Onions are delicious! They serve as a base ingredient for many dishes—no kitchen pantry is complete without this staple. However, when you cut an onion, you are releasing a gas that floats upwards and causes a burning sensation in your eyes. Your eyes react with tears to wash the gas away.
By the time you are done with your prep, you are in complete tears. Here is the secret to avoiding a kitchen cry-fest: place your onion (or onions) in the freezer for 10 minutes before chopping.
Why? The change of temperature will also create a change in the overall chemistry of the onion. When cut, the amount of gas released will be less. Remember that you must not freeze the onion, you only need to chill it. Do not keep it in the freezer for more than 15 minutes.
Here’s another pro tip for tears-free onion chopping: Turn on your air vent so that it sucks up all the irritating gases! You can also turn on an electric fan nearby to blow them away.
Main image from Wikimedia.
