Idea
When you slice an onion, you break up onion cells. Various compounds get released and a chain of chemical reactions follows. At the end, there is sulfuric acid mixed with the water in your eyes. Your body responds with adding more water into the eyes in form of tears. Those tears dilute the sulfuric acid and wash it away. There are several methods to prevent sulfuric acid from irritating your eyes.
- Minimize the time when your eyes get irritated. Chop onion as quickly as possible. This is what chefs do.
- Slow down the chemical reactions while cutting the onion. Chemical reactions occur slower at lower temperatures. Put the onion into refrigerator about 30 minutes before chopping it (this changes the chemistry inside the onion) and/or put the knife into the freezer for about 5 minutes before chopping.
- Minimize the amount of gasses released from the onion. Chop onion in halves. Place a half on the flat side. Then chop while holding the slices together. Afterward chop in perpendicular direction. Try to keep the onion chunks in “one piece”.
- The above methods work fine for one or possibly two onions. For larger quantities, you need to make sure that the gases from the onions do not reach the eyes. Put on swimming goggles. They are air proof so no gases from the onion should reach your eyes. Have a good laugh with your family/friends seeing you wearing goggles in the kitchen.
Once the onion is chopped, heat it up quickly. Cooking the onion deactivates some of the compounds needed to produce sulfuric acid.
Get the smell of onions off your fingers
In order to eliminate the smell of onions off your fingers after chopping them, follow the advice in How to get the smell of garlic off your fingers after cooking.
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