There are a lot of kitchen gadgets on the market, with some being essential for getting everyday kitchen jobs and cooking done, and others useful for occasional tasks. One of the essential pieces of equipment that every kitchen should own is a tin or can opener.
There’s a huge variety of tin openers available, from the quirky ones with unusual designs, to contemporary can openers. Having recently struggled with a tin opener that was tough to use and took ages to open a tin, leaving a multitude of jagged edges behind, we decided to investigate the other options available, as surely there must be some effective, user friendly and stylish tin can openers out there somewhere?
We put four tin can openers to the test, opening a standard sized can:
1. Oxo Good Grips Snap-Lock Can Opener (product id: 30081)
2. Stellar Stainless Steel Can Opener (product id: SY70)
3. Judge Black Satin Can Opener (product id: TD62)
4. Oxo Good Grips Soft Handled Can Opener (product id: 28081)
1. Oxo Good Grips Snap-Lock Can Opener (product id: 30081)
This tin opener has soft padded handles, that made it comfortable to hold. It was easy to get the tin opener into position and easy to push the handles to get it started. This product did live up to its name of being a good grip and it worked like a dream – it seemed effortless to turn the padded knob and get the lid of the tin off. The lid came off very well, with no sharp edges left behind.
As far as style and design goes, the product is nicely shaped and contoured and we especially loved the snap-lock function. Not only does this help release the can at the end, when you’ve finished opening it, but it also means the product can be ‘shut’ together when you’re not using it, which helps it become more slimline and easy to store in a kitchen drawer.
Where to buy it: The Oxo Good Grips Snap-Lock Can Opener can be bought on Amazon, for £9.98.
Also available at retailers nationwide; for stockist information, call 0114 290 1455
2. Stellar Stainless Steel Can Opener (product id: SY70)
The Stellar Stainless Steel Can Opener is a sleek and stylish product that would look right at home in any contemporary kitchen.
I was a bit apprehensive about whether an all over stainless steel tin opener would be as comfortable to use as one with padded handles, but I needn’t have worried. It has a large elongated handle, with moulded fingergrips on the back of the handles, which makes it verycomfortable and pleasant to hold.
It was quick and easy to get the can opener latched onto the tin, and for the first puncture to be made. Once on, the knob turned with ease and the tin lid was off before I knew it.
Compared to the other can openers we tested, it was one of the longer products, but it’s not too wide, so for storage purposes it’s relatively slimline, as tin openers go. Due to the design, it could very easily be hung up too, if you have a utensil hanging rack in your kitchen. The hanging ‘hook’ looks like it could also function as a handy bottle opener, but we didn’t try this out.
Where to buy it: The Stellar Stainless Steel Can Opener is available from Cooking Time for £8.99.
More stockists available nationwide; search by postcode here.
3. Judge Black Satin Can Opener (product id: TD62)
The Judge Black Satin Can Opener has smooth black handles that are comfortable to hold and instantly gives an idea of what the ‘satin’ in the name refers to. The handles are flat, rather than chunky, which makes them easier to grip, and they have loops in the ends, which you could use for hanging the tin opener on a utensil rack if you wish.
This one also has what looks like two bottle openers built into the stainless steel design.
When it came to the crucial issue of tin opening ability, the Judge Black Satin Can Opener did the job very well. The product was easy to use, it latched onto the tin easily and the knob was easy to turn. It seemed to whizz around quickly, and before we knew, the lid was off.
Where to buy it: The Judge Black Satin Can Opener is available from Bradbeers for £5.10.
More stockists available nationwide; search by postcode here.
4. Oxo Good Grips Soft Handled Can Opener (product id: 28081)
Having been so impressed with the Oxo Good Grips Snap-Lock Can Opener, I had high hopes for this product. It’s a different design and the soft grip is only on the knob and arms of the product, with the rest left as stainless steel.The design is a bit chunkier and it’s not got quite such as streamlined a look as the other Oxo Good Grips tin opener that we tested.
Unfortunately, the tin opening experience wasn’t as good with this product. It was harder to squeeze and puncture the tin and it seemed a lot stiffer to turn the knob and get this tin can opener moving. Compared to the other can openers we tested, it was a lot more sluggish in its movement and when the lid finally did come off, the cut wasn’t as smooth as the other products.
Whether this was due to how we used it, or perhaps a dodgy tin, we’re not sure, but it sadly didn’t match up to the effectiveness of the other tin openers on trial.
Where to buy it: The Oxo Good Grips Soft Handled Can Opener is available from Amazon for £10.56.
Also available at retailers nationwide; for stockist information, call 0114 290 1455
* With many thanks to Horwood Homewares and The Lenny Agency for kindly supplying tin openers for us to test.
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I’m looking for a good tin opener for my mum, who has arthritis in her hands. Do you think any of these would be suitable?
it might not be essentially the most thrilling post ever, but it is an important one
I used a new handheld can opener and resorted back to our old one because the new one didn’t work that well I was wondering if I was the only one with that problem.
Hi Liz,
Sorry to have missed your comment. The Oxo Good Grips Snap Lock Can Opener would be well worth trying for your mum. It’s very easy to use, doesn’t require the need to grip too hard and I imagine it could work out very well for anyone with hand problems to use.
I used a new handheld can opener and resorted back to our old one because the new one didn’t work that well I was wondering if I was the only one with that problem