What's the Best Can Opener?

What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I'm looking for a can opener for my kitchen. My old GE electric cracked and jammed, and I'm finding the old manual turn the handle type can opener works extremely poorly with certain types of cans. I suspect that in recent years, cans are no longer made to a standard regulation. I never had trouble opening cans before, but now the can opener won't cut all the way thru, it will lose its "grip" on the can and not rotate it, etc.

I bought a manual can opener that cuts through the sides of cans. It works well on some cans, but not others. It was a cheapie 99 cent store buy, which means its quality could be a lot better even though the idea is sound.

Honestly, the only can opener I have that is 100% effective on all the cans I've tried it on is the can opener on my Swiss Army Knife! But, it takes a lot of manual rocking of the cutting blade to open a can. Not fast, and if you are older and have arthritis, forget about it.

Does anyone have a kick butt can opener in their kitchen? I don't care if it's electric or manual, as long as it opens all sorts of cans reliabley and with a minimum amount of effort.

Bruise

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I've always had good luck with the Swing-A-Way manual can openers. They are probably some of the best made openers out there.

read here: http://www.core77.com/inconspicuous/swingaway.html

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I will second that. The Swing-A-Way has worked for me on any sort of can I have ever tried it on and it is about as quick and easy as an electric for me, so I don't see the point of using an electric unless you have arthritis.

I also use a "Safety Can" side cutting opener because it is neat, but it is definitely choosey about which cans it will open and it is harder to use.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

Third vote for the Swing-A-Way. Works very reliably, unlike all the other manual (and some electrical) openers I've tried . The devil's in the details, I guess. And this thing is not expensive.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

how much do you want to spend?
I have three different models made by Zyliss, and I like them. http://www.zyliss.com/ Once upon a time all the Zyliss products were all made in Switzerland. Now it seems all the items I find by them (especially the new ones) are marked China or Taiwan, which I find disappointing. I have quite a few Zyliss items, and I always make sure that they are marked Switzerland before I buy them.
This is my favorite one.


This is my second favorite one.


The thrid one I have I can not find a pic of.

I have also looked at and considered the Kuhn Rikon. However, they are a little misleading, too. The label says Kuhn Rikon, Switzerland, but the fine print on the package says "made in china", again, that is disappointing to me, so I have never bought one. With all that being said, it looks like a good opener.
Kuhn Rikon Deluze Safety Lid Lifter


Lastly, this is my favorite. I have not bought it yet, becuase I keep saving it as a gift opportunity to tell someone if they ask me what I want for Christmas. (So far no one likes me that well! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif)
The Rosle. All stainless steel. Made in Germany. Good stuff. This is the real deal.

http://www.roesle.de/english/


There is only one shop that I have found so far that sells the Rosle line, and it is about 4 hours from me. Anyway, I also use that as an excuse to go back to that town for weekend getaways.

I have a Rosle bottle opener and a Rosle Pizza cutter. They really are fine quality tools. Worth the extra money to get them.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

We had a General Electric on the counter for years...it finally croaked. We got a Hamilton Beach, inexpensive and cuts the sides of the tops - know what I mean - no sharp edges. We like it a lot!

Still have a couple of the old fashioned hand openers - they work, good to have in an emergency kit!

I'm thinking about getting a handheld that opens up by cutting the sides of the lid like our Hamilton Beach. Probably go with the Zyliss...I really like the lack of sharp edges with these newer openers!

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

swing a way ..... last USA made can opener. I've got one that is 32+ years old

I know that it takes exactly 9 complete turns to open a can of spaghettios!

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I have a Swingaway and a Bonny and they both work. You should get one with gears so the cutter wheel on top is driven.

The cheap ones don't have gears and the top cutter wheel is just an idler. These don't work as well.

The Bonny has Delrin gears and bearings and a brass hinge pin so it won't rust when you wash it.

I prefer the Swingaway because the "handle" that you turn is more comfortable. I haven't washed it in years, I just wipe the blade after I use it. I'm afraid to inspect it too closely.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

If you want a manual opener that can open cans (dented or whatnot) faster than an electric go to a resturant supply place and buy a commercial one.

Last one I used was about 18" tall and it mounted to a side of a counter. You dropped it, it pierced the can, and there was a manual crank on top that was about a foot long. A few spins on that and anything came open... fast.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

restaurant model viewable @

http://www.chefdepot.net/canopener.htm

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

Swingaway. My 8 year old version works perfectly everytime and replaced my Swingaway that was over 30 years old.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I've messed with a bunch of can openers with varying degrees of 'reinvention' engineered into them but nothing I've tried works as reliably/smoothly as the Swingaway (I didn't even know that was what it was called until I read this thread). I won't mess with any others anymore.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

Another vote for the swingaway.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

I actually have two Swing-A-Ways and agree they are extremely durable generally excellent can openers. However, this very evening I was trying to open a can of spaghetti sauce with it. When I pressed the Swing-A-Way's handles together in a scissor like motion, the cutting wheel punctured the top of the can exactly as it was supposed to. But, the gear wheel failed to engage the lip of the can, making it impossible to rotate the can with the Swing-A-Way's key-handle.

I tried my side cutting can opener on it, too. Exactly the same thing happened. It punctured the can, but failed to have enough traction to rotate the can.

I ended up using my Swiss Army knife on it.

I'm surprised no one else seems to be experiencing this problem with their Swing-A-Ways.

Thanks for all the suggestions, though. Found a place that sells the Zyliss nearby - plan to check that out. The restaurant model seems a bit big for an average kitchen, but I'd probably go for it if I knew it would open all my cans flawlessly.

Bruise

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

Back around 1980 my brother bought my mother a GE
electric can opener. After a couple of decades of
good service, the upper cutting disk finally wore down/
chipped to the point where it was no longer large
enough to cut into the lid. He bought her several
replacements, but they were all junk compared to the
old GE. Finally I went to a lot of garage sales and
bought two old GE's. In both cases the only thing
wrong with them was that lower drive gear was packed
with gunk, keeping the teeth from gripping the bottom
of the lid. Easy to clean with a pick and a paper towel/
rubbing alcohol.

One of the garage sale finds in service, the other
was cleaned and sealed in a plastic bag, in case the
other one dies.

Most electric can openers are junk, but the old GE's
like these are worth fixing. These were put together
with screws, so you can open them up if need be.

Repair hints:

The lower drive gear will eventually clog up, just
clean it.

The upper cutting assembly is easily removed for cleaning,
but I usually disassemble the cutting disk assembly for
cleaning and a dab of silicon grease on the mating areas.

The motor is controlled by a micro switch. On the original
opener this switch shifted out of position when part of
plastic case cracked. I just glued a piece of wood inside
the case to shift it back in place.

--------------------------------------
I use a Swing-A-Way manual can opener. Very Good.
http://www.lehmans.com item H640471

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

[ QUOTE ]
smpowell said:
Back around 1980 my brother bought my mother a GE
electric can opener. After a couple of decades of
good service, the upper cutting disk finally wore down/
chipped to the point where it was no longer large
enough to cut into the lid.

[/ QUOTE ]

Something jammed the gear in mine. The electric motor still worked, though, and was powerful enough to crack the plastic case trying to turn the gear. I was going to take it apart and try and fix it, but my girlfriend started bitching at me to throw the old GE out and just get a replacement. Now I wish I had kept it.

Bruise

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

The pro models are great and BIG.
Here's one that might be worth a look.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/product.asp?sku=KEY%2D230&mscssid=63K90BSLA10L9KCBS6CKT3SBUTFAAEGB

I've been pleased with their customer service. When I asked for a replacement part for one of their cheap lights they sent me a complete new one at no charge.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

P51. Larger model of P38, and no electricity required.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

[ QUOTE ]
capnal said:
Lastly, this is my favorite. I have not bought it yet, becuase I keep saving it as a gift opportunity to tell someone if they ask me what I want for Christmas. (So far no one likes me that well! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif)
The Rosle. All stainless steel. Made in Germany. Good stuff. This is the real deal.

http://www.roesle.de/english/
There is only one shop that I have found so far that sells the Rosle line, and it is about 4 hours from me. Anyway, I also use that as an excuse to go back to that town for weekend getaways.

I have a Rosle bottle opener and a Rosle Pizza cutter. They really are fine quality tools. Worth the extra money to get them.

[/ QUOTE ]

UPDATE:
I just got my Rosle sent to me. I bought one off Ebay for a really good price. Brand new, too. Anyway, it is really cool. I have only messed with one can so far, but I liked the way it worked. I am sure I will get many good years of use out of it.

Re: What\'s the Best Can Opener?

Swingaway. I've had electrics and they've all conked out at one point or worse lost grip in teh middle of opening a can splattering tomatoes all over me and the counter.

In this particular case I am convinced that there is not a better mousetrap.

Now corkscrews are another story /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif