From now and then we see some homemade tricks, and today it’s the turn of cutting onions. Doing this won’t be a problem anymore. Who hasn’t cried while cutting onions? No matter if you are a chef or a beginner, the result is always the same: stinging, burning, and an overwhelming urge to cry.
But, why does this happen? In this article we got the answer to that and we also have some methods that really work to stop crying while cutting onions. So, let’s get started!
Why do we cry while cutting onions?
Inside every onion, there’s a natural substance called alliinase. When you cut an onion, that substance reacts and releases a gas called syn-propanethial-S-oxide, or simply propanthial.
This gas is a kind of sulfur compound, which means it has a strong smell and can easily spread through the air. It’s very volatile — meaning it travels fast — and when you breathe it in, it irritates your eyes and nose. Your eyes react by creating tears to protect themselves.
That’s why even the strongest chef ends up crying when cutting onions.
Tricks that are a waste of time
We see many ‘’foolproof methods’’ on the internet to not cry while cutting onions, but most of them make no sense. Let’s see some examples:
- Putting a piece of onion skin on your head (yes, some people actually try that).
- Wearing swimming goggles that don’t cover your nose.
- Lighting a candle on the counter but not using any other protection.
None of these tricks avoid that gas reaching your eyes. So, if you want to stop crying while cutting onions, you’d better start trying methods that really reduce this gas emissions or that avoid the gas to reach you.
Tricks that do work
The most popular and most effective trick is to cool the onion before cutting it. If you put it in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for a few minutes, the gas becomes less volatile and it doesn’t release that fast. This way, teardrops will be less intense or won’t even show up.
Another method is to put the onion in water while cutting it. By doing this, the gas is trapped in the water and won’t affect your eyes. It’s true this trick works, but it’s not the most practical one if you need to cut a lot of onions or cut them very thin.
Also, you can try using the kitchen hood or turning on an extractor fan to pull the gas away from your face. Some people even light a candle near the cutting area; the flame burns a small amount of the gas before it spreads. These tricks aren’t perfect, but they can help reduce tears.
The knife
One of the most important pieces of advice we can give you is the importance of using a sharp knife. If this is not the case, what you will be doing is crashing and tearing the onion cells and releasing more gas. Instead, a sharp knife will allow you to make a clean and precise cut, which avoids breaking too many cells and, therefore, release less propanthial and cry less.
Technique is everything
Beyond tricks, technique is more important than what most people think. So, let’s see what you should do for cutting onions:
- Use a stable cutting board and keep your knife sharp. Place the board slightly forward, not directly under your face, so that the gas rises straight up and not toward your eyes.
- Then, peel the onion and rinse it with cold water. Then cut it quickly and confidently — doubting makes it worse because the onion has more time to release its gas.
- It also helps to learn different cutting styles, like julienne or brunoise, depending on the dish you’re preparing. The faster and cleaner your movements, the less time the gas has to irritate you.
As you can see, there’s no magic to stop crying while cutting onions, it’s all about practice.