I am crying my eyes out here...

[telophase]

...because damn that was one powerful onion.





Yeah, yeah, I know: store 'em in the fridge and cut 'em under water. This one was fresh from the stor, so no time to chill, and I never remember about cutting 'em under water until after I've already cut them.

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

Speak to me of this cutting under water--I take it that's just what it sounds like?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, just holding your onion under running water as you cut it. Awkward and you have to be careful not to cut yourself, but it washes away the compounds that make your eyes tear up. You could probably fill a sink and cut it under that, too, for much the same effect, but I've never tried that. :)

[snarp]

I'm very seriously considering buying a pair of swim goggles entirely for onion-slicing purposes. I've been eating a lot of onions recently.

[pirateseneschal.livejournal.com]

The best trick ever:

Take a piece of bread, take a bite, and hold it in your mouth as you cut the onion.
It really works. Grandma method.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

O.o

o.O

O.O

[pirateseneschal.livejournal.com]

I'm totally not kidding, either. Works, unless you keep eating the bread.

[gweniveeve.livejournal.com]

I use another trick: I turn the back stove burner on high, then I put the cutting board on the front (unlit) burner. The heat on the back burner "draws" the onion fumes toward it, or something (I don't know exactly how it works, but I've never had a problem crying since I've used it!).

[sparkylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Consulting the library book that I actually checked out (boosting one's circulation numbers :), Dr. Robert Wolke (What Einstein told his cook 2) suggests yes, chilling the onion for a couple of hours (I wonder if a bowl of ice water for a shorter time period would work?), using a very sharp knife, and chopping the onion quickly. Anything else will have a psychological rather than a physiological effect.

Awesome book for light kitchen science reading, by the way. Easier on the ol' brains than Harold McGee. And loads funnier.

[mundeemo.livejournal.com]

whenever I get a strong onion I always light a candle it actually works.

pointless personal story time! yay!

[herchuckness.livejournal.com]

Years ago I worked graveyard shifts at a roadside burger joint, where we had to slice and chop 50 lbs of onions at one go. Eventually I learned to do it with my eyes closed; there's no anti-tearing method can stand up to that many onions.

Re: pointless personal story time! yay!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I am glad that I was a cashier and drive-through person during my time in food-service hell, because that means I didn't have to get in early to do food prep. :D I don't remember what they did for the onions for the salad bar and the burger-garnish, but we also did onion rings and they had a maching to slice the onions into big rings.

We also leanred that if you slap a pickle slice onto the stove vent hood, it looks just like a refrigerator magnet.