4. Give it a shower. Cutting the onion under running water will wash away the gas. However, be careful while wielding a wet knife.
5. Keep a slice of bread in your mouth. If you hold on to the end of a piece of bread with your teeth, letting it stick out from your face, supposedly the bread absorbs the gases and prevents them from making it up to your eyes. Some swear by this method; some consider it silly.
6. Chew gum. Gum encourages you to breathe through your mouth and, in so doing, inhale the gases before they reach your eyes. Don’t worry—they won’t corrode your esophagus.
7. Turn on a fan or vent. Setting up a desk fan near your work surface or turning on a ceiling vent can whisk vapors away.
8. Use a sharp knife. Alton Brown of the Food Network recommends using the sharpest knife you have, because precision cuts disturb the fewest amount of cell walls and release the smallest amount of gas. When you hack or gnaw at the onion, the increased cellular breakdown will result in more fumes.
9. Buy milder onions. There are over four hundred kinds of vegetable in the onion family, all of which contain differing levels of enzymes. Spring and summer onions, like Vidalias, Super Sweets, Maui onions, and Walla Wallas, have higher sugar and water contents, which make them noticeably milder. Fall and winter onions, such as white, yellow, red, and Spanish onions, are more pungent and tangy. Distant relatives, like shallots, scallions, and garlic, are virtually tearless.
Some methods may work better than others, but if your cooking is suffering from a case of onion-induced despair, anything’s worth trying. If all else fails, there’s one foolproof way to avoid getting this sulfuric acid in your eyes. Remember that it takes about thirty seconds for the chemical reaction to fully kick in and take effect, so … chop faster.
Updated March 15, 2011
