One of the things my wife and I received at one of our wedding showers was the Black and Decker Lids Off Jar Opener. She liked it and I immediately thought that this might be the biggest waste of $40.00 that I have ever seen. Now, six months later, I am convinced that in our case this is the biggest waste of money I have ever seen.

The premise is that people have a tough time opening jars and the Lids Off will make the process a little easier. I agree 100%. But I also feel that the sticky pads that grip the lid and make it easy for you to open are good enough. Heck, for the better part of the last century we have been able to get lids off by running them under hot water or by tapping the lid against a counter edge. All of these methods have worked well for decades upon decades.

Alas, we get lazy and do not have a problem spending $40.00 to have a machine open a lid for us. I would be better with this if the thing cost $15.00, but not when it costs $40.00.

However, I will mention that the Lids Off works very well. What is it is a cylinder shaped machine (Measures 8.5" wide by 7.75" deep by 10" high) that has a top that can adjust height. The bottom and sides stay the same. You slide the jar into place and lower the top and simply hit the lid release button. You are done and the lid is released. Very simple and very quick.

Where you run into a problem is that not all containers are the same size and the lids differ in size as well. Think of the good old Ketchup bottle and a pickle jar. Yes, the lids and the shapes of the jars are significantly different. The Lids Off fits jars up to 4.5" in diameter and 8" high. Outside of this range and you are out of luck.

Hence, the reason why I think this is a huge waste of money for us. But that does not mean that it is a huge waste of money for everyone. If you have an injury that does not allow you to grip something with enough force to open it, then this is for you. Or, if you are senior citizen, this may be something you want to look into.

I have a hard time placing a rating on the Black and Decker Lids Off Jar Opener for the simple reason that for me and my wife, this is a huge waste of money. Yet for a large percentage of the population this is a very good and useful product. So, I am going to give it positive ratings because it does work very well and can be useful if the correct target audience uses it.


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