Cutting into an onion will break open its' cells releasing noxious sulfur fumes. When this gas hits your eyes *KABOOM*, the tears start flowing. This is due to the mild sulfuric acid that is produced when the gas dissolves in the watery tears. You react to this eye stinging by blinking and producing even more tears which will eventually flush out the irritating acid. Please resist the urge to rub your eyes, especially if you have onion juices all over them.

Avoiding the tears:

Water

Wash an onion after the first cut.
Cut under cold running water.

Hot n' Cold

Heat the onions before chopping.
Peel and then chill the onions in the refrigerator (1 hour) or freezer (15 minutes) before chopping.

Air

Cut an onion on a breezy porch or with a fan blowing away from your face.
Turn your head away while chopping (watch those fingers!!).
Breath with your mouth open exhaling through your nose.

Romantic

Light a candle near the chopping block.

Technique

Cut along the vein not across it.
Cut with a very sharp knife.
Cut near the bottom of the onion last.

Look weird

Wear large glasses or goggles.
Hold a lemon, piece of bread or a sugar cube in your mouth, the food will absorb the gas before it reaches your eyes.

Movies to chop by: Shrek

Shrek: Ogres are like onions.
Donkey: What, 'cause they stink?
Shrek: No...
Donkey: 'Cause they make people cry?
Shrek: No...!
Donkey: You mean if you leave them out they get brown and start growing little white hairs?
Shrek: Ogres are like onions. Donkey: They both smell?
Shrek: NO! They have LAYERS. There's more to us underneath. So, ogres are like onions.
Donkey: Yeah, but nobody LIKES onions!

Let us know your feedback on onions.