If you’ve been looking for a manual can opener that works — quickly and easily, without hurting your hands — take a peek at the rather pompously named Kuhn Rikon Auto Safety Master Opener. Carol just got one and she has been raving about it.
Carol’s super-hard to please when it comes to can openers, and rightly so because
(a) she’s got arthritis in her hands (young as she is; it’s a genetic thing, sadly); and
(b) she has a couple of pre-teen kids with tiny hands who like to help out in the kitchen.
If you can get past the name — and maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t Kuhn Rikon Auto Safety Master Opener sounds like a gadget that Wile E. Coyote would order from Acme in the old Saturday morning cartoons? — you’ve gotta like the idea of being able to open can lids without touching the edge, especially since those sharp metal edges on food cans (or pull-tab cans, too, sometimes) can be a real hazard for children.
Safe, ergonomic and just plain cool.
The Swiss are famous for packing multiple tools into a single package. The Kuhn Rikon Auto Safety Master Opener has all the features of the Kuhn Rikon Auto Safety LidLifter can openers. It is now possible to open a can and never, ever touch the lid. … The tool cuts from the side leaving a rim smooth, not sharp or jagged. … Safe, ergonomic and just plain cool. Plus, it makes quick work of opening bottles and cans with pull and pop tabs, threaded caps and flip tops.
I have to admit to being tempted, though I’m not totally unhappy with the OXO Good Grips Can Opener I’ve been using since about the dawn of time. The nice fat handle is pretty easy on the fingers, but my old clunker doesn’t always cut a nice smooth (safe!) edge when I try to open a really tough can.
Why not an electric can opener?
You may well ask.
Here’s our thinking: It’s one more energy-sucking device to put pennies on our home power bill, one more appliance to clutter up the kitchen counter (or have to pull out and put away again every time you want to use it), and what are you going to do in an emergency situation, if the electricity goes out and you want to open up a nice nutritious can of luncheon meat to keep body and soul together?
Nah, I’ll take a manual can opener, thanks.
Bonus Tip for Bargain Hunters
This particular Kuhn Rikon super-fabuloso can opener comes in your choice of three colours: green, blue, and red. About 20 bucks the each. But I’ve discovered if you check the listings on Amazon you can find the red one for a much lower price. It’s exactly the same can opener with all the same features, mind you – it’s just in a different colour — but it’s a lower price!
This “bargain hunter’s secret” can apply not just for can openers, by the way, but often for all kinds of products you may need. Credit goes to DJ for pointing this out to me, a short time back, when he was shopping for a electronic toy. For the particular make and model he wanted, the trendy colours all cost more than the basic black. Since he wanted a black one anyway, that just all the better!
So, remember, if you are flexible about the colour choice, you can quite often get an extra good deal on all kinds of stuff. Look around, you’ll see!