I thought this was suitably bizarre ............

[OldLeftieLawyer]

http://tinyurl.com/d858b

Maybe THIS is the everything opener you're looking for, AZ?

[NMDemDist2]

1. nah, I have a nice jar opener

it's the cans that get me, think I can make one of these?

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I was in Linnins 'n' Shit today and saw one of those

That puppy's HUGH!

Bigger'n a full size Cuisinart.

Lotta real estate to give up to a gadget ......

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. I thought

it was the oddest thing I've ever seen.

I am now planning how to install one of those, along with the small fridge, microwave, and catheter apparatus I'll need so that I'll never have to get up out of my yummy leather recliner.

[babylonsister]

8. Catheter apparatus? Heh-heh, that must

be one fine recliner!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. Details.............

God's in them.

I'm truly that lazy.

[wryter2000]

4. Damn

Unfortunately, I could use one of those. I used to have the dh hold the bottom of a jar while I fought with the top, but he's not around anymore. My arthritis is making jars a real challenge. Oddly, enough I don't have the same problem with cans. Maybe because my arthritis is mostly in my left hand and I use the can opener with my right.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. Ever try the rubber glove trick?

I know that when jars are stuck, and I can't get them open, I put on a rubber glove on the twisting hand, and it makes for a great grip. Maybe that would work for you?

[wryter2000]

6. Good idea

I'll give that a try.

[Warpy]

7. I'm arthritic and know the tricks

I discovered the door jamb trick when I was a kid, but that's hard on the woodwork so I won't describe it.

Bottles of fruit juice should be inverted and smacked firmly on the bottom a couple of times. Stuck lids are then easier to release.

A churchkey (old style beer can opener) can be used to pry a jar lid slightly out to release the vacuum. Then the jar is usually easy to open.

Sometimes a metal lid on a glass jar can be held under the hot water for a few seconds and become unstuck as the metal expands faster than glass does. This has even worked for a stuck barley malt jar lid.

A few taps with a rubber mallet on the side of a screw top jar lid in the direction the lid is supposed to turn can occasionally get it started.

Pliers will defeat any small lid out there.

[NMDemDist2]

10. the church key and hot water ones I use but also have an Edlund "TopOff"

I love this little gadget I inherited from my Grammy. it works on all but the largest jars every time

Edlund is a commercial kitchen company that does lots of stainless goodies, but they no longer make this little jewel. You can find them on ebay regularly though

[Tab]

11. I had these growing up

Can't find them now, except in five-and-dimes and places like eBay....

[NMDemDist2]

12. mine got lost behind the fridge for a few months

I was so frustrated with out it and SO glad when it showed back up again :bounce:

[hvn_nbr_2]

16. Church keys and hot water

There is a gadget that's like a church key but made specifically for releasing jar vacuums. It works somewhat better than a church key since it's made for the purpose. But it's plastic, not metal; guests who are unfamiliar with it are likely to think it's a bottle opener and destroy it trying to open a bottle. Sometimes a spoon handle, screwdriver, or (cheap strong) knife blade under the rim can accomplish the same purpose.

I've always been suspicious of the "hot water expands metal faster than glass" explanation. I don't think metal expands that fast either. I've always suspected that what's really happening is that it heats what air is in the "vacuum," thus making that air expand much faster and much more than the metal and making the vacuum suction less strong. (For the logical detail folks: since it's in an enclosed space, the air obviously doesn't actually expand; it tries to and thereby makes the vacuum suction less strong.) If that explanation is so, then it would probably work better to run the hot water on the flat top of the lid than over the rim, but I never experimented with it.

[Warpy]

17. No, it's simple physics

and yes, that metal expands much faster than glass, a poor conductor, will.

The jars in question I use this on generally have no vacuum within but do have the lid cemented to the glass by honey, barley malt, or soemthing else that turns into industrial adhesive when it's spread thin and slightly dried.

The hot water trick works really well.

[hvn_nbr_2]

15. Rubber gloves are great for that

I put on both of them. Sometimes it's the jar I can't get a good enough grip on, and sometimes it's the lid, so I just put them both on. Recently I discovered that they can be useful for gripping large nuts (nuts and bolts type nuts, not giant macadamias) to "hand tighten" when you don't have a big enough wrench. But that's a different DU group.

[Nicole]

9. A strap wrench

is my favorite thing for those tough to open jars.

[jeanarrett]

14. I smoke. One of the best jar openers I ever got (and still

have) was a promotional from Basic cigarrettes. It consists of a soft red plastic disk about the size of a large pickle jar lid and is called your "Basic" jar opener. Works every time.

[Warpy]

18. Next time you need to peel a garlic clove

but want to keep the clove whole (say, for a pot of black beans), put the clove on that mat, roll it up around the clove, then rub it back and forth a few times with the palm of your hand. Voila, a perfectly peeled whole clove of garlic with no smell on the mat.

I never found them useful as jar openers, but I do use them for peeling garlic.

[jeanarrett]

19. Great! I love using whole cloves in clam linguine

but hate peeling the cloves. I'll try it, thanks.