The battle of the safety can openers

August 25, 2006

This is an entry about Kitchen with no comments

2006 has been quite a year of change. Most notably, I replaced my beloved safety can opener (no sharp edges!). This model had survived three or four moves and was an excellent gift to give. I started to grow suspect of it when I could see an accumulation of grime near the hard-to-reach cutting mechanism. At the same moment in time, Alton Brown preached the necessity of a cleanable can opener, and recommended the Chef’n EZ Squeeze® opener.

I had enjoyed Chef’n’s CLASSIC PepperBalls® and, to a much lesser degree, their Flexicado™ (more of a conversation piece than practical or handy), so I was prepared to love their can opener. With much disapointment, I quickly realized that it worked smoothly about 25% of the time. It would fasten to the lid but then it acted like it thought it was too good to open the can. Or it was lazy and wanted to pretend it was opening the can by gliding across the surface and not actually digging in.

Can opener: bad.

Oh, sure: sometimes it opened a can. But a lot of the time it made a cut one in every three spaces on the lid, and I’d have to lift the lid up with a knife or a spoon and pour the contents out. That was no way to live.

I had three options: replace the current can opener with the same model I had been using for three years, get the mighty Good Grips® Smooth Edge Can Opener or go with a brand I had never heard of, but was seduced by its smooth Swiss Design: the Kuhn Rikon Safety LidLifter Can Opener.

Can opener: good.

The Kuhn Rikon is a top-mounted opener, meaning the can hangs below the cutting surface, not alongside it, which I’m used to. But I opened three cans of beans yesterday to make delicious, if slightly dry, Tamale Pie. Seems like a keeper! It was also some 12$ cheaper than the Oxo. Will I live my life wondering how the other model operates? Can I not dream about “what could have been”?