Pros: Works well; great for damaged hands
Cons: A bit of rusting; sometimes jumps the track
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
First published 1/26/2005
The OXO can opener isn’t that different in basic design from any other manual can opener. You close the blade-and-gear assembly over the edge of a can, grasp the handles, and turn the crank-thingie. The can opener goes around the edge of the can and cuts the lid free from the can.
The good: It’s a can opener, and it works like a can opener. It cuts lids off just fine. Certainly it does its job. The handles are those wonderful thick soft rubber OXO handles, which are great for hands with arthritis or tendonitis. The crank is large as well, although plastic not rubber, giving plenty of leverage and failing to dig into sensitive skin or tendons. The opener is easy to use and easy on the hands.
The bad: This is a normal opener, not a safety-opener; this means you still have to be careful of sharp edges on the cans. We’ve had a bit of rusting on an inside knob of our opener, although thankfully not in a place where it will get into food when we use it on a can. And sometimes the blade jumps the track, coming loose from the can and needing to be re-locked onto the can.
Once again OXO has put some great thought into making an ordinary kitchen item easier on hurt hands, but they haven’t quite made the item hold up in other ways. This seems to be a theme with their products, in our experience at least. I for one wouldn’t mind paying an extra dollar or two in order to get something that would last longer and wouldn’t break down.
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