Good Eats Moment - Cutting an Onion

[rachm1991]

Wow, my mind has officially been blown. This video made food biology simple to understand! xD

[Cenababylover2354]

i love this , going to use it in my biology prezi

[Okie7123]

...Or wear contact lenses

[fangsteen]

@klined At a book signing Alton said he has

never worn contacts and that the Pepper

In The Eye Bit Was a Lie! FOR DRAMA!!

[norxcontacts]

I wear a motorcycle helmet to keep the fumes out of my eyes.

[WoundedEgo]

Great vid... and surprisingly insightful comments! How un-Youtube!

[eatyosandwich]

The Bill Nye of food.

[W0tanTheGod]

if i use my sharpest knife, i dont shed a single tear^^

[mgraceob]

"the sharper your knife the less you cry"

[mgraceob]

"the sharper your knife the less you cry"

[JohnWoo]

I'm a chef, but when I used to be a line cook and had to prep my food, I just use one of those mini electric fans that you can fit in your hands.

[TheLizzifer]

I have a girl boner for Alton.

[BlondeRedheadislove]

@TheLizzifer

Don't we all...

[VideoNewZ9]

freeze it first

[lovejoyandflowers11]

just play some very sad music.

[iplz]

he cut it wrong lol

[Wolkeyfentah]

I love Alton but I found that cutting under water, wish a slap chop, or having a mini battery-powered fan are the best ways. I don't have gas-powered stove.

[xIegionx]

using a cup of water or a bowl of water near your cutting station helps too. The gas is drawn to liquids and if it attacks that, the eyes dont water :D

[wr3stlegirl]

He's one of my favorite FN stars. He always makes his show really fun which I like.

[Mrfrenchiee]

looks like hes in a meth lab

[modelslist]

Putting an onion in the refrigerator for a while keeps this from happening all together. The temperature of the liquids that are in the onion will be below the what is need for the gases to form at normal room temperature. Therefore the warm room air keeps the cooler onion gases from rising, Makes sense because warm air rises and cool air doesn't Basic principals of thermal dynamics to the rescue.

[lasvegashigh]

Thumbs up for goggles.

[poshi12]

omg! I have goggles like that!!!YAY Good eats is steampunk!!!lol

[charmixy]

just chuck the onion in the freezer for 10 mins before cutting , thats effective too

[TeddyRuxpinMomma]

Hi everyone, I'm a professional sous chef in California. the optimal cutting method is to chop the onion in half then suck on it a bit to remove the acid, like you do for a snake bite 'cause it removes the gaseous causing enzymes. then you spit it out the bad stuff, shove it in your pants and rub your package on it a bit...and VUALA, if you follow these steps correctly you're a fucking dumb shit!!!

[evanparker]

yeah if you just stop being a puss, then there's no problem

[EddiesMum91]

Hi what great advice. I have, in times past, been known to have a pair of swimming goggles in the onion box. ;-). However, if you breath through your nose, it still HURTS. Sevenedges has it right. Breath through your mouth as well. Now, where are those goggles.

[sevenedges]

Or breath through your mouth while cutting up the onin it works VERY well!

[sevenedges]

@sevenedges

[mrsnavo]

kooooool. and also another tip which i use is that i cut them in half and put them in a really COLD water for a while. like 5 to 7 minutes.. it helps too :-)

[maryade]

@mrsnavo

That's almost exactly what I do, but instead I just run it under the cold tap or pop them in a bowl of water. I will try and slightly separate the layers a little. Either method does definitely help.

[BigKwell]

Hey, as long as my eyes are tearing, I know I've got a GOOD onion!

[twirlingchair]

wow! i'm going to buy a pair of goggles or a gas mask cuz i have to cut onions all the time and my eyes feel like they're bleeding

[Tisha701]

He's so smart! :D

[theIronArtist]

best way it to cut out the bulb on the root end

[MisterBaz1]

You can put a tinny bit of bleach into a large bit of water to remove these from your skin. Works for peppers as well.

[noneyajdub]

Just cut the damn thing and get it over with. lol

[foosbeast]

Cutting an onion is nothing if you wear contacts :)

[MisterBaz1]

Oddly enough, you are right. For some reason smoke from a grill and fumes from an onion don't really affect me when I'm wearing my contact lenses.

[Imaghost18]

You could also use a slap chop!

[naxps]

Alton Brown would have a field day telling you otherwise.

[apbrit2009]

cutting while soaking in a bowl of water works well

[geyser]

I tried your suggestion, but after I finished soaking, my clothes were all wet and my skin was all wrinkly...oh wait---never mind, I misunderstood you.

[derdc69]

Cut the Onion in half, run it under some cold water for about ten seconds....problem solved:)

[purplecherrycake]

you can also avoid crying by chewing gum while cutting an onion

[MisterBaz1]

Must be a specific type of gum, because this does not work for any type of gum I have tried.

[Atm0sfear]

Does anyone know where I could get a fine pair of goggles such as those? Those suckers just happen to be the bee's knees and I must have a pair!!!

[Merlyn1978]

I'm all for the goggles. LOL

[icyclaw123]

it's Bill Nye the Science Guy cooking version!

[bricks458]

He looks like the sniper locust in gears of war 2.

[Nargaz]

Wear contact lenses when cutting onions

[englishboy42]

that's why micheal smith on chef at home doesn't cry

[ShieldLessLink]

I heard fridge the onions helps too.

[jaystreete]

When I wear my contact lenses I do not get the burning reaction in my eyes.

[arequipa1]

am i crazy for actually kinda liking the sensation of crying from onions

it makes me sputter and squeeze my eyes shut, but it's a good sort of pain, lol

also: i want that knife he has!

[mortson978]

just a general chef's knife, it comes in almost any set. Unfortunately, most are made of cheap stainless stuff, and are rarely sharp to my satisfaction.

[segasonic623]

alton brown is one epic win chef!

[NarutoHatake]

Another way Alton Brown! Chill your onion!

[mortson978]

thats ok, but you stink up the fridge that way, and sometimes the flavor of the onion gets into your dairies, with is a BAD thing.

[dwood8196]

not good eats

[mortson978]

quite so. Any fat substance is vulnerable to scent corruption. moral of the story, don't store stinky stuff with fats.

[oakleyrider03]

if any one else wants an idea.. try chewing gum or sucking on a pepermint mint.. thats what i do at my restaurant and it works great.. no tears

[nemo1620]

Cutting the onion generates sulphenic acid, which converts to syn-propanethial-S-oxide, which upon reacting with water (on the eyes) forms sulfuric acid -- which is what Alton Brown said.

[redman919]

best show on food network

[happyfacefries]

Good to know. I hate onions. Tastes so good but such a pain in the buttox!!!

[1ashley707]

it's funny how he has the goggles on. I know he's just being silly but that wouldn't be helpful anyway. Onion makes you tear from beathing it through your nostrils. haha.

[applesandshoes]

fucking idiot didn't even pay attention

[1ashley707]

Funny how I mentioned that I knew he was "just being silly"

Looks like the real idiot wasn't paying attention. Take it from a sensory therapist! ;)

Now go kill yourself.

[freshpinesent]

Don't be a fucking asshole.

[Djmoyd1055]

holy shit dude...kinda harsh

[insalias]

I'm not so sure I can believe that you are a sensory therapist if you are arguing that. But, ofcourse, I could be wrong, you could very well be in that occupation, not every sensory therapist must know the innerworkings of an onion.

[1ashley707]

Actually, if you paid attention to my intial post, YES EVERY sensory therapist must know all elements and balances of food for our type of work.I'm not here to defend to you that I in fact do this for a living, not to mention, write numerous articles on the subject. This segment was played at a recent conference in the means of how misguided it is.

My work is for numerous beings with digestive tracks that cannot break down certain chemicals in food so sensory therary goes very well hand-in-hand

[insalias]

That is great and all, But it is just a chain of chemical reactions and the end result is propanethial when mixed with water creates a diluted form of sulfuric acid. It isn't just this segment that states that, basically any science book states it as well. allinase+synthase+sulfurs= sulfenic acids= ethyl sulfine and theosulfinates the theosulfinates are the smell of the onion, but does not create the tears. the ethyl sulfine+water in the eyes= sulfuric acid= end result, tears. so defensive, jeez

[insalias]

It isn't from inhaling any sulfuric acid thats the problem, like he said, when cut, the sulphenic acids rearrange instananeously into the gas syn-propanethial-s-oxide which mixes with the water of your eye which creates the sulfuric acid which we all know irritates the nerve endings within your eye causing the infamous crying we all know of, if you ever wore a decent set of goggles while slicing an onion with a dull blade then you would understand that it isn't from inhaling the propanethial.

[CookTheGeek]

Jeanyus! Pure jeanyus!

[phineasmaster]

This is also my favorite TV show!!!!!

[CalgarSkull]

HAHA awesome!!

[PBButterDough]

At the University restaurant where I work, we throw the onions into buckets of ice cold water (with lots of ice too) before chopping. Once I had to do 25 GALLONS of chopped onions and didn't tear up once.

[gameshowguy2000]

That's one of the suggestions I heard..and like he suggested in the clip, another one is to wear goggles. But cutting near an open flame is another story as is spraying vinegar on your cutting board.

[OreginoPhoenix]

On food detectives,They tsaid that worked the best :O

[baxill23]

I like the feeling.

[Psychochaos3]

Good eats, only cooking show that can be entertaining when I'm NOT hungry.

[insalias]

Though not necessarily cooking shows, but how about No Reservations, Bizarre Foods, and "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives"?

[brisayshi]

Ha, alton brown's my boyfriend. XD

[manongschannel]

ah, onions :)

[xcamilaxsolx]

breath through your mouth instead of your nose

[MoleSnyper]

if u breathe through ur mouth instead of ur nose it wouldn't that affect wat happens to ur eyes..

[xcamilaxsolx]

oh i heard it on cooking at the academy

my bad

[gking407]

If I could reinvent TV with only decent programs this would be showing a couple times every day! One of the best shows ever made

[mcdonar187]

chewing gum also prevents you from tearing while cutting onions.

[AgentCross420]

All you need to do is bite down on a wooden spoon. It stops the tears in seconds. I saw it on Food Network and it works.

[gameshowguy2000]

Well..wearing goggles sounds like a good idea, who wouldn't do that before cutting an onion?

[beaglesbanzi]

GO! ALTON BROWN GO!

[nothankyoudude]

He is a really good teacher. I love his show so much. I actually learn something from it.

[dreamthinker79]

I worship this man

[mathexpert9981]

thanks it realy help

[countcut]

i love that show i am watching it now

[mtdewps3]

Alton is the best Chef on the Food Network

[Ferroman1]

lol

[wanketta]

Alton's a genius. Do u know he gets no money at all from the tv show? Only from the sale of his books, DVDs, knives and appearances. So, show your support, and buy Alton.

[tenghz]

I thought cooking was boring until I found Good Eats and Alton Brown. Thanks Alton!

[MichaelBradus]

Good Eats is the best food network show of all time.

[JessicaBAMF]

I love this show

[Shorigun]

lol he has glasses

[acosta6348]

glasses or the goggles? Alton wears glasses all the time :)

[klined]

@acosta6348

yea he has an injury which prevents him from wearing contacts. when he was younger, he got chili juice in his eyes

[brodiebrodie99]

If you soak your onion in iced water for half an hour before hand it disables the enzymes when cutting. And as a bonus it makes the onion easier to peel. He should have known that.

[Chuckwrox]

Maybe half an hour was a long time to wait for an onion. Maybe they edited this. Maybe the vinegar bit emphasized the chemical reaction just because it smells nasty and chemical-like, while simultaneously playing into that stink joke.

I just open a nearby window.

[sampatel714]

i have found tht when i wear my contact lenses i do not cry at all .... yay!...prbly bcuz the gases cant get to my eyes...

[pianoboypiano]

Alton Brown is awesome!!!!! I'm watching him right now on TV.

[GangBoxer]

he is the best

[bassz9]

i dont have an open flame... how do i do it if i only have a electric thingie?

[pianoboypiano]

i guess if u have a grill u can cut it outside.

[FabyLemos]

or use a candle

[Chuckwrox]

or use a fan. Incineration's really not necessary if it's not going to get into your eyes.

[Makron5]

Thinking about the nasty compounds being incinerated is more fun though.

[Miuya]

I light a candle or two.

[Cofaidh]

I've never minded looking silly. I'll go for the goggles.

[rcishott]

AB ROCKS, HANDS DOWN!

[zeldajunkielol2]

yay open flame fire!

[mandi518]

interesting

[saberj2x]

and if it's gonna get cook, microwave it first... works for me with SMALL onions

[dkravendeath]

the best way to cut onions.........have someone else do it for you...if not sharp knives and flames work great too.