How to chop Onions without Crying

Onions may be one of the trickiest food to deal with – they have the ability to make you cry every time you cut them. And you must hear of many ludicrous ways to avoid this, such as chewing bread while chopping, or microwaving onions. Most of these ideas are experimental and are not really effective. But now we are going to tell you some practical ways to stop waterworks:

Use a sharp knife

Before talking about how to minimize crying, we need to learn what exactly induces tears. Onions contain sulfur compounds and an enzyme called synthase. Once sliced, they will come into the air and form syn-propanediol S-oxide, a chemical that irritates the lacrimal glands in our eyes and make us cry. So, the first way to avoid tears is to reduce the amount of chemical released or to cause as little damage as possible to the onion. The answer is simple: use a sharp, good quality knife. A dull one will crush the flesh and make more irritating chemicals coming out. To test if your knife is sharp, just slice into a ripe tomato or sheet of paper. If the edge is smooth enough, it cut well on onions too.

Store onions in cold temperature

Though storing in cold temperature can’t make sure you won’t cry cutting onions, it helps to some extent. A cold onion relatively releases irritating gas slower than a room temperature one.

Cut onions strategically

Firstly, you should cut off the stem which contains the highest amount of sulphuric compounds. Then cut in half and place the exposed side against the cutting board. In this way, you are less likely to face the gas directly. Next, slice from the cut end of the onion without completely cutting through. After you’ve sliced all the way of the half, cut off the root for sliced onions. For diced onions, you just need to slice through laterally and then cut crosswise from the top before chopping off the root. In a word, cut onions as a whole, and you will suffer less from crying.

Wear goggles

If you won’t risk yourself in cutting onions, consider wearing goggles. It can make sure nothing will get into your eyes. However, you may feel uncomfortable and inconvenient at the same time.