4 Tear-Free Ways to Cut an Onion

Which knife are you using to cut onions? Well, if you don’t want to ball your eyes out, I suggest using a straight edge because a serrated knife is going to tear a lot more onion cells, releasing more juice, and more tears. But that’s only 1 of the 4 methods I’m gonna give you that actually work to reduce tears while cutting onions.
4. Rinse the onion
I’ve found that rinsing the onion right after initially cutting it in half helps reduce tears because you’re getting rid of most of the onion juice from the root. Onions cause us to tear-up, because of an irritating gas that forms from different enzymes reacting with each other and with our eyes. Well, the root of the onion has the most enzymes, so rinsing off that juice will stop some of the irritation. This method isn’t perfect, but it does help a little. Also don’t forget to soak up any onion juice that gets left on the cutting board.
3. Use the right knife
I mentioned at the beginning of this video that a serrated knife will cause more irritation to your eyes because it will tear more of the onion cells. Well, the same is true for a dull knife. When cutting onions, I always use my sharpest straight-edge knife so that minimal juice is released from the onion. Once again, this method isn’t perfect either, but you should find some relief from the tears; and it’s just so much more pleasant to cut using a sharp knife.
2. Run a fan
Setting a fan to blow the onion vapor away from your eyes, actually works really well to reduce tears! It doesn’t have to be a powerful fan either. The one I’m using is a super cheepo-fan and it’s about 6 feet away, but it’s still working fine. It is kind of a pain to get a fan out every time, but if you have a lot of onions to cut, it’s probably worth it. Two things to note with this method: first, if your fan is blowing onion vapor away from you but in the direction of someone else, you should stop cutting, turn off the fan, and meditate on why you have zero regard for your fellow members of humanity; second blowing the onion vapor into the rest of your house, means that you will likely experience a low-level of burning once you leave your kitchen. It probably won’t be enough to cause tears, but your eyes might feel dry.
1. Refrigerate your onions
When onions are cold, the enzyme reaction is significantly slowed, so you should experience fewer tears. I suggest refrigerating your onions for at least 30 minutes prior to cutting, and then cooking them before they get a chance to warm up. Depending on the type of onion, you might actually have no irritation at all when using the fridge method. One caveat though: storing your onions in the fridge will reduce their shelf-life pretty significantly. So It’s usually better to store them in a cool, dry pantry and then put them in the fridge just before you’re going to cut them.
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