Love the Feel; Hate the Rust
Written: Oct 19 '03 (Updated Oct 19 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to twist open any can
Cons: Steel parts rust far too quickly
The Bottom Line: This can opener has a quality feel but it will start to rust in a couple of years if you clean it properly.
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| pvreditor's Full Review: Swing-Away White Can Opener |
I've had a lot of can openers over the years, including a variety of electrics and manual hand-powered devices. I fondly remember a wall-mounted manual Swing-Away that my mother had many years ago and that probably attracted me to the brand when I needed a new can opener.
The standard Swing-Away handheld can opener is made from heavy steel that is attractively chrome plated. The handles are covered in plastic that is thick and comfortable to grip. There is a large chrome-plated handle that provides a lot of leverage as you twist it to open the can.
Using a standard Swing-Away can opener is simple, and it's a lot simpler to use than it is to describe its use. You pull the two levers apart, place the opener on a can so that the cutting wheel is at the inside perimeter of the top, squeeze the handles so that the cutting wheel penetrates the top of the can and then twist the lever to rotate the can and slice off the lid. Since the twist lever is on the right side of the Swing-Away can opener that I have, I assume the device is better suited for right-handers (such as I) than lefties. I do not know if Swing-Away makes a left-handed version.
Every Swing-Away can opener that I've tried -- including the two I own -- has a very quality feel. The large twist lever makes it easy to open even the most stubborn cans, although it is annoying that there is no magnet to catch the cut-off lid before it falls into the can. Therefore, I try to leave just a tiny bit of uncut metal on the can's lid so that the lid can be bent back away from the can before it falls into my soup or beans. There may be Swing-Away models with magnetic catches and this is a feature that I think is worth having.
So the manual Swing-Away can opener feels like a quality device and does a nice job of cutting cans. What's not to like?
Rust. If you read the directions that come with the Swing-Away can opener, it says that you should clean it by wiping the cutting wheel with a damp cloth and that the can opener should not be immersed in water or placed in a dishwasher. Unfortunately, I don't think that wiping the parts that come in contact with food with a cloth or paper towel is sufficient to properly clean the Swing-Away can opener. Therefore I use soap and rinse it with hot water to wash off food oils that simple wiping would leave behind. I never put my Swing-Away can opener in a dishwasher; I always clean it by hand.
After a couple years of this sort of treatment, every Swing-Away can opener I've had starts to rust, first on the large rivet that holds the two arms together and then on the chrome-plated metal parts. After five years or so, the can opener is so rusted and disgusting looking that it's time to get a new one.
Of course, the Swing-Away has a five-year warranty that requires you to keep proof of purchase just to keep track of how old it really is. Therefore, I just replaced one of my Swing-Away can openers with a slightly more expensive Ekco can opener that does not say anything about immersion in water. The Ekco also comes with a lifetime warranty.
The Swing-Away manual can opener is a sturdy and smooth-operating kitchen tool that will easily open any can. Unfortunately, it is built from easily rusting steel instead of stainless steel, which makes it susceptible to rust if you want to clean it properly. Even the heavily chromed parts rust eventually.
Therefore, I can't recommend the handheld Swing-Away can opener. It is reasonably priced at $5 or so but it just can't take a proper cleaning and will badly rust long before its useful life is up.
Recommended:
No
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