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FOOD
HUFFINGTON
03.17.13
USE AN ELECTRIC CHOPPER
METHOD: Peel the onion, then pop it into a food processor or a specialty electric chopper like this
Black & Decker one, which is $14 on Amazon.com.
WENDY GEORGE (ELECTRIC CHOPPER); GETTY IMAGES (WHOLE ONIONS); GETTY IMAGES/DORLING KINDERSLEY (CHOPPED ONION)
RESULTS: This chopper (which was basically a micro-food processor) was so small that I actually
had to quarter, not just halve, the onion to fit it in, bringing me basically halfway to dicing. And
the blades had trouble reckoning even with an object as big as a quarter onion. By the time they’d
gotten through the entire thing, they’d shredded the first few slices they’d touched into a pulpy
mush. That said, no tears after peeling and quartering the onion.
IN CONCLUSION ...
A slim majority of these 16 methods helped fight onion tears,
but some of those had other major problems. A sharp blade
made a big difference, so hone your knives regularly if possible.
If you have good knife skills, cutting the root last makes a big
difference. If you don’t mind your diced onions being cold, go
ahead and freeze them in advance. Lighting a candle was a
surprisingly effective method for cutting tears during all the
cutting board techniques. Finally, if you’re averse to wielding a
knife, the Progressive Onion Chopper I tested worked great.
BONUS
TIP
I chopped
nearly 20
pounds
of onions
for this
e