Chop them under water
The scuba diving kit works wonders
We’re all familiar with the burning, eye-watering sensation felt when chopping onions, and now we know exactly why. The US National Onion Association estimates that the average American chows through about nine kilograms (20 pounds) of onions every year – that’s a lot of tears. We know that a lachrymatory factor (LF) agent …
Or use red onions. For some reason, I've never had a problem chopping those.
But then, back in the days when I had hard, gas-perm contact lenses, I never had a problem chopping white onions either..
I suspect that the irritation caused by the lenses had pretty much made my eyes ignore anything else. And given that I'd worn lenses since I was 18 (mumble, mumble years), my corneas must have had hide like a rhino.
"Run tap. Wet onion. Wet knife blade. Cut onion tear-free. Periodically repeat wetting of knife blade."
Same here. A good quality sharp knife and proper steel to keep it honed between uses works wonders. I generally don't even bother with wetting the onion or knife since I'm rarely chopping more than two or three in one session so the job is done before any reaction sets in. It helps doing it by the cooker with the hood extractor fan on too. Just enough of an airflow than any onion fumes are pulled away from me.
Or a toothpick. Or a lump of bread. Or just not mouth-breathing.
As a side note, do NOT refrigerate onions! It ruins the flavo(u)r and causes them to rot prematurely. Makes the contents of the fridge smell of Lancashire Hotpot, too, which is not entirely a bad thing ... unless you're putting milk in your tea, or doing anything that requires butter.
I keep my onions in the fridge and they taste great and do not rot. They don't stink up the fridge either. I chop onions with a knife and they rarely make me cry. I store the chopped onions in the fridge in an air tight box. Maybe I'm getting old and my eyeballs are hardening or I'm just immune to the gas.
That's like an old marketing ploy from Chiquita Banananas or some other rapist of the consumers and the environment, let alone murdurur of thousands of natives. (I get carried away easily.)
The fallacies about not chilling bananans or onionons seems to be along the lines of "dispose of your [xxxx] when the expiration date has expired.'
I've always kept my onionions and other alene-containing substances (well, except garlique) in the fridge.
Has anyone ever published a paper, perhaps a Dissertation, on the amount of false truth-hoods that are spouted herein?
"That's like an old marketing ploy from Chiquita Banananas or some other rapist of the consumers and the environment..."Fact: bananas emit ethylene gas as they ripen. Useful if you want to ripen green tomatoes, but that's best conducted at room temperature by placing them together in a paper bag. Bananas stored in the fridge will "ripen" broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, turning them yellow and ruining their flavour.
Fact: decent onions will induce an off-flavour in milk, apples and other foods. OTOH you might actually enjoy what others consider undesirable in which case, bully for you.
Bananas stored in the fridge will "ripen" broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts etc, turning them yellow and ruining their flavour.
It's possible to ruin the flavour of brussel sprouts? How is it possible to ruin something that tastes like the festuring scrapage of a demon's armpit?
But failing that, in a pinch cut your onions next to a stove with a lit burner. Convection moves the air sideways until it gets to the burner, then it moves up with the heat, avoiding your face. A tea kettle simmering away on the hob works wonders, as does an electric kettle coming to the boil.
When you are done with your meal, get off your arse and get your knives sharpened properly before you do yourself an injury!
"When you are done with your meal, get off your arse and get your knives sharpened properly before you do yourself an injury!"Even better is to sharpen the knife immediately before use on a good quality steel. Also purchase only good quality knives.
Thanks Jake for the explanation as to why my onion chopping (actually slicing) is far less tearful than in my previous kitchen :-)
The steel is for honing, not sharpening. Yes, use a steel each time you use a knife. If you don't know how to use a steel, have the dude/tte who professionally sharpens your knives teach you how. In fact, if you think you do know how, ask anyway. You might be surprised. I was.
I sharpen my knives monthly, but for most home users getting them sharpened once or twice per year should do it. It's a good use of ~six bucks per blade.
Get good quality knives![0] This does not necessarily mean expensive ... Most of our cutting needs around here are handled by Victorignox "Fibrox" 8-inch chef's knives ... We use 'em for damn near everything. Under US$50. Their paring knives & etc. are also pretty good, and equally inexpensive.
As a side note, I've been using a ceramic "steel" for the last several years. Recommended.
[0] Extend that to any tool ... You'll spend some money initially, true, but you won't have to replace it like you do with cheap crap. The rule around here is "Only buy a tool once."
"Get good quality knives!"I have friends who are professional chefs and they do not use expensive knives at work. I'll second the Victorinox; I have two of their utility knives. Dirt cheap and do the job perfectly. I also have several Icel knives and a cleaver. The same steel as Wüsthof (Solingen), but made in Portugal and a lot cheaper. Most of the professional chefs I know use them because they are far less likely to be stolen.
It's nice to own a Rolls Royce of a knife, though. My boning knife is Wüsthof and my ham knife is a Dick, but both were purchased in close-out sales.
And yes, I stand corrected on honing versus sharpening. I have a variety of diamond and tungsten tools for sharpening when needed (rarely).
I need a steak knife all the time . I am fucking sick of trying to chop my food up with a standard cutlery knife which , although has a token effort at teeth on the side , is basically a butter knife.
I want to be able to cut a roast potato in half , equally , so that both mouthfuls have a bit of potato and a bit of the tasty skin bit. What happens using a shitty normal knife is that you have to wrestle with the fucking thing , chasing it round the plate , knocking other shit off the side before you end up kind of squashing it into a paste , mashing it you might say , and then scraping half up again . With a steak knife however , you just cut the thing in half - simples.
This applies to nearly all foods not just roast potatoes . Im not a big eater , but im a big believer in having the right tools for the job - and I dont work out what is the correct method of doing anything by "doing what everyone else does" because quite often , to put it simply , everyone else is wrong!
Sometime you dont even get a knife! you go to someones house , and they've cooked some lukewarm spaghetti bolognaise and you get a fork , and if you're lucky , a spoon.
What is this a fucking test? The most difficult food to eat and I dont get the fucking tools?? Bring me everything in your fucking cutlery drawer right now! And depending how useful or not that is i might be going out to the car to get my toolbox.... perhaps a reciprocating saw could convert this stupid italian wheat dish into an eatable form.
</rant>
All I'm saying is knives are for cutting , and a knife without teeth is like a knife without teeth.
Isnt that where the expression comes from?
If you're not spreading butter or jam with a knife you are cutting something - and I see no reason why you should use the knife with the absolute minimum of cutting ability to make it hard for yourself.
All I'm saying is knives are for cutting , and a knife without teeth is like a knife without teeth.
I'll second that. I have one knife other than cutlery. It's a sort of serrated-edge bread knife but with a straight cutting edge and reasonably sturdy blade with little flex. It cost a quid-fifty and has lasted over 30 years. The 'spare' I bought at the same time is still in its original packaging.
Never been sharpened once and does everything I need it for without any difficulty or fuss, including murdering onions and trimming steaks. And occasionally cutting twine, envelope and cardboard box opening.
I know; sacrilege, heresy, I don't know what I'm missing. Heard it all before, it drives those who care nuts. But it honestly does the job and suits me just fine.
I disagree - knife and spoon, so you can cut the damned spaghetti into small lengths that you can then spoon up!
Personally I prefer lasagna to spag bol for the very reason that it's less faff to actually eat.
Yes. I do realise that the civilised folk look somewhat askance at me at mealtimes, but I am at least a house-trained barbarian! 8-}
"You have a Dick knife? Boy, that is bringing tears to my eyes..."
Jealous? :-)
get your knives sharpened properly
I sometimes get complaints from the senior management that the knives in the knife block are too sharp and that she cuts herself.
Finally, I got round to showing her how to use them properly..
Wanting to have blunt knives is like wanting to use Windows instead of a proper OS..
It's because I like them. Sharp knives - yes. Scuba kit, chopping under water? Hell no. The first is impractical (will get fogged up or greasy in the kitchen) the second will leave you with wet onions, and who wants that?
I think the main thing is just getting used to it. Yes tears will flow but that's it: no harm done. besides, it wears off, as I first experienced after chopping a few kg for an onion tart for a biggish crowd.
I think it also helps if your knife skills are reasonable.
Not that I'm anything like at chef-level, but I cook quite a lot.
I was doing ratatouille for 10 on Saturday. A friend offered to help and got stuck on veg-chopping duty. And he was leaning quite close to his chopping board. Presumably because he doesn't chop much and was looking at what he was doing. I'm pretty sure that's how I used to do it as well, given I've got very poor eyesight. But now I'm as much working by feel, as by sight. Using my hand to guide the knife, so I can chop without losing fingers.
So while his eyes are nice and close to the onions, mine would be much further away. Or that could make no difference, and it's just that I'm used to it. Occasionally I'll get a batch of really strong ones that bring a few tears - but normally there's no effect.
Now the time I stupidly used a blunt knife and squirted chilli juice into my eye - that did cause tears. My eye was red and swollen for the next 2 days. I think it watered for about 2 hours.
"
Now the time I stupidly used a blunt knife and squirted chilli juice into my eye - that did cause tears. My eye was red and swollen for the next 2 days. I think it watered for about 2 hours.
"
Not nearly as bad as having a pee when you have chilli juice on your hands. Did that. Once.
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