Do onion goggles work?

[rworange]

Put them on and no more tears when chopping onions ... or so they say. Are they worth it?

One of many places that sell them ... about $20
http://www.cooksite.com/IBS/SimpleCat...

[juster]

I haven't tried those, but I do use swimming goggles when cutting onions, and they work great. They do leave red lines around my eyes for a few minutes, so aren't great if you have company over, but they do keep the tears away. Cheaper, too, though these sound like they wouldn't leave the lines, and are quicker to put on.

[Pat Hammond]

My daughter was making a "vat" of onion soup and had pounds of onions to slice. I gave her the goggle tip, and she dug out her little boy's swimming goggles. "I shed nary a tear", she said! Great tip!

[FlyFish]

The tearing reaction when cutting onions is due to the sulfur compounds in the onion juice being suspended in air, where they react with water vapor and oxygen to form sulfuric acid. So, to the extent the $20 designer onion goggles, or the swim goggles, isolate your cornea from the sulfuric acid, they'll stop the tearing.

Other home remedies may or may not work - the oft-mentioned lighted candle trick likely burns up some of the acid as it's formed, so in theory may help (in practice, I doubt it). The placement of various foreign objects between one's teeth (wine corks seem to be a particular favorite) is of questionable value, except when used as an excuse - if indeed one were needed - to open another bottle of wine. Although I've never tried it, I'll bet that chopping onions close to a side-draft ventilation system would work great.

Better than all of that, because it involves no special equipment and is easier as well, is learning to mince onions correctly. Peel the onion and cut off the tip end, leaving the root end intact. Cut it into two halves through the root. Take each half, place the cut side down, and make a series of cuts parallel to your board, then a series of parallel cuts down to the board - all of these are made parallel to a line from root to tip (this is easier to do than describe). Then, finally, make a third series of cuts at right angles to the first two, working toward the root, and the onion falls into dice. Repeat with the other half. The distance between cuts determines the size of the dice.

The reason this method, which is described in many cook books, works is that it doesn't spray a lot of onion oils and juice into the air. If you use a properly made and maintained (i.e. sharp) knife, and no other kind is worth owning or using, there's not as much liquid exposed to the air in the first place, so there's less sulfuric acid to make your eyes tear. I've been using this method (as has virtually every competent cook I know) for years and can't remember the last time I had a tearing problem.

[rworange]

Cool. Appreciate the science behind the reason for tears.

[Hapa Dude]

I'm not trying to be a smart-a$$ with this comment, but you may be able to avoid tears if you a)learn how to chop an onion quickly and expediently, and b) don't cut right by the root, which is more intense.

but if you are really sensitive to onions, I'd try those goggles, swim goggles, or check out the eyewear available at the hardware store.

[Scrapironchef]

Or use a really sharp knife very fast.

[scubadoo97]

True but my knives are razor sharp and If I'm cutting a couple of pounds of onions there's going to be some fumes. The goggles are just too much to deal with.

Now with horseradish, that's another story all together. I have to grind 5lbs of fresh horseradish root once a year. Before we had a prosumer hood I doned a scubamask and snorkle to finish this task.

[JoanN]

Reminds me of the time, some four decades past, that I walked into the kitchen and saw my mom in a mask and snorkel. I nearly wet my pants. It turned out, of course, that the snorkel was optional. But it worked!

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

What no flippers?

[CindyJ]

I'm guessing that the goggles might work. This is a somewhat "educated guess" based on the fact that when I'm wearing my contact lenses, I can chop onions all day without shedding a tear.

[seefood]

It's easy to avoid the tears. I learned this trick from a prep cook in a restaurant where I cooked, and it works great. Just put an electric fan next to your cutting board and blow the fumes away, off to one side, and they'll never reach your eyes. I have a small, clip-on fan that I bought at Walgreen's for this purpose. Try it; it works!

[nja]

Ski goggles work as well. One of my staple meals in college was stir-fry and rice. I'd bring several onions, bell peppers, carrots, etc. back from the store and chop it all up at once and keep it all in a tub in the fridge so I could throw dinner together quickly throughout the week. My roommate thought I was crazy. I'm sure that swim goggles would be even more effective since they are airtight, whereas my ski goggles had vents. But they slowed the fumes down enough that I could get through 3-4 large onions without tears.

I do agree with the other posts here though regarding technique. I can cut several onions nowadays without any trouble. The quality of your knife also matters a lot. Those crappy serrated "never needs sharpening" knives are going to tear up lots of cells and create a lot of fumes. High quality sharp knives cause less damage to the onion and hence produce less acid.

-Nick

[DanaB]

I picked up a tip on Chowhound several years ago, which has never failed me and since that day I have not shed a tear while chopping onions. Simply refrigerate the onions before chopping and no more tears.

[Mel Gee]

That's exactly right. I learned the trick by accident a long time ago, and it always works for me.

[monkeyrotica]

ALWAYS keep the cut side down, dice quickly, no tears.

[marlie202]

cut an onion in half-place cut side down and chop--you won't cry-placing the cut side down is the key--

[FoodFuser]

A Fan.

I have one of those 6" diameter fans with a clip-on base, mounted on a shelf, that can blow gently onto my main work zone. Bought it for the summer heat, but it also does the job for onion-eye.

Re-capping other posters: Chill them first (not long term storage, but rotate into fridge for short term). Avoid root end; save for stock. Sharp knife for not "bruising" onion cells and producing aerosol sulfuric acid precursors.

[olympiacathy]

YES, they DO work! I bought some and tried them for the first time today. Although I looked like a goof wearing them, they definitely saved me from the usual misery of chopping onions!

[rworange]

Thanks for reporting about them.

[david t.]

Any googles work well. Ski, swimming, chemistry lab, anything you can think of that covers the eyes fully. And many of which are cheaper than $20, put those onion googles do look cool.

[Mel Gee]

DanaB's no-cost tip is worth reiterating: Refrigerate your onions! I cut up quite a few over Thanksgiving and shed nary a tear.

[wthrnghyts]

Yes, they work perfectly, I just wish I had invented them myself. You smell the onion and just about the time your eyes should start burning, they don't. It's a miracle.

[bear]

I just took a knife skills class the other night, and the chef was talking about uni-task kitchen gear. When we were working with onions, he emphatically suggested that we not buy goggles labeled "onion goggles", since they tend to be overpriced and no more effective than regular swim goggles. He suggested that, if you are very sensitive to onion fumes or need to chop a lot of onions, you try some inexpensive swim goggles first. He also said that sticking the onion in the fridge for a while or the freezer for a few minutes can help make the oils less volatile (but dont' store them in there!)

I can't speak from personal experience, but thought I'd pass it along.

[peppatty]

I wear contacts and they prevent the tears. If I chop with glasses, it's like a painful waterfall. One reason I won't do lasik.

[bojonich]

Yes, they work wonderfully for chopping onions. Beyond that, they're great cycling glasses. I'm a bike commuter and when the weather gets cold my eyes water terribly. Onion goggles solved that issue. Well worth the 20 bucks.

[Cary]

As others have said, yes the goggles would work, but the most important thing of all, regardless of technique, is a SHARP KNIFE.

Even using proper technique with a dull knife, will just crush some of the onion layers and leave one tearing.

After one learns to keep the knife sharp (not just using a steel), then the proper technique applies.

[adrienne156]

According to Ted Allen's show on FN last night, no. Chill the onions first instead.

[ferret]

My wife and the several posters who wear swim goggles would beg to differ. She uses a cheap pair of dollar store goggles and swears by 'em.

[adrienne156]

Take it up with Ted Allen?

Edited to sound less snarky: I chill them before cutting and it works quite well if you don't want to make the extra effort.

[acwdaisy]

Okay. Maybe I'm just sensitive, but I have tried chopping onions with a spoon in my mouth, as I was told this worked. I have also tried refrigerating my onions. But I got these onion goggles, thinking that I would try just one more thing and, as Emeril says, BAM! They worked! I am SO happy with these that I intend to give them as wedding gifts to every bride I know. I love them.

[monday]

I'm with you. I have expert knife skills, but am very sensitive to the fumes from cutting onions. No amount of trickery (fans, chilling, cutting quickly, etc.) ever spared me from pain. My ski goggles are tinted, so not ideal. I use the onion goggles and am now completely pain free. I love them.

[RGC1982]

I really have to ask -- Just how many onions are you cutting that would make you consider goggles?

I wear glasses and perhaps that is why I don't have this problem too often, but even for a an onion or two, I can't imagine needing special gear.