Tips For Slicing Onions Without Making Your Eyes Sore

Illustration of cold onions (Pexels/Los Motoris Crew)

JAKARTA - Sore eyes and even crying are a risk that is difficult to avoid when cutting onions. This happens because when onions are cut off, an irritant gas called syn-Propanethial-S-oxode is released when an onion cell is damaged, which triggers a natural tear reaction.

However, actually there are some tips that can be done to prevent the eyes from feeling sore or crying when slicing onions. Quoted from The Sun, here are some of these tips.

1. Cool the onions

If onions are cold, then the process of releasing compounds that cause sore eyes can be slowed down. Low temperatures make enzymes in onions inactive, so that irritant gases cannot directly slide into the air and hit the eyes.

It is recommended that onions that have been peeled should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator before it starts to be cut. This method is simple but effective, especially if you want to slice large amounts of onions at one time.

2. Use a sharp knife

One of the causes of sore eyes when cutting onions is aggressively damage to onion cells. The more cells are damaged, the more efficient gas is released.

Therefore, use a sharp knife when slicing onions. Rapid and clean pieces with sharp knives will minimize tearing in onion cells, so that the amount of economic gas that comes out can be reduced.

3. Cut it in the right direction

To prevent sore eyes, avoid starting slices from the roots of onions. This is because the onion roots contain the highest concentration of sulfur compounds, which can trigger pain in the eyes.

It is better to start cutting from the other end, then cut to the root slowly. Cutting gently, not too fast, and not suppressing the onions is also needed.

This helps reduce the irritation that is fourth to the air. In research, the speed and sharpness of the knife greatly affects the amount of irritation that is released when slicing onions.