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No More Tears: These Onion Goggles Work

January 7, 2010

Chopping onions makes me tear up like I’m at a funeral. Cutting up a medium-sized onion leaves rivers of mascara running down my face, and I often have to leave the room in the middle just to regain my composure. I’ve even continued cutting the last third or so of an onion by touch alone, because my eyes were closed against the vapors.

I have written about my struggle chopping onions a couple of times, and I’ve tried so many tricks to keep me from crying: freezing them before chopping, cutting them with a burning candle nearby, using very sharp knives, holding bread in my mouth while I worked, and rinsing the cut part in cold water. I even wore A.’s swim goggles once. None of those tricks worked for me.

Usefulthings.com recently contacted me to see if I’d like to review something from their site — it’s full of random gadgets that you didn’t know you needed but that can make your life easier (or at least more fun). As soon as I saw the Onion Goggles, I knew I had to try them. Usefulthings.com was kind enough to send me the goggles for free, and I offered to give my honest opinion about them in return.

The glasses have a foam seal that is contoured to fit around your eyes, and mine fit fairly snugly but not so tightly that I thought they’d seal out any of the oniony badness. They fit a man’s head, too — J. thought they’d feel tight on him, but once they were on he said they were comfortable. I put them on before cutting to the onion, took a deep breath, and made my first slice. No tears. I got through chopping half the onion, and still nothing. Nothing! I finished chopping the whole onion and slid the pieces into a saute pan with a little olive oil (they were going in some couscous — yum). Once the onions were cooking, I washed my hands and then took off the goggles. I was pretty thrilled that my make up was intact, I didn’t need a tissue, and I hadn’t had to walk away from the prep once I started cutting. Once they were off, I did feel a tingle from the onions caramelizing on the stove, but not enough for me to be bothered by. I am totally sold on them, even if I look silly wearing them!

If anyone local wants to try out my pair before buying them, let me know. But you’ll have to return them quickly, because I hope to never chop onions without them again.

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Filed under: Things I Love

Tags: cooking, Onion Goggles, whole