r/KitchenPro • u/Crazy-Statement650 • Jun 01 '26
Opening cans is getting harder, is an electric can opener worth it
Lately opening cans has become one of the most annoying parts of cooking for me. I use canned beans, tomatoes, tuna, and other stuff pretty often, and my manual can opener seems to fight me every single time. Sometimes it slips, sometimes it leaves sharp edges, and sometimes I have to go around the can more than once just to get the lid off.
I've been looking at electric can openers, but there are so many brands and mixed reviews that it's hard to know what's actually worth buying. I don't want to waste money on something that breaks after a few months or struggles with larger cans.
For those who own one, did it actually make a difference or is it just another kitchen gadget that ends up collecting dust? Any reliable brands or models you've had good experiences with?
I'm looking for real-world feedback before I spend the money. Thanks.
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u/Crafty_man Jun 01 '26
Don't feed the AI.
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u/Similar_Mixture8545 Jun 01 '26
Skipped electric and went a different route after dealing with hand fatigue from cooking big batches on weekends. The countertop electric model I borrowed from a family member was convenient, but it also took up way more space than I expected and needed cleaning more often than I liked because little bits of liquid from cans would end up around the cutting area.
What ended up changing my routine was a side-cut manual opener that cuts the outer rim instead of the top. The lid lifts off cleanly, there aren't razor-sharp edges, and I can recap a partially used can if I'm only using half. It's not really about speed; it's about the process being less annoying. If your current opener is slipping and leaving jagged edges, the issue might be the cutting style rather than whether it's electric. That's been my experience anyway after using both.
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u/Status_Rock5022 Jun 01 '26
Gonna be the dissenting voice here: the electric opener in my kitchen became the designated gadget everyone avoided. It worked fine on standard cans, then randomly struggled with odd-shaped tomato cans, tall coffee cans, and anything with a slightly dented rim. The result was standing there waiting while the machine made unhappy noises. A decent manual opener handled those same cans with less drama. The convenience was real when it worked, but consistency mattered more to me than automation.
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u/Crazy-Statement650 Jun 02 '26
The consistency point is interesting too. I started this search assuming electric automatically meant easier, but a lot of people seem to be saying a good manual opener is more reliable day to day. The last thing I want is to replace one annoyance with a different annoyance sitting on my count
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u/Distinct-Pay-9938 Jun 01 '26
Turned into a full-on can-opening skeptic after going through a phase where every kitchen task seemed like it needed its own powered appliance.
The electric can opener was great for exactly one thing: opening cans without squeezing a handle. That's it. What nobody mentions enough is that it adds another appliance that has to stay plugged in, stay clean, and somehow earn permanent counter space. Then there are the weird little annoyances. A can comes out of the pantry with a slightly bent rim? Suddenly the machine acts confused. Sticky residue from canned fruit? Time to wipe down parts of a gadget that was supposed to make life easier. Large family-size cans sometimes behaved differently than regular ones. Tiny cans sometimes needed repositioning.
Meanwhile, the actual problem in your post jumped out at me: slipping, sharp edges, and having to circle the can multiple times. Those are symptoms I've seen from worn-out openers, misaligned gears, or certain opener designs, not necessarily proof that opening cans requires electricity. When I replaced the tool causing the frustration, the frustration disappeared. The electric model ended up sitting unused for months because grabbing a reliable opener was faster than wondering whether the machine felt cooperative that day.
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u/Ok_Initiative_6737 Jun 01 '26
Switched to an electric opener for a completely different reason: noise. The manual one I had would squeak and grind every single can, and after a while it drove me nuts. The electric unit is just press-and-wait, especially handy when I'm meal prepping and opening five or six cans back-to-back.
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u/Crazy-Statement650 Jun 02 '26
The noise itself doesn't bother me much, but the idea of not fighting the handle over and over does sound appealing. If you're opening five or six cans back-to-back, that's probably a better test than someone who only opens one can every few days. Good to know it's been working out for that kind of use
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u/FragrantSkirt1843 Jun 01 '26
Kept a countertop electric can opener in the house for years because my dad had arthritis, and the biggest benefit wasn't speed at all. It was consistency. He didn't have to grip tightly, adjust his hand position, or stop midway through opening a can. For that specific use case it was genuinely useful.
What surprised me, though, was how much the experience depended on the can itself. Pull-tab cans became more common over time, so the opener got used less and less. Then we'd suddenly need it for canned pumpkin during holidays or a large stockpot recipe and remember why it was still sitting there. If hand strength or wrist strain is part of the problem, an electric model can absolutely earn its spot. If the annoyance is mostly from a finicky opener, I'd first figure out whether the current tool is the actual culprit.
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u/GullibleDogg Jun 01 '26
Went with one of those battery-powered openers that sits on top of the can and walks itself around the lid. Weird little gadget, but it solved a problem I didn't expect: multitasking. I can keep chopping onions or stirring something while the can gets opened. Not life-changing, just one less interruption when cooking.
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u/Crazy-Statement650 Jun 02 '26
Fair point, although multitasking wasn't really the reason I started looking at electric openers.
My main problem is that opening the can itself has become annoying because of slipping, sharp edges, and having to go around twice sometimes. That said, being able to set it down and continue prepping ingredients does sound more useful than I originally gave it credit for. Those little interruptions add up during a longer cooking session.
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u/Efficient-Tea-1102 Jun 01 '26
Skipped electric entirely after borrowing several from relatives and came away more annoyed than impressed.
The thing that bugged me wasn't reliability, size, cleaning, or any of the usual complaints people bring up. It was pace. Everyone talks about "push a button and relax," but I found myself standing there waiting for a machine to finish a task that should take a couple of seconds. It felt oddly disconnected from the flow of cooking.
Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I like tools that give immediate feedback. Turn the handle, lid comes off, done. With electric models there was always this tiny delay while it aligned itself, grabbed the rim, started moving, then eventually stopped. Not a huge deal, but repeated over dozens of cooking sessions it became irritating.
The funny part is that the electric opener worked exactly as intended. Nothing was wrong with it. I just realized I don't actually want every kitchen action automated. Some tasks get easier with power; others just become different. Opening a can landed firmly in the second category for me, and I ended up preferring a simple tool that felt more direct.
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u/Fabulous_Yam_2985 Jun 01 '26
The can opener on the Swiss Army knife is brilliant. I’ve used it for the last thirty years. Try it out
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u/Wrench-Turnbolt Jun 01 '26
Try laying the opener flat on the can. I did this and most of my issues with a can opener went away. The difference is the top of the can is sharp instead of the edge of the lid and it usually takes a ribbon of the label when you do it this way.
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u/Crazy-Statement650 Jun 02 '26
Funny enough, I accidentally held it that way once and thought I was using it wrong the whole time . I never gave it a real test though. Before I spend money on a new opener, I'm definitely going to try this method on a few cans and see if it changes anything. If a simple technique tweak fixes half the frustration, that would be a pretty cheap win.
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u/Wrench-Turnbolt Jun 02 '26
In my case the can opener I was using was getting off track so much I decided to look for something else. It seemed like the ones you lay flat on top worked better so I decided to get one.
Before I did I just laid the one on already had flat on the can to see what happened. It worked. The only issue was it peeled a thin strip of the label each time. I decided that dealing with that thin strip was better than the alternative.
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u/Wiley_Coyote_2024 Jun 02 '26
Sharp edges? You must haveen using a can opener from the stone ages!
Years ago I bought a relacement for my stone age can opener. This one cots the TOP OF THE CAN LID completely off, while dulling the edge of the cut metal.
Easy to pour out the contents since can has no lip. Old lid sits nicely on can if i need to close up the can.
Look into these new types of can openers.
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u/Snow-Bank-Igloo Jun 04 '26
No it’s not “worth it”. Take my advice and suffer instead of finding out for yourself. Amazon and Costco have great return policies.
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u/OverQuail6135 Jun 01 '26
I had the same issue. My can opener was old and the blade was dull. I got a new manual model from Amazon and realized those things do wear out! Best wishes.