can you chop onions without crying?
When J returned home from his deployment last week, I resolved to alleviate him from dinner-making duties more frequently. Since he enjoys cooking, I do what I can to stay out of the kitchen. However, I’m working on being more domestic and think it’s important that we share responsibilities. (Plus, I’m hoping that if I cook dinner, I can get him to clean the bathrooms, another unpleasant chore.)
Following through on my promise, last night I prepared sloppy joes using a recipe I found on Design*Sponge. The hardest part was dicing the onion. I am not too handy with a knife–which is probably why I prefer baking to cooking. Measuring cups are much safer than knives. If we owned a Slap Chop I would definitely use it, but J considers that cheating, so we don’t.
I wonder if the Slap Chop also prevents “onion eyes.” My eyes were seriously stinging for an hour after we ate. Next time a recipe calls for an onion, I’m going to follow @mediagirl77‘s suggestion: Put the onion in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before chopping. Has anybody tried that?
And as if she were reading my mind, my friend Bridgett this morning posted another trick on her Facebook page. She said that cutting an onion by an open flame will prevent you from crying. Is that true?
How do you prevent tearing up while chopping onions? Wearing goggles? Chewing gum? Avoiding cooking all together?
PS: Is it impossible for you hear the words “sloppy joe” without thinking of Adam Sandler or is it just me?
(image source)
I stopped wearing contacts full time a few years ago and discovered it was nearly impossible for me to cut onions without serious tear issues.
I started sticking onions in the freezer 15 minutes before prep and have no issues. It really does work!
I saw that recipe yesterday too and thought they looked delish! Besides the onion situation – how did they turn out? Were they tasty?
They were SUPER tasty. I can’t say I’m a huge sloppy joe fan, but I really enjoyed them. And J did, too
I heard that if you chop an onion under water (putting the cutting board in the sink) it will help as well, but that seems very dangerous.
And PS- I guess Omaha living is screwing up your roots! Every east coast Jew knows Sloppy Joes are not the messy meat/tomato concoction! See here: http://www.yumsugar.com/How-Make-New-Jersey-Sloppy-Joe-2953634
That is the cutest picture! So, I have tried the freezer trick. And I swear it works… However, I was at a cooking class once and asked the instructor about this and he said the only really way to prevent crying while chopping onion is to do it faster. I still put mine in the freezer though – but a good technique doesn’t hurt!
PJ… a mandolin is better than slap chop. It slices/dices really fast and works well. Don’t get a super cheap one, but not a super expensive one. A $30 should work really well.
Also, I just took a cooking workshop w/ my husband and friends and they taught us the proper way to cut an onion. there are 2 sides – the side that looks like hair (I guess the roots) and then the little nub at the other end. DO NOT CUT THAT NUB OFF. The nub is where the toxic “gasses” for lack of better word is. If you cut it, it makes you tear. Therefore, cut off the root part and start slicing/dicing without cutting off the bottom like.. quarter. Once you get down to that area, carefully cut off a little of the edges, but don’t go near the nub. It’s hard to explain, but the instructor was dead on, and no one in the class had a problem.
This will sound weird, but I read once that if you bite on a piece of bread while cutting an onion, you won’t cry. It works, no clue why and I wonder how someone discovered this trick.
We have a mandolin, and it scares the crap out of me. I can totally see myself slicing a finger off. I didn’t know that you shouldn’t cut off the “nub” side of an onion; I always cut off both! My bad.
Rachel, the New Jersey Sloppy Joe is, in a word, LAME. That’s basically a Reuben with cole slaw instead of sauerkraut. Home made “loose-meat” in a tomato-ey sauce (somewhat akin to Manwich) = sloppy joes. You made an unappetizing deli mess. So there!