Editorial
Front Page - Friday, April 23, 2010
What'll they dream up next?
One Touch Can Opener
Misty S. Brown
I am one of those people who likes to work until the job is completed. When I put my mind to something, I can get a lot accomplished.
As a teenager, I shared a room with one of my sisters. We would decide that we wanted to rearrange the room and try something new. Midway through the rearranging, she would get tired and go to sleep on one of the bunk beds. Not me. I would always stay up and finish what I set out to do. She would wake up the next day with the room completely rearranged, bunk bed included.
I look back at my college days and am amazed at how I ever made it through my last semester. I had 21 hours of senior-level classes, including my capstone research project, an hour-and-a-half commute one way, a job as the school’s newspaper editor, which took much more than the 10 or 12 hours I was paid to work and a part-time evening and weekend retail job pushing expensive clothes on an older clientele. And did I mention I had a boyfriend thrown in the mix too? Then there was keeping up with housework, social time with my friends and making sure to be at all holiday gatherings with my family.
Sure, there were times when I would study my notes during that long commute, skip an occasional class, sleep on a sorority sister’s extra bed or call in sick to work every once in a blue moon, but I got through it because I am a hard-headed, determined woman and, by default, I am an expert at multi-tasking.
Multi-tasking is an asset in our fast-paced society. We could probably not survive without that ability. That is why we need items in our lives to make it easier to accomplish all those tasks we are able to get done in a day. One gadget I have found that helps me multi-task when I am in the kitchen is the “One Touch” Can Opener.
What it is/How it works
The “One Touch” Can Opener is an alternative to manual or electric can openers. After installing two AA alkaline or rechargeable batteries, you affix the can to a two-to six-inch diameter round can with a lip and hold the start button for a second or two to get it going.
Once it begins cutting, it will work on its own, allowing you to stir the noodles, flip the meat or check the rolls. It will stop automatically after cutting the can open.
Pros and cons
Because the can is battery-operated, it does not add to your electricity bill, and when those summer storms start brewing and knocking out the electricity, the One Touch Can Opener can still open those pesky cans. It is also easier for people who have weak hands or wrists to operate because it does not require cranking a manual opener by hand.
If you have trouble with an electric stand-up can opener, as I always do, this one latches a lot easier and its one-touch operation is simple enough to allow a young adolescent to help in the kitchen. But be careful – even though it cuts underneath the lip to leave a blunt side on the lid, the can itself has sharp edges and can be a hazard to young, unsteady hands.
If I were working at a restaurant or other establishment that requires industrial-sized cans, the one-touch operation would turn into two or four touches so the opener can get completely around a can larger than six inches in diameter.
When the batteries fail, the opener can be difficult to remove. If it is getting low on batteries, there is a reverse button to help get it unjammed from the can. But if the batteries run completely dead, it can be a chore to remove the battery door and replace the batteries, all the time with a can still attached. Since I am a klutz, this is a recipe for a huge mess.
The device is small enough to fit in a drawer and save counter space for one of the other 30 small appliances every kitchen collects.
One big drawback for me is the difficulty I now face with draining cans of tuna. Since the lid is cut under the lip, it does not slip easily into the can so you can press and hold back the contents while draining out the liquids. It can cause you to lose some of the contents in the process and make a bit of a mess. Fortunately, I have seen a can-straining device at the grocery store that I might pick up on my next milk and bread run.
Where to buy
I bought my One Touch Can Opener sans batteries at Walmart for $18.97 plus taxes. They are also available at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target for $19.99.
Submissions
Have a gadget to put to the test? Send the information to me at misty@daily data.com.
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