Prepped 200 lbs of onions without crying once, here's the trick

Worked a Friday night service last week where I had to dice a case of onions for the French onion soup. I used to tear up so bad my eyes burned for an hour after. Tried the freezer trick, the candle trick, even goggles. Nothing worked until a line cook showed me to cut the root end last and leave it intact. That's where the sulfur compounds live. Kept the root attached while slicing, only trimmed it at the very end. Zero tears, full speed, and my station smelled way less like regret. Has anyone else found a weird prep hack that saves your eyes or your sanity during a brutal shift?

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joel_singh846d ago

Cutting the root off first never mattered for me, man. The real trick is keeping the onions whole and slicing fast, before the fumes get a chance to build up. I've diced cases with the root hacked off and still walked away dry-eyed because I didn't stop to smell the cutting board. All that root-end stuff is just fancy kitchen talk, the speed and the knife do the work.