Simple Trick for Chopping Onions Without Tears - Neatorama

Earlier today on my Swedish blog, I published a post about a simple way to avoid crying when chopping onions.

It turned out that a lot of people didn't know about this trick, so I thought I'd share it here at Neatorama as well. Hopefully some of you readers will find it useful.

Ok, here it goes: Put a little bit of water in your mouth.

That's it! Just some plain water in your mouth while cutting the onion and you can wave goodbye to those tears.

From what I've heard, it's due to the fact that you're only breathing through the nose by doing so. So basically, just keeping the mouth closed should work just as fine, but it's probably not as easy as it sounds.

Link (in Swedish)

This is an area ripe for urban myths, but I was told about the water when I was little, and it does work.

I read that what makes you cry is sulphuric acid in the onion, which I assumed hit your eyes, but you imply it's entering your mouth.

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I'll have to try that. I always use the bread method, which is pretty useful as well:
http://www.cheapskateshandbook.com/cooking-recipes/stop-crying-while-cutting-onions/12/28/

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This only works because the act of keeping your mouth closed while cutting onions is what actually keeps you from tearing up.

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You can also just refrigerate the onions beforehand. Production of the gas that causes the eye irritation is greatly reduced when the onion is cold.

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This is totally wrong, it only works because people dumb enough to try it want to think it is working after wasting their time. If you don't want to tear up, cut onions at arms length and do not inhale near them or stick your eyes near them. Pretty simple, but not post worthy.

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what's wrong with havin' a little cry whilst you cut your onions?

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It also works if you run the onion under water while cutting them. Good luck with that!

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I chew gum. works for me.

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I always turned my head, took a big breath and cut away til I needed another breath. Always worked for me.
Or I just breathed through my mouth, which works just as well (for me).

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"You can also just refrigerate the onions beforehand. Production of the gas that causes the eye irritation is greatly reduced when the onion is cold." That is false.

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I've had to chop onions a few times in my life and my mother told me before hand to keep my mouth closed while doing it, I've never teared up either.

But, a part of me thinks this is God's way of telling us not to eat onions. Maybe that is the more superstitious and irrational part though.

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I like this link more.

http://www.wikihow.com/Chop-Onions-Without-Tears

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Mouth open or closed doesn't matter on me. Cutting an onion with glasses on.....tears. Cutting an onion with contacts in my eyes......NO TEARS. Don't know the logic.

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onion give off sulphur gas. The gas hits your watery eyes and turns into sulphuric acid. Only thing you can do is reduce the amount of sulphur gas it gives off, i.e. the reason why putting it in fridge helps reduce the effect. Closing your mouth does nothing.

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Since I read that the root end is the juiciest, I make a habit of rinsing off the juice after cutting the bottom end. It helps a lot. But a few tears while cutting onions is the only time I'm liable to get any sympathy while cooking!

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That's weird, because the ONLY way I can cut onions with crying is to only breathe through my mouth and not breathe through my nose at all (I'm not joking - something about the smell of the onions is what causes me to tear up).

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You can put anything you want in your mouth, if that gas gets close to your eye, you're going to tear up.

My method is to wear contact lenses.

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@craig
No it isn't.

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I have no idea what any of you are talking about. I have cooked with onions for the past 50 years and have never produced tears.

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You can also cut the onions through a plexiglass wall with two holes cut out for you to stick your arms through while the onions are under a vent hood. Or, just cut the damn onion and get over it.

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Onions don't make me tear up for some reason, and never have. I can't stand the taste of raw onions, however. Any tricks for making raw onions edible?

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Some people are more sensitive to the sulphuric acids in onions than others. I am super sensitive and nothing works for me, other than cutting them under a hood vent with a very sharp knife as quickly and efficiently as possible. And I STILL tear up and find it almost unbearably painful until I rinse my eyes with water. EVERY TIME I CUT ONIONS. And I cook a lot.

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Bull. Doesn't work. As others have stated, it's the fumes in your eyes that cause it.

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Try it, it does work excellent.

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When I make a large chili-con-carne for my friends, I have to cut LOTS of onions. And I mean LOTS.

Only working solution : wear a scuba-diving mask. Works perfectly, since it's airtight, the sulphur gas can't get into your eyes...

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No matter what I tear up. No remedy, urban or otherwise works for me, but I loooove cooking with onions. If my vision becomes too blurry to see, and in turn more dangerous as I use the knife, I take a break, rinse my hands and the knife, and stick my head in the freezer. After about ten refreshing seconds I'm good to go again.

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@Robert Birming, I have and it doesn't work. Either I'm immune to this miraculous cure or it's just a placebo effect.

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