EZ Off Jar Opener For Seniors – Easy Grip

Best thing ever. Opens everything with such ease. I bought 2 and I’m getting 2 more for friends. My hands have arthritis and it is so frustrating to try to open things from water bottles to pickle jars. Can’t be seen under the counter. Installed in a flash.

I first spotted a jar opener essentially like this EZ Off under-cabinet opener – although quite different in its construction details – in some home store way back in the early 1980s, thought it looked promising, bought it and installed it in my then-home, and found it to work amazingly, wonderfully well. It totally grips the jar lid, allowing the user just to hold and turn the jar, using two hands if necessary, which turns out to be marvelously easy.

Now, almost 40 years later, and in a different house, I didn’t see that same opener for sale any more, but saw and bought this essentially similar EZ Off. And it works as well overall as my old original, hooray!

However, I am pretty sure that my old original, similar opener had one very interesting, significant difference: This EZ Off opener, and the one main, current, extremely similar competitor opener, both have two very thin, saw-toothed gripper blades, about 1/8th of an inch apart. Whereas I think I recall that my old opener had only one toothed blade, but individually much thicker.

I’d guess that the two thinner blades on the current models provide a more certain, no-fooling bite/grip on the lid than the one old thicker blade, because the knife-thin blades are wicked sharp, better able to bite into the lid. But I’d also guess that it’s the thinner blades that cause this EZ Off, and probably too the similar current competitor, to tear very thin gouges in the out-sides of the jar lids, especially metal, producing small, sharp, jagged burrs on the sides of the jar lid, where you can then hardly avoid slightly jabbing and tearing your fingers on them, when you go to close the lid, or if you then try to re-open the jar by hand. The resulting skin tears aren’t likely to be more than superficial, since the jagged edges this opener digs into the sides of the jar lid are small and shallow – but they are ragged, sharp and nasty, and they produce very real skin tears that do hurt a bit.

Whereas I am pretty darn sure that my old original similar opener, with a single, thicker blade, didn’t cut any such rips into the jar lids. But it probably also didn’t quite grip the lid entirely so incredibly well and easily as this double-thin-blade EZ Off either. I don’t honestly remember such detail from back then, but I suppose I probably on occasion had to push the jar lid a little more firmly into that old opener to get it to grip so it could be opened.

It might be that you can try to minimize this tearing up of the jar lid edges by trying to be gentle in pushing the jar lid into the opener and turning it – although, if you push it in too little, you could easily instead create the very problem you’re trying to avoid, setting up the lid to slip/slide and thus be cut up by the opener blades because it’s not being held firmly enough. Your damage may vary.

If I had a choice of the old, thick-blade version vs. the current, double-thin-blade models, I would probably choose the older, thick-blade version. I would probably prefer to, on occasion, have to press the jar lid a little harder into the opener than have jagged nicks cut into the sides of the lid. But that’s just my preference. And I don’t currently seem to have the choice at present anyway, it looks like only this double-thin-blade style is currently made and sold. Oh well. Still a pretty darn good jar opener. Just keep in mind to watch out for the small, sharp cuts that may be sliced into the sides of the jar lid by this opener.

In rating this EZ Off opener, I would take off a half star anyway for its sometime cutting up my jar lids and thereby my fingers. But since half stars aren’t accepted, I reckon I’ll be nice, round back up to 5 stars, at least for now.

Bought for my parents, then such a simple design bought a second.

Install under the high cupboard, would not install low under bench as small child could hurt themselves as sharp.

Works on all size lids and stays out of sight. You just have to remember to turn the jar in the right direction and to be careful not to cut yourself because it is sharp.

Hidden under kitchen cabinet it make it so much easier to open difficult jars. Simple and useful product.

Ordered this item for my mom due to hand issues and it works great. Opens items with little difficulty.