The Temperature Change To Help Prevent Tears When Cutting An Onion

Chopping onions (properly or otherwise) is something I hate so much that I find myself minimizing the amount of onions I use in cooking — a shame given the flavor they provide. I've tried all the hacks, and while some work better than others, none are entirely foolproof. I admit I'm working at somewhat of a disadvantage since a long time ago I had an eye surgery called radial keratotomy –Lasik's immediate precursor. This means my damaged (but no longer nearsighted) eyeballs are particularly susceptible to onion fumes, so I make the perfect guinea pig for tear-reducing onion experiments. 

While not new to me, one hack I hadn't revisited in a while is cutting cold onions. Fortuitously, I have onions stored in my back hallway which is super-cold in wintertime, though at any other time of year, 30 minutes in the fridge would do.

As for why this works, it's because the colder the onion, the slower it spreads its vapors. This reduces the amount of pain-producing enzymes in the air. So, how well does it work? My super-sensitive eyeballs say, two lids up! I took a chilled yellow onion of the kind that usually gives me the most trouble and, with no extra precautions, set about chopping it. I diced the whole thing with no noticeable pain. While I don't necessarily trust any onion hack to work every time (onion goggles worked until they didn't), the next time I chop an onion, I'm definitely chilling it first.

Oddly enough, some people recommend going in the opposite direction when cutting onions. Allegedly, if you microwave your onion for a few minutes, this also deactivates the enzymes, although it also slightly pre-cooks the onion so it's not something you'll want to do for a salad. How effective is it, though? Well, your mileage may vary, but for me, it didn't work nearly as well. The first time, I microwaved the onion for three minutes, which had the effect of exploding it and turning it into a near-mush. While I had to use scissors to cut it, it didn't hurt my eyes.

The second time I went with two minutes and the onion stayed intact, although it made alarming noises at the 90-second mark. When I took it out, it was too hot to handle, but when it finally cooled down, it was ... well, still too mushy to cut easily. Again, I didn't cry. I'm not going to use this hack though, when chilling the onions works so much better. Don't worry, fellow zero-food waste fans, I won't be letting the microwaved onion go to waste (not even the three-minute mess). Later I'll be making oven-caramelized onions (which can also be done in an Instant Pot if you happen to have one) and then combining them with pizza dough to make something like garlic knots, only with onions. Not a bad result for a day's experimentation.