Ok so I am right now trying to dice up an onion for asandwich, I get one slice and have to walkaway for a few mins cause myeyes are burning and watering my nose and throat burns. Many years ago after H.S. i workedin akitchen and whenever they were slicing onions i had to totaly leave the kitchen! I know other people arnt this sensitive. Why am i so sensitive to it and are there any tricks to help?
P.S. I love onions to eat in stuff though!
I have this problem too. It may be that you have dry eyes. The gases for onions will irritate the eyes more if you already have dry eyes. Put some eye drops in when this happens. It may help.
I buy it at WM already sliced..
Chilling it will make it release less "gas"... Also, try chopping the onion under water, so the "gas" can't get to you... You might also rub lime on the blade of the knife. (the acid reacts to the gas.)
Also, cut out the root of the onion (WITHOUT cutting the root itself~forgot to mention that part. lol)... that is where the "gas gland" is. :)
I think this is common. I get like that too.
Chill it before hand. Chefs do that.
Peel it under running water it the sink.
Put a slice of bread in your mouth while you are slicing the onion.
Do you wear glasses? I find that my eyes get more irritated when I am wearing my glasses vs. my contacts. I guess because the gas gets caught behind the glasses. I read somewhere that the gas is attracted to moisture, which is why the running/under water works so well.
Another trick, but you'll feel ridiculous, is to hold a metal spoon in your mouth, I do feel it helps a little :)
Slice your onion then run it under cold water. This is a little trick I learned somewhere along the way. It seems to help a bit.
I do the opposite of Red and leave the root intact and work from the top down. It seems as soon as I chop it I am overcome with the burning eyes etc. If I leave it intact I never have an issue, even with an onion right out of the pantry.
When I slice an onion and my eyes are so irritated and teary that I can't open them, all I do is wet my fingers under running water then smudge water under my eyes, on the skin. Instantly I can open my eyes again. Also, I run the knife under running water every few passes to keep the gasses from coming up so strong.
My mom is like this. She chops onions under water. Please refrain from doing this under running water....so wasteful of our resources. Simply fill a bowl or pan with water and keep the areas you are chopping submerged. :)
