How do you prevent crying when you cut onions?

Question

Every time I try to cut onions, I break out in tears. I wanted to try making something for my mom, which contains onions, but I don't want to cry in the process of doing so.

Has anybody tried Spodaric's solution? It seems doubtful.

Err...I meant Sporadic.

Some people are saying to freeze the onions, and others to refrigerate them. Which works best? Is there even a difference?

Answer 1

Simply keep your onions in the fridge along with other veggies and you will never cry when chopping them - it's that simple!

If you use a sharp knife, there shouldn't be any tears. An onion makes you cry because acid is being released from the onion. Using a dull knife crushes the onion rather than cutting it, releasing far more of this acid into the air.

Try holding a wooden spoon or a piece of bread between your teeth while cutting. This significantly reduces the irritation to the eyes.

Keep your mouth open and breathe through it while cutting onions to reduce the amount of tears.

Do the peeling and dicing of the onion in your kitchen sink area. But first turn on the water faucet (the spray works better) and try to peel and dice your onion behind the running water. The sulfur gas from the onion will hit the running water and becomes sulfuric acid and washes away before it hits your eyes.

Bring a pot of water to boil until it starts steaming. Then remove from heat and put the pot on the kithen counter and start peeling and dicing your onions in the vicinity. The steam from the pot will trap the sulfur gas emitted from the onions before it hits your eyes.

Burn a candle on the counter near where you're cutting the onion. It'll burn off the fumes that cause eye irritation. A scented candle also smells better than raw, chopped onion!

You can also avoid tears simply by chewing a piece of gum while you are cutting the onion.

Try holding 5-7 wooden matches in your teeth (unlit of course); it will absorb the odor. The matches with red tips work best. Match stick tips have sulfur (S) in them and the sulfur gas (S) emited from onions hits these tips before getting to your eyes and becomes S2 that is neutral.

Put a fan behind you and towards the onions to blow the sulfur gases away from you.

Let the water run in the sink, while you peel the onions at the sink itself.

If you have contacts, wear them.

Grandma always held a silver spoon in her mouth while peeling onions. I tried it and it worked!

Fill your sink with water and peel and cut the onion under water. Works every time.

Normal or Prescription swim goggles - exceptionally effective

Answer 2

There r several different ways to prevent crying when cutting onions:

1: Run the cold water really hard and cut the onions close to the running water

2: Place the onions in the freezer for maybe 5 minutes

3: Cut the onions really fast, the way a chef does

Lol..... that last one was a bit over the top but the first two really do work.
Good luck in making something nice for ur mum.

Answer 3

In my experience, run the onions with outer skin removed under running water before cutting. Cut the onions with the faucet running. And try breathing through your mouth & not your nose. The scent of the onion goes right to the nasal passages, which make you tear. This should help a great deal. Or keep a glass of water nearby to drink every once in a while. Most people cut vegetables standing over top of them, try to stand back a little when cutting (slicing dicing, etc) Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Easy. Put it in the freezer for just a short time. Then cut away.
Works for me. :) My daughter just sets one in the frigerator while she's getting out stuff ready, not very long either, and no tears. BTW she hates onions LOL

There are juices and chemicals inside the onion's tissues; when your knife breaks the onion's cells a certain compound becomes airborne as a fine mist. This compound is called propanethial-S-oxide, which is a type of sulfoxide. When the misty droplets encounter a wet surface (your eyes or nose membranes) it dissolves into a form of sulfuric acid, which is understandably irritating to your sensitive organs.

Answer 5

Some people say sunglasses. I like 2 methods, snorkeling goggles and salt. The salt method was taught to me in culinary school. The salt helps to break down the gasses in the onion. Lightly sprinkle your cutting surface with salt and add a bit more when and if you feel a sting. Lemon juice will also work, but it leaves a lemony taste so I wouldn't use it unless you have lemon in your dish. Another thing is you can use sweet onions like Vidaillas or Maui or freeze them.

Answer 6

I found the perfect way to keep from crying when I needed an onion cut. I taught my 4 year old how to use a knife and made that his job.

Now, you may be thinking that I am insane giving a 4 year old a sharp knife, but by 6 he was filleting fish like a master chef. He has a bright future as a chef as far as I'm concerned.

Answer 7

this is one that really works, place the onions in the refrigerator for a few hours, this helps solidify the juices
when you skin them, don't cut the bottoms where the roots were, you can slice them however you like this way and provided you leave the bottoms on you won't cry. Of course you don't have to take your time doing it
good luck

Answer 8

i just breath through my mouth ...dont forget to keep breathing through ur mouth cause if u dont ur will tear up!
also i heard if u eat a piece of bread while cutting the onion it wont b as bad
i got a e-mail the other day and i dont know if it works cause i dont have a problem as long as i breath through my mouth but i read that if u core the bottom of the onion thats where the stuff that makes u cry is at...u have to core it and make sure u get the whole root or it doesnt work...core it like a apple

Answer 9

Burning a candle nearby, waving a lit match in front of your face, or maybe even a lit gas burner at your side (?!) or really any open flame that wouldn't be super dangerous will burn off the offending "cry" ingredient given off by onions. Try it. It really works.

Answer 10

keep them in the refridgerator, use a very sharp knife and be carefull(just so you don't cut yourself), the fresher the onion the better, and whistle while you work. It's the spray from the onions that gets into the sinuses that produces sulfur and irratates you eyes, these tips will keep the onion from spraying and help keep the spray from your sinuses.