Crying and Onions?!
Crying and Onions?
How is it that people on the food network cut and cook onions and they don't shed a single tear?
Answers: chill your onions to 40 degrees, and you won't cry either lil' magic! Source(s):
i am a chef Maybe they all wear contact lenses. That prevents the vapors from hitting your eyes. I swear they are immuned after all the years cooking. haha Rinse the peeled onion in cold water for about 2 minutes before chopping. You won't cry if you cut with a super sharp knife, and cut without the 'peel' on. I learned that from Curtis Stone. i heard they chew mint gum at least that is what i heard on one of those shows i heard once that you could do that by putting onions in the freezer for somewhile before start cutting them well my dad who was a chef always taught me to run them under cold water for a while to prevent you from tearing up so maybe thats what they do Try refrigerating the onions first! When you chop onions a "Cry Juice" releases into the air... Refrigerating helps reduce it... Also, Sweet onions aren't as bad I'm betting this is the reason why: After you read the instructions and think back it's pretty much what they are doing.
1. A properly sharpened chef’s knife. The duller your knife, the more juice you will squeeze out of your onions and, thus, the more tears you will squeeze out of your eyes. (See my knife-sharpening technique.)
2. Correct technique. If you learn to slice and dice correctly, you’ll be able to chop so fast the onions won’t have a chance to cozy up to your tear ducts. Since you won’t get fast overnight, I suggest practicing on fennel bulbs, as they are shaped just like onions and even have layers.
Technique 1: Slicing onions
1. Cut off the top and the root ends of the onion. Cut the onion in half vertically and peel.
2. Hold a knife by placing your thumb and index fingers on the blade.
3. Place a half of the onion on your board and hold it with a claw grip. Start slicing the onion. Your slices should be parallel to the lines you see on the onion. In other words, each stroke should go through both the top and root of the onion.
4. After the first few slices, bring your claw-grip hand in contact with the side of the blade. The first knuckle on your middle finger will act as your knife guard. It should stick out and touch the knife. Scary as it seems, it will prevent you from cutting yourself. This controls the size of your slices and makes you aware of where the knife is.
Keep on slicing and moving your claw grip hand gradually back. Only lift the back of the knife and keep the front attached to the board. Note that your onion should be sitting towards the back of your knife. This gives you more leverage and allows you to lift the knife less.
5. When you get close to the end, the onion will start to wobble. Tip it forward until the remaining onion is flat on the cutting surface and finish slicing.
Technique 2: Dicing onions
1. Cut off the top end of the onion, but keep the root. This will keep the onion together as you dice. Cut the onion in half vertically and peel
. Slice the onion using the tip of your knife and keeping the slices still attached at the root.
3. Make one or two slices through the center of the onion. This one is tricky. I find that it helps to place the widest part of the blade at the side of the onion closest to you and move the blade in a circular motion ending with the tip of the blade going through the onion. Keep your finger tips on top of the onion, so that you don’t slice through them, and remember to stop before slicing all the way through the onion. It’s better to go less deep than more deep. The goal is to keep the onion in one piece all the way until the next step.
The final dice.4. Switch to the claw grip used for slicing and slice the onion perpendicular to the direction of the cuts you made in step 2. This last step is exactly the same as the first technique of slicing an onion. The only difference is the onion’s orientation.
Chop safely, and cry no more. i always cut refrigerated onions and i still feel the burn. i've tried burning candles, that works ok. i just put them in the food processor now, quick pulse or chopped, it keeps me from crying and its quicker try placing your onions in the fridge bor about 4 minutes before chopping them. cut each end of the onion peel of the skin cut it in half then lay each half flat and cut across. Try buying a chopper to finely chop onions. Because the faster you cut them the less time there is for crying, and some onions arent as potint as others.you could try putting a piece of bread under your toung, it works for me sometimes.