Do you cry when you cut onions?

[creekland]

Hubby and I were working together this morning tossing ingredients into our slow cooker for this evening when I realized peeling and cutting onions no longer makes my eyes water.

 

It used to - for most of my life (even with running water) - but hasn't for quite some time now (and I no longer need to run water).  I just hadn't paid attention until it was so obvious, so I don't know exactly when life changed.  

 

Normally, I do our onions and we do them often.  Does anyone know if this is something one gets conditioned to after exposure?  It's tough to believe it's just age as he's older than I am (but not by oodles of years).

 

This is pure curiosity and the Hive is incredibly knowledgeable.   ;)

[Amira]

Usually I don't have trouble but some onions are pretty potent and they bother me a bit.

[Miss Peregrine]

I used to until I switched from hard to soft contacts. Now I call them my bionic eyes. If I chop onions with my glasses on, I definitely cry.

[J-rap]

Ha, maybe your onions have changed?  I find that some onions are more mild -- often older onions, and they don't affect me as much.  But onions that you can tell are newer and that still have a little green on them, really bring the tears!  I remember hearing about tricks to prevent that from happening, like lighting a match next to the onion or something -- :), but I can't really remember exactly.

 

 

 

 

[Pawz4me]

Some onions are much milder than others.  In general I try to cut them w/o cutting all the way through the root end.  It's cutting through the root that releases the "stuff" (technical term ;)) that irritates eyes.

[SKL]

I think there is a trick - breathe only through your mouth?  It has been a long time but it worked when I used to cut onions.  ;)

 

I had a job at age 18 where I spent most of the day chopping and frying onions.  I learned all the tricks.  :P

[SparklyUnicorn]

Nope, never.  I wonder if it is because I wear contacts.

 

I don't use onions ever in my cooking, but in the culinary school I cut zillions of onions. 

[annandatje]

I am 58 and chopping fresh onions still brings tears to my eyes.  My solution is lighting incense stick and placing it in front of cutting board.  Sometimes with older or milder onions, I do not tear up.

[unsinkable]

Like a baby.

[Slartibartfast]

Onions do make my eyes water, badly, I use onions all the time.

[Ewe Mama]

Yep.

[blondeviolin]

Yup. We buy them in bulk and I chop a bunch and one time and freeze in separate portions. If it's a particularly potent bag, I've been known to wear goggles. :-P

[Paige]

Most of them don't make me cry anymore except red ones. Red ones make me tear up quickly. I don't wear contacts or anything and used to cry with every onion. I thought I had become immune until I got a bag of red ones a few weeks ago. I usually use white or yellow. 

[Cottonwood]

Yes..badly. I just saw a kitchen hack suggesting that if u put them in the freezer 15 minutes before cutting, u won't tear up. I needed to try this...

[Butter]

Yes, terribly.  So I make my 13 year old son cut onions now and I can't be very close because I'll still cry.  I even cry when my husband makes caramelized onions.  I have to have a door open or go upstairs when he does.  I'm just really sensitive to onions.

[Mom22ns]

Not at all and I cook with onions often. I wear soft contact too. I wonder if that helps?

[bettyandbob]

I did when I was a kid. I haven't since I started wearing glasses I my early twenties.

[JumpyTheFrog]

I can make it through 1-2 onions without contacts before I have to run out of the room. With contacts, I can get through many, many more without any pain.

[teachermom2834]

I used to think I was superwoman around onions because they never bothered me. Then I started wearing my contacts less and realized that I was terribly bothered when wearing my glasses.  It is awful.  I have tried all the tricks(running water, freezing, not cutting through the root, etc.)  Nothing stops me from crying except wearing my contacts. 

[Elfknitter.#]

Tangent, but what is running water supposed to do?

[SparklyUnicorn]

I just cry when people put them in my food.

 

Thank you.  We need to form a onion hater's support group.  It's hard to go through life as an onion hater. 

[Pippen]

Yup. We buy them in bulk and I chop a bunch and one time and freeze in separate portions. If it's a particularly potent bag, I've been known to wear goggles. :-P

 

I reached for the goggles just the other day. I'm usually fine with the sweet onions, but these were yellow onions and I was a watery-eyed mess.

[zoobie]

Contacts made a huge difference. I had worn soft lenses since I was 13, so after getting LASIK surgery at 33, it was a harsh awakening. I bought those goofy looking onion goggles. They work!

[Butter]

Not at all and I cook with onions often. I wear soft contact too. I wonder if that helps?

 

Not for me.  Even when I wore contacts onions still made me cry.

[Butter]

Thank you.  We need to form a onion hater's support group.  It's hard to go through life as an onion hater. 

 

Onions are evil when they are visible in food.  Biting into a cooked onion is horrid.  I am willing to eat things that have pureed onions in them.  I also am fine with onion powder.  It's not the taste for me.  It's something about the way they look and feel.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Onions are evil when they are visible in food.  Biting into a cooked onion is horrid.  I am willing to eat things that have pureed onions in them.  I also am fine with onion powder.  It's not the taste for me.  It's something about the way they look and feel.

 

I can't tolerate any form of it.  They make me gag and if there is enough of it I'll puke.  And it's instant.  People have tried to trick me assuming either I'm exaggerating or just being picky.  They found out .... the hard way.  LOL

 

It is annoying as all get out for me because I can't eat stuff if I'm not sure of what is in it.  It's not even so much that I hate the taste or smell.  They just don't like me.

 

I do ok with garlic.

[hornblower]

I love onions. We go through tons of yellow onions as most our recipes include at least one onion.

Whether they make us cry or not seems to depend on the onion more than on us as it varies from batch to batch.   Washing my hands frequently seems to help me & if I'm doing bit batches I'll wear surgical gloves. Keeping the oils off my skin seems important for me.

[mrsrevmeg]

Yes, terribly. Purple ones (which I like better) affect me more than white or yellow ones. I have tried the water trick, but to no avail.

[Chris in VA]

I think there is a trick - breathe only through your mouth?  It has been a long time but it worked when I used to cut onions.  ;)

 

I had a job at age 18 where I spent most of the day chopping and frying onions.  I learned all the tricks.  :p

 

That's funny, because my "trick" is to keep my mouth shut!

 

Of course, my mom told me that when I was a child, and who knows if she just wanted some peace...

 

It does seem to work for me, though.

[Hkpiano]

I used to until I switched from hard to soft contacts. Now I call them my bionic eyes. If I chop onions with my glasses on, I definitely cry.

I wear soft contacts and have noticed the same thing. Chopping onions with my glasses on brings tears streaming down my face, but with my contacts in: nothing.

[creekland]

Ha, maybe your onions have changed?  I find that some onions are more mild -- often older onions, and they don't affect me as much.  But onions that you can tell are newer and that still have a little green on them, really bring the tears! 

 

This may be part of the key as to the change.  We used to get a fair number of onions from our garden both when I was growing up and in our earlier years here on the farm.  Three or four years back we quit planting them (preferring to grow other things in our space instead), so now they all come from the store.  They're bound to be older.

 

We usually use yellow and I always cut the root and top first, then take the skin off, then cut as desired.  No contacts or glasses - ever - so that can't be it.  I suspect it's the new-ness and hubby is just more sensitive to them.

 

Most of them don't make me cry anymore except red ones. Red ones make me tear up quickly. I don't wear contacts or anything and used to cry with every onion. I thought I had become immune until I got a bag of red ones a few weeks ago. I usually use white or yellow. 

 

This could be interesting.  The next onion we have is red.  They were on sale at the store... ;)  I have to finish using my yellow onions first though.

 

Tangent, but what is running water supposed to do?

 

I've never looked it up, but I assume it's due to the motion of the air (from the motion of the water).  Since objects move toward flowing fluids (due to the lower pressure), it would draw the onion droplets toward the water if one were close enough.

 

I could be completely off base though.  ;)

[lexi]

Yes. My eyes water horribly. Afterward it looks like I've been sobbing. I hate chopping onions!

[Little Nyssa]

Yes, not just tears, but coughing and choking and wheezing. it seems to get worse as I age. No other substance has this effect on me and I don't have asthma. To me it seems worse if the onion is old, though.

[TrixieB]

I buy sweet onions because my eyes never water when I cut them up.  But last Thanksgiving my mom asked me to cut up some... leeks, I think they were... and my eyes just streamed.

[KrissiK]

Sometimes. I don't really pay attention to when I do and when I don't.

[Garga]

For water, you have to cut the onion under a stream of water. I've done it in in the past but it's a pain because the chopped onion keeps trying to wash off the cutting board into the sink.

 

The fumes come up to your eyes and they have something in them that is a bit bad for your eyes, so your eyes water to protect them. Cutting the onions under a stream of water seems to keep the fumes from coming up.

 

I haven't tried cutting them underwater--like in some sort of pan that's deep enough to cover the onion, yet has a flat enough bottom to cut on.

 

Onion goggles? Someone mentioned onion goggles? I wonder whether regular goggles work or if there's something special about "onion goggles." Never heard of onion goggles.

[Garga]

I cry lots when I chop onions.

[rocassie]

Someone else cutting onions will do it to me.  I just have to be in the room.  Sometimes even garlic will get my eyes watering.  And they don't just water, more like a faucet turning on.  :)  

[Zebra]

I cry buckets, because it means I am cooking and I hate to cook.....!

 

 

 

[Seasider]

No, because I have an AWESOME pair of onion goggles from Williams Sonoma!

 

I have dry eyes and was MISERABLE until dh put these in a Christmas stocking a few years back. I look like a scientist chopping onions, but I don't cry anymore.

[momto10blessings]

I go through phases when it makes me cry for years and then all of a sudden it doesn't make me cry. Years later it'll make me cry again.

[Mimm]

I use onions all the time and cry when it's been a while but I think I've desensitized my eyes for the most part. Every now and then I get a particularly strong onion that still hurts.

[matrips]

No crying when my contacts are in. Painful tears when I just have my glasses on.

[pehp]

Yes. It is awful...tears streaming down my face so that I cannot see!

 

I wear goggles in the kitchen to avoid this, but mine broke!  I need to buy new ones.  It's completely dorky, but prevents the crying!

[Tanaqui]

It's cutting through the root that releases the "stuff" (technical term ;)) that irritates eyes.

 

Stuff also known as sulfuric acid.

[creekland]

I go through phases when it makes me cry for years and then all of a sudden it doesn't make me cry. Years later it'll make me cry again.

 

This is depressing.  I kinda like the new(ish) normal.  I could handle an onion or two changing it or bringing back memories, but I'd hate to go back to crying every time I cut an onion.

[momto10blessings]

This is depressing. I kinda like the new(ish) normal. I could handle an onion or two changing it or bringing back memories, but I'd hate to go back to crying every time I cut an onion.

It's really odd. My husband thinks it has to do with the sharpness of the knives I use. Who knows.