Everyone Cuts Onions In A Wrong Way- Proves Chef And He Is Right

Nov 06, 2018

In onion dishes, chopping can be the most annoying and frustrating part. Wouldn’t it be nice to slice and dice your fresh onions for your favorite recipe without demolishing your makeup, fogging up your contact lenses, or adding a little extra tear salt to the cutting board?

This professional chef says you can, and he explains how to do it in five easy to follow step-by-step directions.

If you’ve ever cut into a raw onion, then you know the tearing pains. You’ve probably even conducted a few torture experiments consisting of all the various ways you can supposedly chop an onion without opening the floodgates- goggles, lighting a candle, freezing the onion, hold your tongue to the roof of your mouth, chew gum, etc.

Some of these onion lifehacks work and others are total flops, but most everything you’ll find involves at least one extra step or supply that you wouldn’t normally do or that you necessarily have on hand. That’s where this professional chef’s way of tear-free onion cutting is truly novel.

There’s no steps or supplies that aren’t already in motion during a normal cutting of an onion.

Meet Chef Jack Scalfani. He’s a food enthusiast and star of the YouTube show “Cooking with Jack.” He’s known for his “lazy-man recipes,” but now he’s becoming an internet sensation for telling you that you’ve been cutting onions all wrong, or at least if you want to avoid the tears. So, how do you cut an onion? Scalfani explains:

• Step 1: Ensure your knives are up to par. Knives should be properly sharpened. Believe it or not, dull knives actually cause more serious cuts than sharp blades because they result in you applying way more pressure to get the knife through the item. Also, make sure the handles are clean to avoid your hand slipping towards the blade. Keep your eyes on the knife anytime it’s in motion. Select a good paring knife to chop your onion.

• Step 2: Locate the root end of the onion.
  Take your onion in hand and look for the end where the root was cut. The root end should be pointed up toward the ceiling.
   
• Step 3: Make your first cut.
  Using your dominant hand to cut, make an angled cut into the onion near the root. Work your way around the root as if you’re cutting the core from an apple.
   
• Step 4: Remove the bulb.
  Once you've encircled the root, the bulb should be easy to pull out. The bulb is the aromatic part of the onion. It’s these fumes that irritate your eyes and makes them water. If it doesn’t pull right out, you may need to repeat the circle to fully detach the bulb. Immediately discard the bulb away from your workstation.
   
• Step 5: You’re free to chop away.
  Minus the bulb, you shouldn’t get any irritating onion fumes. Peel the brown skin to detach. Flip the onion on its side and chop away.

In just five steps, you have your onion peeled without crying. Again, the best part is that you aren’t having to wait on extra tedious steps you wouldn’t normally do in cutting or use any devices or products you wouldn’t normally have to cut an onion. Check out the video right here:

How did you like this trick to get onions cut without the tears? Try it out and let us know the results, and don’t forget to save a friend’s eyes by passing the trick along.