I'll Take Durability Over Comfort: The Home Essentials Can Opener Works!

The Good: Durable, Easy to use, Inexpensive, Easy to clean
The Bad: Not the most comfortable grip
The Basics: The Home Essentials Can Opener is durable and efficient, even if it is not the most comfortable kitchen gadget to use!


Once upon a time, my wife and I had a Faberware 83036-93 Can Opener (reviewed here!). The plastic handle on it, predictably, eventually broke making the device absolutely worthless. To replace it, we bought a Home Essentials Can Opener. The Home Essentials Can Opener has all metal parts, with a decent rubber grip on the handle, so it cannot have the same issue as with the Faberware can opener. Given how durable the Faberware can opener turned out to be, I would probably not have rated it so highly if I were to review it over the course of its entire life.

The Home Essentials Can Opener is 7 1/4” long by 2 1/2” wide and 1 7/8” thick. The black rubber grip covers the stainless steel on the grips; the rest of the device is naked stainless steel. The rounded grips are very comfortable and they make it very easy to squeeze and use the can opener without straining one’s gripping hand. The handle, which one turns while squeezing the grips, is metal, rectangular and not at all designed for comfort. As a result, this can opener is ideal for my wife and I - who now have very little in the way of canned foods in our diets - as opposed to a restaurant where cooks would be opening many, many cans in a day.

To use the Home Essentials Can Opener, simply open the top of the can opener by spreading the grips apart, and place the cutting wheel onto the top of the can one wishes to open. Squeeze the grips and the cutting wheel will penetrate the top of the can. While one hand squeezes the grips, the other should twist the handle. That will cut open the metal top. The Home Essentials Can Opener does not leave a jagged edge on the can one opens. The top is a little sharp, but that is to be expected of exceptionally thin metal.

The Home Essentials Can Opener also has an additional can/bottle opener – the hook style that one might use to remove the tops of beer bottles or puncture giant juice cans (like Juicy Juice). After months of use, the Home Essentials Can Opener has stood up as durable and it has remained as tight as when we bought it, despite use at least every other day. Because it is made with steel, this can opener is easy to clean off with a damp cloth.

Easy to clean, inexpensive and durable, the Home Essentials Can Opener might not be comfortable to use over long periods of time, but it gets the job done!

For other kitchen gadgets, please visit my reviews of:
ThinkGeek Star Wars Battle Of Hoth Pint Glass Set
Pyrex Bake N' Store 8 Piece Set
RSVP 60 & 50 mm Espresso Tamper

7.5/10

For other kitchen appliances, please visit my Appliance Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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