Food tip - hard to open jars (pickle, cheap, bottle)

[elnina]

Stop popping veins and making constipated faces just to get to those delicious pickles, strawberry jelly, or whatever you've got packed away in a stuck jar - use a tennis ball instead!
Get an old tennis ball, cut it in a half. That's it!
The outside of the tennis ball provides a good grip for your hands, but the rubbery inside also makes it really easy to grip a jar lid. Just place one of the tennis ball halves over your jar, squeeze, and turn. The rubber should help provide a better grip and get that lid off in no time.

Of course you can always run your jar under hot water, loosen the lid with a spoon, hit the lid with a knife, or use rubber bands, but are any of those options as cute? (If you're not sure, the answer is NO!)

[jtur88]

Usually, when the jar is reallly hard to open, it's because it has such a wide mouth that your hands don't give you any purchase. But the idea is cute. It seems to me that a damp dish-towel will give more purchase than bare hands, but I haven't really tested it.

By the way, I have a potato masher idea.

Many foods now come in a ring-pull can, in which there is a 1/8-inch lip around the inside of the lid after it is opened. Punch a bunch of pressure-escape holes in the bottom of the can, and it makes an excellent potato masher, open end down. But it gets too hot to handle when mashing hot potatoes, so you might want to put the upper part of it in a sock. You can get a better hand-hold if you hammer some big dents in the sides of the can up around the closed end.

Using a regular can-openered tin can, you can make a similar tool for chopping a bowl of strawberries or other soft fruit, or for cutting baking powder biscuits. You still need to punch holes in the bottom.

[D217]

I always just bang it on the counter.

[SATX56]

I just twist them off! They do make all sorts of devices for the weak handed. Will a basketball work on larger jars?

[B4U]

Cute/clever idea. But I don't have tennis balls .................of any kind! LoL !

What I use is that stuff used to line my kitchen shelves that's sort of cushy/foamy netting. Like this stuff: (mine's white though)
It works great, and I already had it.

Thanks for sharing. I am curious and hope I come across a tennis ball so I can share it too.

[6am]

When i need to open a jar, I need it opened immediately!!! ...I use one of these always available in the kitchen when faced with a lid that won't budge...

Elastic Band : just wrap a rubber band around it several times to give you a better grip. Thicker bands tend to work better then thinner ones , if using thinner bands, you'll need a few of them to secure a firm grip.

Rubber glove: trusty old dish-washing rubber glove with textured non-slip surface makes the perfect jar opener. just place it over the lid and twist.

you must try it.. always works!

[elnina]

I have to admit that for twist-off I usually use ... a bottle opener.

[DrEarth]

Originally Posted by D217

I always just bang it on the counter.

Yep. Turn it upside down, bang it, and open.

[tilli]

A tennis ball would not fit all jar sizes, and it's a pain to cut one in half if you don't have the proper tools. I like those rubber grippers they sell for this purpose, they are super cheap, work great and last for about a decade before the rubber starts to dry rot.

[therewego]

Originally Posted by B4U

Cute/clever idea. But I don't have tennis balls .................of any kind! LoL !

What I use is that stuff used to line my kitchen shelves that's sort of cushy/foamy netting. Like this stuff: (mine's white though)
It works great, and I already had it.

Thanks for sharing. I am curious and hope I come across a tennis ball so I can share it too.

this is what I use or just bang it three times on the counter.