Saturday, September 15, 2012

Gadgets: Hamilton Beach Jar Opener

We've all been there. You reach in the refrigerator for a little snack. Maybe a jar of pickles or some salsa to go with the chips.

And the jar (grunt) ... Just. Won't. Open.

You grab the rubber jar gripper, whack the lid on the countertop, and soak it in water. You grunt and sweat and the simple snack has become a matter of honor.

Sure, you could have a different snack, but now you don't want that danged jar to win. Pretty soon you're in full-on Wily Coyote mode and you're thinking about ice picks and dynamite.

Sometimes the problem is the vacuum seal on the bottle, but sometimes it's that something dripped and now the lid is glued on.

Enter the Hamilton Beach OpenEase Jar Opener ($29.99). This opener runs on batteries and fits into a drawer. It sits on top of a jar and when you press the "open jar" button it grabs the lid with one mechanism, grabs the jar with another mechanism, and twists to open the jar. It slowly increases the grab strength until it can hang on hard enough to break the seal and open the jar.

Then when the jar is open, you press the "release lid" button and it lets go and continues to open fully for its next job. There's no "stop" button - just open and release, and the instructions suggest you let it open all the way before you attack the next jar.

So far, I've only run into two jars it had trouble with. One was a half-gallon canning jar. The problem was that the neck of the bottle was difficult for the opener to grab. Another jar lid (actually more of a bottle than a jar, if we want to be technical) was just barely too small for the opener to grab tightly. I also had a couple failures that I attribute to user error.

Since I got this opener, I've quit fighting with jars. If the jar doesn't twist easily on the first try, I grab the opener, set it on top of the jar, press the button and walk away while it slowly but surely twists the lid.

Have I ever had a jar I absolutely couldn't open before I got this device? No, not really. But this thing makes the job a lot less frustrating and it fits much better in a kitchen drawer than that husband-device that used to be my last resort.
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Comments (5)

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I had one recently that I absolutely could not open. I'd never had one defeat me before, but the pickled banana peppers did me in. I twisted at that lid until I heard something go pop. Unfortunately it was not the jar lid, and I could barely use my right wrist for the next week or ten days. After that experience I did get a jar opener, which is really more like an oil filter wrench, but it still requires that a person be the main force behind it. I think one of these nifty Hamilton Beach openers is in my future.
I got one of these for my mom a couple of years ago, and it's certainly made her life easier--it's especially useful for the elderly ... I absolutely love it! and eventually I'll treat myself to one too :)
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At my aged, this would be perfect!. Have "wacked" too many jar tops in my day.
What a nice and handy gadget! I must admit I still resort to rubber bands with hard to open jars and bottles. When that doesn't do the job, I take out the knives and anything else that I can use.

I could use one of this at home and this is also a great gift idea especially for the elderly.
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At $30 I just cannot see it in my kitchen. Ask me again in ten years and I may sing a very different tune.

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