Do onions make your eyes water?

[firelily99]

The yellow onions do but scallions and red onions don't. That's a good thing because I generally only use the reds or the scallions.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

Everytime I cut onions it makes my eyes watery and this always seems to be a misery for me whenever I am cooking. But a friend told me that after peeling the onion you wash it in running water before you cut it and surprisingly the first time I tried it my eyes does not get watery at all. That is why up to now I am doing this and somehow it makes me feels comfortable with the way I cut onions in my kitchen.

 

[Jessi]

It still happens to me. I think I've learned to avoid it more now, though, so that might be part of the reason it doesn't seem to happen as often. I'm more careful with avoiding the juices spraying near my eyes and I cut them different now than I used so, so I don't cut into the middle bulb until the very end, which also minimizes it.

 

[Willie84]

Sometimes they do, but not usually. Since onions are one of my favorites, it does not stop me from cutting them up!! :0)

 

[latya0511]

Onions absolutely kill my eyes.I can walk into a room where onions are and its like im instantly blind.

 

[firelily99]

I find that the older the onion the more likely I will get a bit teary eyed or start coughing. I generally only cook with red onions or scallions and find them to be less aromatic and tear inducing.

 

[Ellyn]

Pablo Neruda wrote a poem in his "Ode to Ordinary Things" about how the onion is this crystalline miracle vegetable or something because the tears shed over it are the only ones that are without pain. It's beautiful.

It's also a lie.

I am blinded, painfully, from the first chop. Are white onions supposed to be mild? The fumes are terrible! I have tried goggles. I have tried immersing them in water as soon as possible. It starts early and, even if I take a break and go somewhere else, I will continue to cry for about thirty minutes.

This is a huge problem, because I like to eat onions once they're cooked, or even raw diced and mixed with other stuff or on a taco or in a coleslaw salad. I like the taste and texture. But there's something about preparing them that's between "aroma" and "attack"!

 

[Indigo02]

I made it many years without ever having to cut an onion, as I rarely eat them. Then a few months ago, I decided to add onion to my soup. I had my brother on speakerphone while I was chopping and he still won't let me live down the "omg...omg, omg, my eyes burn. My eyes burn, I can't seeee!" reaction, lol

 

[forextraspecialstuff]

My eyes rarely water when I chop onions but it does happen on occasion. I have tried the burn a candle while you chop idea and that seemed to work, or maybe it was just one of those days where my eyes would not have teared regardless. I read that vidaia and red onions don't make eyes water but this was just a statement so I don't know if there is any fact behind it aside from the experience of the author.

 

[Treeca86]

Onions used to make my eyes water terribly. I used all the tips I could find to no avail. Until, one day, I was watching Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals, and she said to put the onion in the freezer for a couple of minutes. Which worked best for me. Her other option was to tough it out and cry, and if your partner saw you, they'd offer to wash dishes after the meal. Haha. Just love her, she is my idol!

 

[kamarsun1]

I don't know if its me but onions don't make my eyes water anymore, maybe its the strength of the onions and there not as strong as they used to be but I can't tell you the last time l peeled a really strong onion, what do you think?

Yellow onions burn the most. The red onions don't make my eyes water much. I use green onions a lot and green onions don't burn at all, they look like chives, so it all depends on the type of onion.