I’ve found myself looking for a really good can opener. I purchased my last one, a KitchenAid, from Target and I’ve been disappointed in it the whole time. Sometimes it doesn’t puncture the lid right, and it feels like it got rusty kinda fast–not at all what I want out of a utensil I hoped would last for a decade or more (who wants to keep buying can openers? lol).
I’m looking for a manual handheld can opener. I’ve always had the type that opens from the top, but a little bit of Googling shows that there are types that open from the side. I’m in the USA if that matters!
What does Lemmy think?
Wait wait wait. Stop everything. I’ve found my post.
I too was like you. Every flimsy-ass can opener I had ever used couldn’t puncture cans consistently, would get off track, leave uncut sections, and just generally suck completely. I got so fed up replacing them that I went off the deep end researching these things.
My wife got impatient with me. She told me to come back to bed; that can openers weren’t this important. That didn’t stop me. I was going to put an end to the suck. I read review sites, I visited stores, I called people. After literal days of research, I made my decision.
A can opener doesn’t need to be complicated or decked out with fancy features. Fundamentally, the qualities you want are reliability, comfort, build quality, and leverage (i.e. a powerful mechanical advantage).
I didn’t buy the OXO. Not a side-cutter (don’t get me started). I bought the EZ-Duz-It can opener—an unassuming name for the most brilliant can opener ever built.
It’s inexpensive and durable. It securely latches onto cans and glides through them with ease. The knob spins smoothly with little effort. This thing is a dream. Never before have I experienced such a drastic shift in how I felt about a product.
There simply is no other answer.
About 10 years ago I needed a new can opener. I also bought the EZ-Duz-It from Walmart, it was like $9 at the time, double the cost of the other one available. Totally worth it, and I still have it. The only way I see this thing breaking is if I start using it to loosen rusted bolts on the car while changing out the brakes.
Best of Lemmy material here…
Get any kind of “safety can opener”. They are awesome. They cut the lid from the outside so contents never spills nor do you have to wash the can opener later on.
The only type of can opener that never failed me is this. No need for anything fancy. It costs 5 or 6 €.
I got one of these from pampered chef almost 20 years ago, and it is still used daily and in great shape.
But shilling for MLMs is unethical and buying their stuff supports their terrible business practices and we should never support the MLM model as it uses and abuses poor and vulnerable people forcing them to keep pumping money into it I stead of making a living.
Oxo good grips is extremely highly recommended everywhere - it hits that perfect balance of well designed, durable, and not too outrageously expensive.