Facile d'ouvrir

[Hoddy]

Is it just me or are jars and packets more difficult to open in France ?

I almost hurled a jam jar at the wall this morning and as for those packets of ham my OH eats .......

Hoddy

[Quillan]

Jars definitely although I found that forcing one of those thick eating knives up the site 'pops' the lid.

The ham (and some sliced cheese) well very rarely do I manage to get them open without ripping the packaging to shreds but they do sem to have been like that for years.

[idun]

Years ago a friend suggested that I tap the side of the lid on the floor and it works well. Some take a gentle tap, some a harder one. Sometimes I hear the 'seal' give a little, and sometime I don't. But I have yet to have a jar that has not opened after a little tap........ even in France[;-)]

[Gardian]

They are difficult  - whether more so than the UK, I don't know.

We have a 'Daphne', so named after our son's MIL who gave it to us as a Christmas present. Its a battery-powered device, about the size of a mug and its 'jaws' grip the lid of a jar and twist it off.

Trouble is that occasionally it gets too enthusiastic and completely mashes the lid so that you've got to fish the old one out of the bin.

[NormanH]

The secret with jars is to break the vacuum with a knife or a tin opener.

The worst I find are the sachets which contain wet-wipes to clean your finger after eating.

[EuroTrash]

Glass jars with metal lids - hold them under the hot tap or in the steam of a kettle for a few seconds, the metal will expand very quickly, the glass won't and the lid will no longer be as tight.

Opening bin liners is what I find hard..

[Kong]

Packets of crumbly biscuits. Can you open the packet without destroying the first biscuit? My solution is to saw through the packet with a serrated knife between biscuits. It usually works!

[5-element]

[quote user="Gardian"]

We have a 'Daphne', so named after our son's MIL who gave it to us as a Christmas present. Its a battery-powered device, about the size of a mug and its 'jaws' grip the lid of a jar and twist it off.

[/quote]

So that's what it's called. I seem to have the exact same device, also a Christmas present to compensate lost strength in ageing hands and fingers.  At the time I was mortified as I would have preferred something a little more personal... But now, I  use it regularly as a last resort, as it is so awesome, I am a little scared of it,  it seems to have a mind of its own!

[Clair]

I have yet to find a jar which resists a pair of rubber gloves...

(Have you tried a Strongboy?)

[Hoddy]

What an interesting lot of replies only one of which, Sprogster's, answers my question and his answer was, "don't know".

I really do seem to find it more difficult to open things in France than I do in England I was wondering if the plastic used in the packets might be tougher or if perhaps the jam jar lids are actually fixed on differently.

Hoddy

[idun]

Well I'll stick by my just tapping on the floor. Works every last time and methinks everyone on here is making this far harder than it really is. After all the floor is just below us, so just the gest of bending down a bit and tapping the side of the lid, which breaks the seal. AND I have never broken a jar.

[Gardian]

[quote user="5-element"][quote user="Gardian"]

We have a 'Daphne', so named after our son's MIL who gave it to us as a Christmas present. Its a battery-powered device, about the size of a mug and its 'jaws' grip the lid of a jar and twist it off.

[/quote]

So that's what it's called. I seem to have the exact same device, also a Christmas present to compensate lost strength in ageing hands and fingers.  At the time I was mortified as I would have preferred something a little more personal... But now, I  use it regularly as a last resort, as it is so awesome, I am a little scared of it,  it seems to have a mind of its own!

[/quote]

Just had a look at 'Daff' - its really called a Culinare One-Touch.  A fearsome object.

[Chancer]

I dont find the jars any harder in France than the UK, I have a strong grip and its a case of knowing who is the boss and who will win, I dont think that I have ever had one that beat me.

The packets? Well they can be frustrating in either country, mainly the vacuum packed meats and charcuterie.

The one that defeats me thse days are masking tape rolls, they have become so thin that even with glasses, daylight, running my fingertip/nail around the reel I often cannot find the edge, I have found some decent old style thick tape in Toolstation, its really good and blue in colour. It sticks, it peels off cleanly and paint doesnt beel under the edge, en bref it dose what it shoulkd which most havnt for years.

[Loiseau]

This is my favourite:

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/7704/Jar-Grippers

A variation on Clair's rubber gloves.

Never fail.

Angela

[Judith]

[quote user="EuroTrash"]Glass jars with metal lids - hold them under the hot tap or in the steam of a kettle for a few seconds, the metal will expand very quickly, the glass won't and the lid will no longer be as tight.

Opening bin liners is what I find hard..[/quote]

Or run some warm to hot water in a bowl, stand the jar upside down on its lid for a few seconds / minutes, dry - et voila!

Or get the little jar opener  (called a jarkey) from lakeland.  Works almost always .. and if not, the first tip does.  EDIT - just seen Angela's tip -  mine is not the same thing ..

We have a "daphne" is that really what they're called? - but I don't have a  big / strong enough hand to use it and  hold the jar as well, and I find it needs three hands, and chews the lid so it won't work again ......

[Judith]

[quote user="Kong"]Packets of crumbly biscuits. Can you open the packet without destroying the first biscuit? My solution is to saw through the packet with a serrated knife between biscuits. It usually works![/quote]

Exactly as I do!

[5-element]

[quote user="Gardian"]

Just had a look at 'Daff' - its really called a Culinare One-Touch.  A fearsome object.

[/quote]

Yep, that's the one! http://www.culinare.com/products/detail.asp?category_ID=9&index=-1 Look at the video everyone, it's almost spooky! And it makes a hell of a noise!

Clair: rubber gloves used to be OK when I was in the UK, and younger and with stronger wrists. Incipient arthritis really does make things difficult, and losing one's grip is a sad reality - not for everybody, fortunately. So I can't even answer the OP's initial question, tempting as it is to say that "it was easier in the UK" - but maybe because I was younger and stronger!

I will try (again) Idun's trick, just for kicks.

I also sometimes make a hole in the lid to kill the vacuum - but for some jars, you need to keep the lid intact, for re-use.

[Russethouse]

We use Angela's tip, if not we wait for son to come home!

[Val_2]

A rubber swimming hat (bonnet) works well as a grip or one of those silicone squares from la Foire Fouille.

[YCCMB]

I don't even need to bend down. A couple of sharp raps around the rim of the offending lid with the back (rather than the blade) of a knife and the vacuum pops. When I say the back, I mean I hit it with the blade section of the knife, but use the blunt edge rather than the cutting edge. And considering the extent of my arthritis, I have about as much strength in my hands as a damp towel.

[idun]

Sounds good to me Betty.

The thing that I have the most problems with these days are these 'child proof' tops on the likes of bleach. Now I use the rubber seal off a kilner jar if I cannot manage. And even then sometimes I cannot manage. They really do drive me potty.

[Gardian]

I use those toothpaste pumps which are fine (otherwise I wouldn't buy them I suppose).

However, when you start off with one, you have to twist the plasticised paper off of the top of the thing with great difficulty and then fiddle about with that absurd little tab which rarely comes off whole. So then you have to stab away at the orifice with a pair of scissors in order to make a big enough hole for some crumbs of toothpaste to emerge. I never learn - should have one prep'd and ready to go, rather than faffing about with it first thing in the morning.

Oh and elastoplasts ................. but I've whinged about them often enough in the past. 

[andyh4]

I have tried all sorts:

Strongboys

rubber gloves

tapping on a hard surface

Nut crackers (great for plstic screw top bottles)

dish clothes - wet, dry and damp

 

The one that still beats me is this years 20 l paraffin containers (green from Leroy Merlin).  In the past the containers have been a rigid plastic with a screw top with anti-tamper connections to a ring (like drinks bottles).  This year - on grounds of cost and safety I assume - the container has become much thinner and owes a lot of its strength to the contents.  The screw top now incorporates a safety device - so push down and screw at the same time - like a medicine bottle.

Result:  OH cannot open them and I can only do so by standing said container on a firm and flat surface, apply all of my not inconsiderable weight to the lid and twisting with a patent jar openner - a bit like nut crackers with sets of jaws for small, medium and large jars.  Usually the container buckles before I can break the seal!!!

[YCCMB]

They can launch men into outer space, grow replacement organs, eliminate diseases, but they can't manage to develop a tamper-proof lid that can be tamper-proof without being almost impossible to open..

And just to answer Hoddy's OP, I have never, yet, managed to comply successfully with the "tirez ici" on a vacuum pack of ham or charcuterie or whatever. I run a sharp knife across the top and ignore the supposedly easy-open corner. I don't seem to have that much trouble with UK packs. Maybe French people have different motor skills.

[dwmcn]

I open all the jam, etc, jars because my wife can't, both here and in France. I gave up on celophane/plastic packages years ago and cut them open with scissors. Can't even bite them open.

David