Sadness, depression, catastrophe? NO! Illness, despair? No! Onions? YES!
I had about 12 pounds of onions to dehydrate, and may not make it. I have cut, sliced, and roughly diced, and put six pounds in the dehydrator. But, the last six pounds may just kill me. This is two 3-lb bags, a different type onion. The first six pounds were a different variety
My nose is running. Tears are flowing. My ears hurt less. I think I heard about onion reducing ear congestion, something about putting a piece of onion in the ear or onion oil. I can see where this might work.
When I dehydrated Vidalia onions, it was a pleasant experience. This is painful. Never mind all the remedies to stop the crying that involve water. I must sit at the little table with a chair.
However, I may just take these six pounds outdoors tomorrow to sit and dice. It's after 3 am and I am done dicing indoors.
There is no outdoor porch to run the dehydrator, so my whole house may smell strongly of onion. Oh well! My sinuses are draining, so maybe inhaling onion odor for another twelve hours will prove healthful.
I may just start on my celery instead of suffering more. There are two heads--a free one and one I paid $0.69. It won't hurt to have them both in the dehydrator with onion since I will most likely use both in the same dish. Plus, the celery juice will erase the onion smell from my hands.
This batch of onions better last until I can get Vidalias next spring. This spring/summer I did not feel well enough to get enough dehydrated to last very long.
Tonight, I did manage to almost slice off a very long thumbnail. Since it is painted pink, there was never a chance I could lose it amongst white onions and dehydrate it.
Your turn
I know you are dying to tell me all the ways you avoid crying while cutting onions. Go ahead. I am all ears and teary eyes and stinky fingers. However, I won't be using any method unless it involves eating chocolate. I won't be slicing under running water or holding a match in my mouth!
Have you ever cut so many onions and suffered?
I have never found a way to cut onions and not cry. Well, I don;t cry when I make Den do it so I guess I did find a way. LOL
ReplyDeleteSonya Ann,
DeleteGood job! You absolutely did find a way. Exbf would do that if he were here. I still have not gone out to chop up the last six pounds. I may save them for him next week. I never thought about getting someone else to chop them.
Water sometimes helps. Getting older helps - onions don't bother me as much as they once did.
ReplyDeleteTravel,
DeleteCould it be these are different onions? I will be 70 my next birthday. How old do I have to be?
This AM, after I read your blog I decided to chop 3 yellow onions and bake them so they are ready to use. Same onions from Walmart that I bought last week. The difference, these had my eyes tearing so badly I'm lucky I didn't have chopped fingers in the mix.
ReplyDeleteAnd, no, I have no tricks to stop the tearing except finishing quickly and being sure to use a cloth to wipe my eyes not my the back of my hand that might have onion juice on it.
Bellen,
DeleteI am glad you still have fingers. I did not wipe my eyes, or I don't think I did. The outside corners of my eyes hurt for a long time. Now, they feel sort of stiff, like a burn. Thanks for that advice. Where were you when I wiped my eyes when cutting cayenne peppers?
Oh dear. My only trick is to bribe someone else who wears contacts to do them! Oh, that and refrigerating them sometimes helps, and cutting them standing under the vent going full blast might help. It didn't help with my last three, though, I had to run out of the kitchen with streaming eyes.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!
Revanche,
DeleteI was sitting directly under the ceiling fan with it going full blast. I was hoping that might help. Maybe the vent fan would have worked better. My nose was running, too.
Now, I am going to take a nap.
I read somewhere that setting up a small fan to blow sideways across the onions as they are chopped will blow away whatever it is that makes us tear up. I don't know. Never tried it. I just chop and cry. I, too, will be 70 soon, so maybe we have to be older still. :)
ReplyDeleteVicki,
DeleteToo late, like a while ago, I thought of that. My eyes still feel "stiff." I think I need some eye drops. Other than the Vidalia, I have never chopped so many onions. When we get old, we will know it because onions don't bother us...lol.
others recommend chopping and running dehydrator outside or in garage,
ReplyDeletelast time i did it i just chopped by feel with eyes closed but tears were pouring.
blessedly gall bladders hate onions so i no longer buy or eat them!!
takes away the lovely flavor but saves tears two ways!
It 3we okay once they were in the dehydrator. I would have probably sliced more than a fingernail if I closed my eyes! So far, I have not noticed that anything with onions causes me pain. Thanks for telling me. I'll watch for that.
DeleteI'm sticking to Vidalias!
I do dehydrate onions outside to keep the stink down, but cutting them is a whole different ball game. I am fine with some varieties and can't control the waterworks with others. No idea why!
ReplyDeleteRemember, the variety I bought last week and chopped first caused me no problems. The ones t bought this week and tried chopping later last night were the ones that hurt me. It's probably the same as with me--just different varieties.
DeleteOk, here is how to avoid tears while prepping onions.....put a matchstick between your front teeth, like you are gritting your teeth with your mouth open. Or just pretend you have a matchstick and put your mouth/teeth into this configuration.
ReplyDeleteThe reason eyes water when cutting onions is that onions contain an enzyme that attaches to water molecules so that enzyme goes for your watery orifices, your eyes. By giving the saliva in your mouth access to that enzyme it will attach to that instead of to the eyeballs.
This works for me every time.
slugmama,
DeleteAren't you smart?! Thanks. So, I can just sit with my mouth open. I will try that when my eyes recover. So, now we know.
Maybe swim goggles are the answer or safety goggles. I have both.
DeleteI just saw your "swim goggles" reply - that was my suggestion. Cover them eyes completely! Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteCherdo,
DeleteAfter I saw slugmama's explanation, covering the eyes seemed logical. Thanks for helping me think, Ethel.
I have DH do the dicing and the slicing. Sorry. Otherwise, I use a food processor.
ReplyDeleteCindi,
DeleteI don't have DH, but can wait until exbf gets here!
Cindi,
DeleteI do have a food processor that does not seem to do what I want it to do.
I tried twice to leave a swim goggle suggestion but it wouldn't accept my comment. I am finally home and I see you already said swim goggles so I am too late. I tried it once and it worked for me. I googled it just for fun and they actually sell onion cutting goggles now. Probably a lot more expensive than regular swim goggles.
ReplyDeleteDaizy,
DeleteYou are not too late to help. Ha! I'll have to look up those goggles. Maybe even close fitting safety glasses with Vaseline along the edges would help. I often wonder if I am the only person that cannot post a comment on blogger. Thanks a bunch.
Not tried dehydrating onions, next year I need to double the amount I grow to last the year. That said my shallots will last over a year but are so fiddly to prepare it puts me off using them in quantity.
ReplyDelete