Welcome to the latest installment in "The Gods Are Bored!" Today, more helpful advice from someone who has been around the block so often that there's a groove in the sidewalk.
When I was a kid, I recall that my parents got a new kitchen appliance that they absolutely adored. It was an electric can opener.
The thing was a marvel. The can stuck to a magnet, and when you pushed down on a lever, it rotated and got cut open. There was a whirring sound that the cats learned quite quickly.
This was back in the 1960s, when even small appliances were built to last. If we got the can opener when I was five, we still had it and used it when I left for college.
I don't recall anyone ever cleaning it. My mother's kitchen was a multi-hazard zone.
My second year of college I moved into an apartment, and I got one of these lil babies, probably at Goodwill.
Reader, this gadget is a marvel. It clamps down on a can, and you turn the crank (seen in rear of unit in photo), and the can opens. There is no sound, and you can immerse it in water and wash it after every use.
I won't say these puppies don't wear out. I think I'm on my second one in 40 years.
Caveat: For some reason this will not open Hunts brand cans. The problem is the can, not the opener.
I love my hand-crank can opener! I've never been the slightest bit tempted to purchase an electric one. And until a helpful reader pointed out that one of these is good to have in an electrical outage -- well, I've used it so long that I didn't even think about that!
Short sermon, free advice: If you don't have a hand-crank can opener, pick one up at any store. You'll have more space on your countertop, and in the event of a blackout you'll be able to get those baked beans open in a jiffy.
You know what I love about this blog? One day we'll talk to a Great Goddess, and the next we'll evaluate minor kitchen tools. Anything and everything, that's me.
7 comments:
We must be sisters separated at birth! I too have never owned an electric can opener. My hand crank can opener looks just like the photo! I swear by it!
we have both manual and electric can openers. we just bought a new electric one, since both of us have arthritis and the manual one can be a bit difficult and painful to manage.
I think I had 2 electric can openers.. pissed me off when they broke. Went back to my old can opener that I've had for 10 plus years..no more electric ones for me.
We depend too much on electric appliances and technology. It takes something like a power outage to remind us that people survived for generations without what we consider necessities now.
the Ol'Buzzard
I've got one like that though mine hangs on the wall. It also has the magnet to grab the can top AND it easily comes off to the washed. Works like a charm!
I've never had an electric can opener. Growing up we had a fancy 'Swing Away' wall-mounted manual can opener. I've had a couple of the standard ones over the decades. Reliable!
Oh, the cat definitely knows the sound of the manual can opener! He gets mad if the can does not contain tuna, or more precisely, tuna water. Tomato paste is an affront!
I've been tempted, while in Pandemic Lockdown Boredom at 3am watching Infomercials mindlessly, to order an Electric one that claims it just unseals the edges and the top can pop off without sharp edges and pop back on again if you don't use all the contents. I haven't ordered it yet but I do have the 1-800 number in case I cave in and have to have it. *LOL* In the meantime, I have one of those hand-cranks I've used for probably 50 years... it would always remain my backup opener.
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