I know this will be obvious to some, but I’ve never seen anyone in my family wear them. It’s so obvious once you think about it, and yet I’d wager most people (especially ones who don’t cook as a hobby) have never tried this.
The reason you cry is because slicing onions produces an organosulfur called syn-Propanethial-S-oxide. Lab goggles – as designed – keep the chemical irritant from reaching your eyes. I’ve used them hundreds of times now, and I think there was one time it got into my eyes when I didn’t have the goggles situated right (not difficult; I was just being a moron).
My 3M anti-fog pair were about $5 USD when I got them, and it looks like they’re about $7.50 USD now. For that price, I never have to dread cutting up onions again. It’s not magic; it’s just basic PPE, and it works. You can even wear them over eyeglasses (I’m sure some huge, circular frames won’t fit, but most should).
Even if you forget them and remember them midway through slicing, it can still help somewhat. So even if you’re as absent-minded as I am, you can benefit from trying this.
These (below) were the ones I got personally, but feel free to try what you already have if you already have a pair on-hand for e.g. cleaning. I’d assume the important thing is just that they’re goggles, not glasses.
Why YSK: owie, oof, ouchie, my eyes.
How soft do you have to be to cry over cutting an onion? Like, they can’t even feel it so just chill.
“Onions make me sad, a lot of people don’t realize that. When I’m cutting onions, I’m sad. Because the plight of onions, it’s sad. But people don’t realize I’m actually crying - they think I’m just reacting.”
Mitch Hedberg
We vegans kind of slide everything over, so slaughtering animals becomes unthinkable, and butchering vegetables becomes sad.
You know what? If that carrot were in the wild, it’d be way worse off. Imagine being gnawed on for hours by a rabbit; I’m giving it a quick, painless™ death. You moralizing nihilivores are obnoxious.
THINK OF THE POOR BABY CARROT!!! 🥕
[insert modified justification from Vegan Bingo here]
is it weird that I don’t really have this problem?
as a kid I developed a resistance working in a kitchen
as an adult it somewhat continued due to onions being an important part of every meal
but sometimes you just get one of those fuckers that’s so goddamn juicy that the mere sight of it brings you to tears
every great once in a while, I get a bit of a twinge and a tear, but it’s very rare
same. and usually at somebody else’s house, too. even if I bring my own (sharp) knife lmao
I honestly thought it was just me. No reaction at all, dull knife white onions nothing
Onions don’t bother me either. I used to volunteer to cut them doing prep work so my co-workers didn’t have to cry. I think we’re just lucky. I guess it’s our lame superpower.
I think so?? Some of it depends, I think, on the variety of onion (e.g. I’ve always found sweet onions to be gentler compared to white onions). I don’t always cry without them per se, but it still feels noxious.
Sharpness of your knife, time spent cutting, how close your face is to it and I’m pretty sure just biological differences all play part.
I used to “cry” more from it when I was a teenager because my mom had shitty knives and I was just worse at cutting them so it took more time and I was shorter (obviously).
Now I only have any issues at all at home when I’m sitting down, which I sometimes have to due to bad knee and back.
And almost always get it pretty bad when I’m cooking with/for my mom and other family members at her place as she only has serrated knives, which makes it a lot worse, but she refuses to have anything else.
Use a sharp knife because a duller knife is less safe, and it does more smashing than cutting which casues more fumes.
Don’t put your head over the onions as you work. Take a half step back and extend your arms more so you’re further away from the fumes.
If your kitchen is not well ventilated, put your cutting board on the stove and turn on the hood.
This is true. (re: droplets; study also rejects the popular chilling method). People in my experience don’t understand how much safer a sharp knife is until you put one in their hands and get them to just try it.
Otherwise, though, the “fume hood” approach seems extremely excessive when a cheap, comfortable, unobstructive pair of goggles is likely to work more consistently and with less thought. I merrily chop with my cutting board wherever I want and standing however I want.
A sharp knife is something you should be using regardless, but these other methods like meticulous posture, fume hoods, pre-soaking, etc. all seem more convoluted and varying degrees of less effective than grabbing some goggles from a drawer and putting them on your face.
Don’t cut the root off either. Use it to hold the onion together and in my experience also seems to lessen the effect on my eyes.
You waste so much onion that way though
I cut it in half and slice off a much as I need then put the rest in a snapware in the fridge. Eventually it all gets used. I’ve had onions last for weeks doing this. No crying either.
That makes sense, and is what I do. I would call this “cut off the root last” instead of “don’t cut off the root.”
For me the biggest factor is the age of the onion, which can be quite aged before it reaches you the consumer, especially with recovered produce.
I guess it depends on how much you leave behind. No different for me.
I don’t consider onion tears a problem. It’s an experience I would not want removed from my life, as it is one of those things letting me feel the nuance of being alive.
A Metal Gear villain in the making.
I feel plenty alive wearing swimming goggles in my kitchen.
Tried it before. It still didn’t stop me from crying like watching the end of Gattaca. Must’ve been a bad seal somewhere.
Sharpening your knife will help, too. Crushing the onion with your chef’s spoon releases way more of the cry gas.
My dad always sliced onions wearing diving goggles. Always said he might look stupid but it works.
Oh, with a denim apron and lab goggles, I look like a bootleg Jesse Pinkman. But that kind of makes things a bit more fun in its own way.
“Science, dickbag!”
The difference when I’m wearing my contact lenses to when I’m wearing glasses is crazy. With my contacts in, onions barely bother me at all. Glasses on the other hand and I have to step back and take a breather.
Tried this with a pair of swim goggles once. Worked with the onions, but got clowned so hard by my roommates I cried anyway 😭
Then all of a sudden your goggles are filled with tears.
You can also chew strong minty gum, which will also stop you from crying :3
Funny enough, I learned this from Pokémon Journeys of all things.
Source: The episode where Goh catches Sobble, Ash and Goh remember Mimey wearing goggles while cutting onions, which is how they manage to stop Team Rocket from capturing it.
You can also just add water. Cut them wet.
Presoaking and making the cut slightly more dangerous when a pair of goggles in a drawer seems like a silly solution unless you’re waiting for your soon-to-be-only pair of goggles in the mail. Especially because all you’re likely to be doing is kind of watering down the droplets, making it less bad.
I think by adding H2O you eliminate most of the vapour…I think. It works.
It absolutely works if you just wash them beforehand (not soak), or when you’ve cut them in half/quarters.
That’s what I was saying
Swim goggles are better at making a seal, and are more covenant to throw in a drawer or something.
Yeah, I mention those at the top, but doesn’t work for people who need/want to wear glasses. Plus, at least to me, putting on swim goggles dry pulls on my hair and is uncomfortable. Lab goggles are the more generalized – and arguably comfortable – solution, and realistically, there’s no issue with the lab goggles’ seal (the mistake I made one time was because I was being an idiot and wouldn’t have been prevented by swim goggles).
I also use lab goggles to cut onions (former stem majors, unite!) Swim goggles are way less comfortable and useable.
I cook with a lot of produce diverted from waste streams – perfectly fine to eat but not the prettiest. Sometimes some old onions get in the mix too, and those are the ones that get really sulfury.
DO NOT CHOP ONIONS WHILE COOKING WITH REMAINING EYE
Cut an onion everyday to keep the onion tears at bay
