# How to peel an onion quickly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538 "2010-02-03T16:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/1 "2010-02-03T16:25:04Z")
Any advice on removing the dried brown outer layers of an onion at a reliably quick pace? On some onions the brown outer layers maintain good cohesion, but weakly adhere to the underlayers; you can quickly peel them away in big pieces. On other onions, the layer is fragile and seemingly superglued to the healthy underlayers, and you have to chip them away, piece by tiny piece, wasting precious minutes of my life. The brute force solution is to grab the first healthy underlayer and remove it, taking the brown outer layers with it. This is fast, but wasteful. The factories out there that process onions for food service must have figured out a way to peel onions without all that waste. So what’s the secret, and is it something I can do in my home kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/2 "2010-02-03T16:29:03Z")
Vegetable brush ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/3 "2010-02-03T16:35:56Z")
I don’t mind wasting a layer of onion – that first layer is often kind of tough and rubbery anyway – but that thin brown layer (like “onionskin” paper) is annoying. On one of the cooking shows I saw them cut the onion in half first – the brown layer and the first layer came off easily. So that’s how I do it now. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/4 "2010-02-03T17:07:11Z")
Cut the ends off, cut it in half, then take the knife and run it down the sides of each as deep as you think you need to peel. It’s easy enough to separate it in one whole piece now. I watch a lot of Food Network. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/5 "2010-02-03T17:23:27Z")
[This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDjNl5gs4nM) is how I peel and cut mine. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/6 "2010-02-03T17:37:18Z")
Well, [duh](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmC7UQj7_M). ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/7 "2010-02-03T17:39:05Z")
+1 of pretty much sister v and terraplane’s method. knock off the edges and shave off the edges. wasting a layer here and there is not a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Registered\_at\_Last](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@Registered\_at\_Last](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Registered_at_Last)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-peel-an-onion-quickly/527538/8 "2010-02-03T20:00:12Z")
And if you are doing many tiny onions, try blanching them first. Put in boiling water for a minute or less, pop into ice water, then peel. Outer icky layers are soft and peel off easily. Works for peaches, tomatoes, etc. too.