Do people open tricky jars by stabbing them with a knife?

[YesILikeItToo]

I’ve just stopped my mother from stabbing a sharp knife into a metal jar lid directly from above. I was pretty shocked, it seems to me obviously dangerous. She said that’s what her mate does. Do people do this? Or is she covering up the fact that she made a poor decision? I’ve seen a couple of other examples of patently unsafe ‘work arounds’ and I’m starting to wonder what to do about it.

Sounds very unsafe to be using a knife. Just pour warm water on the lid and then use a cloth to open. Works every time.

Surely if the lid had a large slit in it- the contents would go off!!! (Unless you are using the jar in 1 go)

No- it would never occur to me to stab the jar and possibly risk stabbing your own hand also! 😱

I use the back of a butter knife and tap the sides and top of the lid to slightly dent it. You can also buy one of these which my nan used to use with great success. Hers was a different brand though.

groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-jar-opener-390179011

We oldies here just use a jar opener. Cost about a fiver and opens jars, bottles and ring pull cans

Yep, I normally whack it on a table or something but othewise I stab it, I use a sharp knife and brace the jar in a corner so it doesnt move and I dont have to hold it with my other hand

@ofwarren yes which is why I said carefully

If you lay the jar on a cloth and keep your fingers away from the lid it's not dangerous.

I've done it when all other techniques have failed.

Sometimes you just need your gherkins.

Yes! Have always done this

Ha, exactly

I wanted a bottle opener and bought this one www.lakeland.co.uk/12399/zyliss-5-way-bottle-opener-green?src=gfeed&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmdGYBhDRARIsABmSEeOVvtVrUD9s8Oiz9iLyMBb2k2XYhg3QEl-MKx225kr-Rf7zYHM6gpMaAmaYEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds, which I thought was ridiculously over-engineered at the time, but it is in fact brilliant. DH has problems with his hands and it has a bit to break the seal and make jar lids easier to open (sort of makes a dent in it). It also has a bit that you can lever up ring pulls on the top of cans of beans etc.

I jimmy open the lid a little with a butter knife. Just slide between glass and lid, worse case leave jar upside down in hot water for a few minutes before.

It break the vacuum.

I do it all the time.

I think I found this through Google when I was at uni, and the first time my sister saw me do it when I was home you’d think I’d performed actual magic 😁

I do always use a butter knife though!

I do all the time. It lets the air out the top and then it’s easy to open the jar.
I don’t see how it’s dangerous - unless you let a 5 year old do it for you. What do you think will happen??

You just need to break the seal between lid and jar - a butter knife slotted between and a small twist does the trick and sounds much less dangerous than the method your mum is using.

No, you take a regular knife, push it in under the lid and bend it outwards until you hear a little pop, then you can open it easily.

Turning it upside down and banging it on the worktop will release the vacuum.

I do it with the pointy end of a corkscrew. Breaks the vacuum seal.

Use the bit at the top of a tin opener to pull open the lid a bit and break the seal

Yes I stab the top of a lid with a knife nearly everytime

Yes I do regularly.

Think someone has already mentioned this - a jar key. So easy to use

Risks chipping off small shards of glass where you bash it. Not safe. Sounds crazy but stabbing lid is actually safer

Yes I do it all the time, mainly jars of picked stuff, they seem to particularly difficult to break the vacuum and also the contents don’t go off.

I do it and I'm in my 30s. It's releases the vacuum keeping the lid on. Not very good for knives though...

I bang the lid with a rolling pin to break the seal. Works most times. When not I sigh, put it back in the pantry and think of something else for dinner