Tin openers

[Rod]

If it's collected frequently enough, is the food left on a can any worse than the other stuff that ends up in the bin? I used to make a token effort - but with fortnightly collections and being not supposed to wrap things in the can bin, more thorough effort is required.

Hands up! I should obviously have phrased that to be "separately to other (non-can) rubbish)". I have never made any effort to squash cans because the collecting box we have is ample for the containers we collect without doing so. (And will still last four weeks, i.e. allowing a forgotten-to-put-the-damn-thing-out week.)

I have never had any significant problem with the camping type opener (as described earlier). And no problem at all with the 'cut through the rim' styles. Some are much better on the small cans (tomato paste, pilchards) than other types of opener.

[meow2222]

Although I'm not generally a fan of bloat, and an electric motor on a can opener 10x the size does at first sight look like bloat, reality is these things do make opening cans much easier. Cleaning the handle part is effortless if you have a dishwasher, if not then a hot soak is wanted. If not cleaned now and then the mank gets into the handle mechanism and jams the cutter in the up position so it wont open anything.

The built in grinder is a waste of time, not that I expected otherwise.

Some people seem to have truoble with getting the tin in the right position, if its too far over one way it wont work.

NT

PS the manual type that slice through the side take less work than the top cutters, as the metal's thinner. But the result is a wobbly can with sharp edges and no drip edge - so basically for people with mild hand problems.

NT

[Dave Liquorice]

Well nothing goes in our landfill bin that will rot, *anything* that will rot goes to the composter out back. Tins, paper and glass end up in the green box for the council recycling truck. Plastic bottles and films are taken to a recycling bank when we go shopping, same with card and juice cartons.

There is very little going into our landfill bin most is metalised plastic films as they can't be recycled and other household waste like the hoover contents. If we managed to get 1/2 a bag full in a week we have thrown a lot of stuff out...

B-)

The green box lives outside and 2l ice cream tubs sit nicely in an old vegetable trolly thing for tins, small hard plastic bits (caps, ring pulls etc) and foil.

[Rod]

Understood about "nothing goes in our landfill bin that will rot", my reference to not washing cans out was really prior to the recycling systems.

I guess it is individual household arrangements. We find it easier to take stuff out more or less as we go.

(Really helpful these council systems - our cans/plastics container is black, green is for paper/card! Isn't there a BS colour coding?)

[dennis]

Vacuum waste usually goes on the compost heap, maybe you don't have wool carpets?

[Huge]

On ours (a Kenwood, I think - purchased for elderly M-I-L, who didn't like it, which is why we have it) it comes to pieces and you can put all the horrid grubby bits in the dishwasher.

[Huge]

You waste drinking water on rinsing your rubbish? Why?

[dennis]

Because you get pests if you drop unwashed tins in the recycling box.

[Dave Liquorice]

I wouldn't like to drink the water I use to rinse cans etc, it's just been used to do the washing up and is about to tipped down the drain...

Reason? So you don't get a house full of fruit flys or 'orrible stench of rotting food?

[Dave Liquorice]

Don't know what they are, they came with the house. More to the point most of the contents of the hover wouldn't make it into the composter, the wind would grab 'em and distribute them over me and the fells. As it is I have to pick a calm day to empty the thing or you end up covered in your own, and the rest of the families, skin again...

[Dave Liquorice]

If we did that it wouldn't stay there, the wind would have it away. The green box even with a brick in it has been known to take a walk down the road and thats starting from one of the most sheltered spots on the lee side. There is nothing loose lying around up here, loose stuff simply doesn't stay put.

[Huge]

Ah, OK. You didn't mention that it was "used" water.

[Bruce]

At last (!) I have found one like mine on eBay:

recommend it very highly.

[Rod]

Always found Kuhn Rikon stuff to be pretty well made.

Due to this thread, I decided to test my can opener (branded Culinare) by opening the small end of a corned beef can. The very small radius corners are a real challenge. Worked perfectly. Close examination of the cut showed, exactly as reported by Bruce, that the cut leaves a bit of rim on the main can and a bit on the removed lid.

[Bruce]

Thanks Rod.

[Phil Addison]

Is it this one?

[Rod]

Yes, that looks to be the one we have got.

Generally works very well. Just occasionally I have to cut round a bit of an overlap - i.e. full circle plus a quarter. It clamps onto the can well.