PROP STYLING BY MARINA BEVILACQUA | Photograph by Ted Cavanaugh
LEARN A NEW TRICK
We found the best way to slice onions without welling up.
Chopping an onion can turn mundane meal prep into a sobfest in seconds flat. That’s because when you slice into the onion’s layers, its cells release a sulfur-containing vapor that floats up to your eyes and causes burning. This triggers tears—your eyes’ attempt at self-defense. How can you support those peepers? To find out, we sliced a boatload of onions, tested a bunch of supposed hacks, and cried our little eyes out.
The tricks that definitely did not work
Lighting a candle before chopping, microwaving the onion before slicing, and holding an unlit match between our teeth (weird, uncomfortable, and ineffective).
The simple trick that totally worked
Getting the onions to chill out. When we popped them into the fridge an hour before slicing (30 minutes for smaller bulbs), it slowed that cellular process, the irritating vapor took longer to waft out, and we could chop without a tingle. Even 10 minutes in the fridge helped. Just don’t keep the onions in there indefinitely, as they’ll soften and spoil faster.
—Lizzy Briskin
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JENNIFER CAUSEY; FOOD STYLING BY CHELSEA ZIMMER; PROP STYLING BY CLAIRE SPOLLEN; PRODUCT IMAGES COURTESY OF MANUFACTURERS