Cutting onions horizontally - does it serve any purpose?

[boomchakabowwow]

I was taught to do horizontal first and then vertical.

me too. but i was copying some pro chef.

radial cuts are equally as challenging for me. like for pickled beets.

[Geo87]

Does it really matter if you do the horizontal cuts first or second? I've tried both and haven't noticed much difference.

[tk59]

I've always wondered what people mean by "consistent" when it comes to cutting onions. There really is no way to do it so that you get consistent dice. I probably saw one of Salty's videos and decided that was the coolest way to do it and I still like it. It makes me feel more alive, especially when I think about doing it blindfolded.

[Gravy Power]

Why use a knife at all when all you have to do is say Chop and Onion

http://youtu.be/TlINpU-qTIQ

"Chef"? seems legit.

[JohnnyChance]

I don't bother with the horizontal cuts. I find it to be a waste of time and energy. You always get flyers that don't stay in place and you end up chasing them around if you need everything perfect.

I took these pictures a long time ago (camera info says 2011) during a discussion with TK59 about how I cut onions.

I cut my onions in half and peel them. You can leave a bit of root or cut it off. Stack them side by side.



Slice the half on the LEFT first, from right to left. The half on the right holds the pieces in place. You can obviously do this thinner if needed.



Flip the onions around, so now the sliced one is holding the new slices from the whole one in place.



All sliced.



Radial cut each half.



Done (one half).



You generally don't get any pieces that differ that greatly from the others (looking back at these pictures, I did a pretty poor job overall) and its pretty fast when you get used to it. No strands of onion sticking out or flaring out or generally just being annoying. Everything is tight and neat and right where you want it.

[panda]

hmm, i've always done the radial first then turn 90deg and chop vertically. i will def try this method out tomorrow.

[Geo87]

Hmmm... I may have to brunoise all of the onions we have at work tomorrow to experiment, I just don't know how I'll explain a giant bucket of brunoise onions.

Johnny your technique looks and sounds pretty consistent thanks for sharing I will definitely try it. lately I've been trying saltys method as the rapid horizontal slices are pretty fun

[tk59]

Hmm. I don't remember seeing those pics before. I guess the memory is getting worse... I'll have to try that (again?).

[MowgFace]

Thanks for the picture-tutorial, JohnnyChance!

[stevenStefano]

I use radial cuts. If I'm really that bothered about all bits being the same size I'll roughly chop the whole lot again at the end