The Clever Trick For Chopping Onions Without Crying According To Alton Brown

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Back in January 2021, Brown shared a snap on Twitter in which he was bent over a pile of chopped white onions with a fan on the tabletop beside him, and nary a tear in his eyes, declaring that the ideal way to chop onions was with a fan. In a follow-up tweet, he clarified that the fan's purpose was to blow the fumes of the onion away from you while you're chopping the onions, rather than allowing them to float up toward your eyes and ignite the waterworks.

Brown explained a bit of the science behind the tearful reaction people have to onions, which also helps justify his go-to tip. As he revealed on a 2007 episode of "Good Eats" (via YouTube), when you chop into that onion, the cells within the vegetable rupture and a chemical process leads to sulfur gas rising and interacting with your eyes, sparking those dreaded tears. If you don't happen to have a small fan to place on your countertop while you're chopping away, not to worry. According to CNET, cutting the onions near a kitchen vent or ceiling fan will help as well. 

As Southern Living explains, the reason that professional chefs aren't doing their daily prep through tears in restaurants around the world is because professional kitchens typically have fantastic ventilation, which helps dissipate all those nasty fumes coming off the onion.