How to Open a Stuck Jar

Published on Monday, June 2, 2008, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

How to Open a Stuck Jar

CHOW Video Producer Meredith Arthur shares one technique for opening a stuck jar. Share yours and we may film it!

CHOW Tips are the shared wisdom of our community. If you’ve figured out some piece of food, drink, or cooking wisdom that you’d like to share on video (and you can be in San Francisco), email Meredith Arthur and tell us what you’ve got in mind.

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  • For never opened jars, I place the point of a "church key", facing up, under the edge of the metal lid, give it a little press down and the pressure releases 100% of the time. And the lid still works fine.

  • hot water. lids expand when they get warm, pulling them away from the glass (which heats slower) -- so run hot water over cap for a minute or two, but not long enough to let the glass expand the same amount as the glass top or threads -- and that should do it. Sometimes tapping it will help so here's how i do it:

    1) tap and try to turn
    2) hot water and try to turn
    3) hot water, tap, and try to...+READ

    hot water. lids expand when they get warm, pulling them away from the glass (which heats slower) -- so run hot water over cap for a minute or two, but not long enough to let the glass expand the same amount as the glass top or threads -- and that should do it. Sometimes tapping it will help so here's how i do it:

    1) tap and try to turn
    2) hot water and try to turn
    3) hot water, tap, and try to turn.

    Turning with something like a rubber glove is a good idea, as is a wash cloth, or anything that will help you grab it. I've owned several metal bottle cap openers and each one has traveled through this house over the years (from great grandmother to me) and can't say that I've ever really honestly looked for one when we've had hot water -- when living without power and sometimes without running hot water, I've looked before I've inverted the jar on a cooler corner of a wood stove -- DON'T DO IT OVER THE FIREBOX!!!!!!

    Warm, tap, not-your-hand will even open glued molassas and honey.

    And - why does EVERYTHING have 'gar-gum' in it? Is there an overabundance of gars on the Serengeti plains?

    Never opened jars, esp at altitude pose a problem, sometimes you have to equalize the pressure -- and you do that by warming the CONTENTS thus increasing the pressure inside the jar, and lessening the vacuum seal since what is inside expands increasing the volume of the substance and increasing the pressure of the air and lessening the vacuum - but this can take awhile because you don't want to do it microwave fast, you want to do it set in the sun or leaning away from the campfire a distance slow.

    If that sounds too slow, look at what's inside and ask: would i rather make this by hand, or wait a few minutes? and if you can make it faster by hand, why on earth do you have it in a bottle or can with a lid!?

    pgalioni
    THE MORE YOU LEARN, THE MORE YOU WANT TO SCREAM!-COLLAPSE

  • A trick I learned from my physician after slicing my hand on a broken glass jar- the rubber tourniquets they use to draw blood work each and every time. I've tried rubber bands before and they snap easily and are too thin. Ask a nurse or doctor to snag a few for you the next time you have an appt!

  • If you don't need to close the jar again, you can always puncture the lid which releases any pressure that is inside.

  • I save the fat rubber bands from produce and when I have a jar that just won't open, I put one around the lid; the additional grip helps me open the jar easily.

  • Tap around the edge of the lid as shown in your video, then turn the jar upside down and thwack the flat side of the lid smartly on the counter.

  • I have an old table knife I use for stuck lids. Tilt the jar with one hand, use the heavy handle of the knife to tap the lid a glancing blow in the direction the lid turns to open. Works every single time, no matter how "stuck" it is. Well, except for when a lid is glued on with dry sugar or honey, when running it under hot water works best.

  • I've done the whole tapping the lid before, but my favorite method is inserting a small, thin spoon or a good butter knife under the lip and just pulling out until the seal breaks.

  • If the jar is tight because it's never been opened before, anything that has a tacky surface--a silicone potholder or a dry rubber dish glove--works well for opening a tight jar.

    If the jar is tight because the threads are crusted together with whatever's IN the jar (mustard, honey, barbeque sauce, etc.) flipping it upside down and soaking the lid in an inch or two of hot, hot water usually...+READ

    If the jar is tight because it's never been opened before, anything that has a tacky surface--a silicone potholder or a dry rubber dish glove--works well for opening a tight jar.

    If the jar is tight because the threads are crusted together with whatever's IN the jar (mustard, honey, barbeque sauce, etc.) flipping it upside down and soaking the lid in an inch or two of hot, hot water usually melts the stuff in the threads enough that you can get the jar open.-COLLAPSE

  • The one that works much better than it should for me is to start thinking of something else when opening up the jar. It just opens right up pretty much every time.