Knowledge Base > Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Dan Marek in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to cours… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

Is there a way to help with eyes watering when cutting onions?

— Theresa Schroepfer

Answer:

Yes, there is actually. So what's happening with the onions when you're cutting them is it's actually releasing gases off of that onion. Um, and because you're sitting right above the onion as you're chopping all those gases are coming up and going right into your face and you're reacting with the, the gases that are coming off of those. So there's a couple different ways to do this to, to, you know, remedy that situation. One is to have a fan in your kitchen where you can actually blow, uh, the, you know, the gases away from you so it's not coming right up into your face. Um, I have seen all kinds of other, you know, fun things where people wear goggles and stuff like that. Um, it's a little bit silly, but uh, you know, a fan or a vent hood might actually be the best option if you're near one of those. Um, there are some other things where people have said if you put the onion in the freezer for like 10 minutes before you're actually ready to chop it up, it'll help trap some of those gases. But they will release eventually. So if they're sitting on your cutting board or in your mis and plaus bowls and it's thawing out, they'll start to release as well. So my best advice for you is to set up a fan in your kitchen or use the vent hood to be able to help get rid of the crying during onions or just tell people you're watching a sad movie.
Dan Marek

Dan Marek

Director of Plant-Based Culinary & Dev

rouxbe.com