soak the onion peeled (even cut in half or quarters) in water for some length of time to draw out the juices. While this may reduce the fumes some it only penetrates so far; once I started slicing into onion the spray was as bad as before.

Wear contact lenses to shield eye surface from airborne spray.
I don't wear contacts so I can't say firsthand, but they don't cover the whole eye surface (leaving it partially exposed) and don't do anything for the nose. Besides, see the next suggestion.

Don't wear contact lenses.
The acid gets between the lens and the eye for an even more excruciating pain.

Wear swim goggles or a diving mask.
This solution actually works because the particles in the air are prevented from touching your skin. The goggles will only protect your eyes, and with the mask you have to breath out of your mouth. It is cumbersome and uncomfortable, and it doesn't protect any one else in the room.

Use a fan to blow away or suck up the fumes.
If you can get a strong enough fan or cut your onions outside where there is a breeze, I can see this method as somewhat effective. If inside, wherever you blow the fumes (unless it's out a window) will be fumigated. Some say use the fan over the stove top, but it usually isn't strong enough; besides it draws the air up, where your head is likely to be. With a fan it is best to blow horizontally, away from the face.

Place onions in the freezer for 20 minutes before cutting.
When the onion juices are chilled they are less likely to become airborne. This strategy is the most well-known solution to the onion problem, but it simply does not work. Unless the onion is actually frozen, there will still be onion juice sprayed in the air (besides, unless you store them in the refrigerator you have to wait for the onion to chill before you can cut it.)

Put white vinegar on the chopping block to neutralize chemicals.
I tried this method, and it actually works. The stinging in the eyes was almost eliminated, but the smell was not very pleasant. The moist vinegar on the onion interferes with frying, and its flavor may taint some foods.

Burn a candle near the work area.
This rarely-known technique is based on the fact that the candle flame pulls air from around it and sends it up the smoke plume. Although surprisingly effective, a single candle usually cannot handle the large amount of aerosol generated by a lot of dicing or fine slicing. This last technique holds the secret to the final solution.
And now the answer you've all been waiting for:

Place the cutting board next to a gas range and turn on a burner or two.

Answer 8

Place a spoon in the bottom of the sink and run water over it to atomize the air. Or you can do this intermittently during the onion preparation by holding a spoon or knife under the tap, producing a fan of water. I always use this method and it works almost immediately. A good cry every now and then is healthy. If you play it right, you can get special attention from your other half.

Answer 9

once u peel ur onion, hold it under water for a few second and then chop it or cut it, it will stop ur eyes from watering, and also dont rub ur eyes until after you have washed ur hands

Answer 10

Just put the onion in the fridge for an hour no more tears