does any1 have any good tips how to stop your eyes from watering when cutting onions?

Answer 1

put the onions in a bowl of water.

Answer 2

The 2 things that help the most is cutting them while they are cold (either in cold water or right from th e fridge). When i had to cut 50#'s at a time i would soak in an ice bath for a half an hour but this may not be practical for home use. The second thing to have is a sharp knife. This will cut through the onion cells which will cause a lot less spray. If your knife isn't sharp it will crush the cells causing more of a spray (think about what it is like to cut an over ripe tomato. A sharp knife will go through it a you will end up with a puddle of tomato juice. If you use a dull knife you end up pushing through the tomato a have a greater chance of spraying tomato juice all over).

Hope this help.

Answer 3

The release of gas can thus best be prevented by cutting the onions under running tap water or completely under water, though this may not be very practical. Wetting the onions and your hands before slicing will lessen the effect, as some of the gas will react with the moisture on the onions and on your skin (instead of the moisture on your eyes). This reaction may result as an odour which may be removed with lemon. It also helps to breathe exclusively through the mouth during the preparation. Using a sharp knife will rupture fewer cells and cause less eye irritation. For more tips and information, please check links in External links section. Chilled onions (onions kept in the fridge for a while) will make you 'cry' less than onions kept at room temperature because lower temperature inhibits the enzymes and gas diffusion. Also, some people 'freeze' the knife (leave it in the freezer for around 2 minutes) before cutting the onions to prevent the tears.

Different species of onions will release different amounts of sulfenic acids, thus some will cause more tear formation and irritation than others.

Answer 4

Ha! I thought I came up with the fan idea. I got a $9.00 clip on fan at staples and it place it so that it blows the fumes from the onions away as I cut them. This doesn't always work completely so if my eyes start burning I let the fan blow air in my eyes and this evaporates the sulphuric fumes and I'm good as new in a few seconds.

Answer 5

Put it in the freezer about 15 minutes before you're ready to cut it. The smaller you cut the pieces the stronger the onion.

Answer 6

My eyes never watered when I had contact lenses. However, now I've had laser eye surgery I have big trouble with onions. A good way to reduce the agony is to use a very very sharp knife when chopping. I hope this helps xxx

Answer 7

Breathe through your nose not your mouth.
Also place a cutting board on you range, under the exhaust fan, and always run the onion under runing lukewarn faucet. Place on cutting board under the air vent and you are good to go.

Answer 8

i know 2 ways...
either cut d onions under water (like in a deep wide bowl) or,
burn a candle near d place where u cutting onions

Answer 9

On the Food Network [Take Home Chef] he suggested chewing gum while cutting the onion. It has worked for me!

Answer 10

Onions release gases that make you tear. The gas is released as you cut through. Common sense right??

Here is the catch. If you use a sharp knife, you will damage less vessels and the onion will release less gas. You need a chef grade cutting knife. Get one and your problem cuts down dramatically.

Some other tricks:

Cut them underwater
Freeze them a bit
Use a fan
Cut faster

Answer 11

It helps to cut off the ends (where the stems go in, and the roots come out) before cutting anything else. These areas have the highest concentration of tear juice!