Onion smell on hands/CURE WAS:Re: [Sca-cooks] Injuries...

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Pixel, Goddess and Queen:
>Hmmm. Any chemists on the list care to explain this one? Is the acid in
>the lemon juice bonding with the sulfur in the onion before it can turn to
>nasty acid in our eyes?

I'm not sure how, or even, if, that works, although I won't argue the
point with those who've done it. I STR that there are at least two
chemicals involved which, when jointly exposed to air, produce the
volatile stuff that irritates the eyes and nose. I always assumed
that lemon oil, itself fairly volatile, masks the odor.

>Any other good ways to prevent onion tears? I read a suggestion somewhere
>to refrigerate them, which works a little, or to chop them under running
>water, which is patently ridiculous.

Firstly, no measure yet known to man will completely, 100%, eliminate
the problem. We should establish that as fact and move on. However,
refrigeration does help (but also can change the character of the
onion -- fridged onions seem a little sweeter and a little more
watery, as if some heavy dextrin or other carb has been converted to
simpler sugars -- and from a culinary standpoint this may or may not
be desirable). The other, and probably best, preventative is simply
to use an abso-floggin'-lutely sharp knife. Sharp knives expose less
surface area, because they cut rather than tear or crush, and
therefore break open fewer of the little storage cells whose contents
are the source of the problem.

Adamantius
--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER