Save 'em up. I'll be there shortly to give the bidness.

Bow-chicka-bow-wow!

mmm, jar parno.

parno? parno? clearly I need sleep.

not to be overly pragmatic, but my (at one time) professional advice is to strike the rim of the lid with a decent amount of force on the countertop (or other hard surface), if necessary up to the point where you start to be concerned about breaking the jar (but obviously not over). the torque required to break the seal otherwise is such that strain will result, even with sufficient muscular strength.

--chef erik

Bed Bath & Beyond, fuck yeah!

I haven't tried it, but the brand is usually reliable.

Sometimes, especially in weather like this, the problem is that your hand is too sweaty. If you put a piece of cling wrap over the jar lid, you can get a better grip.

http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/karl.htm

worksafe. weird, but worksafe.

Sorry, but I never pass up an opportunity to share this link. :-)

I love that guy! I love that guy to itty-bitty plastic-wrapped pieces!

I just want to point out that usually when a female person hands me a jar to open, they've already done a lot of the work of loosening it almost to the point of it opening.

That being said, there's two things men have that make them better jar-openers, in addition to a head start:

1) Bigger hands, on average. Yes, hand size varies widely, but I can certainly understand women who prefer men with big hands. That makes perfect sense.

2) Much lower concern with pain. Often, in the course of doing chores or household repairs, men will hurt themselves. Indeed, I pretty much always used to burn myself really good when, for instance, changing the oil on the car. (It changes better hot, you see.) Or I'd be changing a spark plug or something, and then go inside and have a beer, and have someone say, "sheesh, man, you're bleeding all over the place," and I'd notice it and go, "Oh, is that what that is?"

Sometimes when I open a jar, either my hand cramps, or I get a kind of indian-burn thing going from the texture of the lid bruising (for want of better word) my skin. It might last, oh, an hour or two. Point is, many men are stupid enough to do stuff like this even though they know it's going to hurt. They just don't care very much.

In addition to the jar opening tricks listen below, though, I'd always keep around a rubber jar opening disk, and, for the truly horrid jars, the special jar-gripping pliers my Mom has. The best picture on the web I can find on short notice is here:
http://www.emsdiasum.com/microscopy/products/safety/laboratory.aspx?mm=20

I wish I could find one now.

The thing has two teeth on either end. The teeth bite into the lid pretty hard, providing both good traction and, hopefully, enough deformation to break a vaccuum seal. I think these pliers can also crack a glass jar in half, which is a pretty good way of teaching it a lesson if it's really incorrigible.

eBay to the rescue:
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-FOLEY-EASY-TWIST-TURQUOISE-JAR-OPENER_W0QQitemZ6198321152QQcategoryZ14904QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

or http://tinyurl.com/8tqkv

THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008GS9U/qid=1123574970/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-0377888-2867347?v=glance&s=home-garden&n=507846

I was reluctant to admit I needed it, but it works so beautifully and is so worth the $30 and the counter space.

Hold the jar low, close to your hips, and turn the lid from there. That position gives you much greater leverage.

and much less control over the contents of the jar. heh.

It's never been a problem for me.

Get one of those little 5-inch rubber circles that you put between your hand and the jar. You can buy one for a buck if you have to, if your local insurance agent or whoever doesn't give them out as promotional items.

This should be a lesson not to get sauce in mason jars. In five minutes time you could have a sauce thats homemade, tastes better, and is better for you, thus cutting out a middle man.

this is just another way The Man tries to keep our sisters dependent and down...

unless you pre-cooked it and re-heated in 5 mins, how can you get a 20 - 40 minute sauce in 5 mins? please share yr recipies. i'm serious. i can't make a tomato sauce i'm willing to eat in less than 20 mminutes, and i much prefer it to cook for more like 40. i NEVER buy sauce in jars.

I take 2 cans of petite diced tomates and get them to a boil, and put in a tube of tomato paste and get back to a boil until required thickness.

It might be closer to ten minutes but as the sauce is boiling, I cut up and insert my garlic, cilantro, basil, and whatever else I can find. As for the meat and veggies, those I cook separate and pour at the very end.

ah. see, i don't like the taste of tomatoes that have only cooked for 10 mins, and i don't trust pre-diced ones because they use the less nice tomatoes that they can't leave whole.

i sautee minced union in olive oil, add grated garlic when the onion clarifies (diced carrots and celery at this point if you're into that sort of thing), oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, salt, black pepper and then a can or two of whole, peeled tomatoes, chopped well (i pour off all the jjuice first), drop in a bay leaf, add wine if there's some handy and leave it alone while i wash dishes, make some sauteed mushrooms or whatever, boilthe water for the pasta, all of that stuff. sometimes i use parsely. it's funny, i use cilantro a lot, and i make blacck beans in a homemade tomato/cilantro sauce, but i never put it in just regular ol' tomato sauce. hmm.

concentrated paste in tubes is great. you reminded me i need to get some more.

I'm there with you on the canned ones but Gold Label tomatoes is really the bomb for quality. It's pricey but I'm willing to spend the extra $.40 for a quick sauce...

An ex of mine had similar troubles, combined with being a user of hand lotions, skin cream, etc., etc., and so didn't want hand damage. She had a jar opener -- I forget now what kind -- that she referred to as her DNAMD: Don't Need A Man Device. I don't know whether she called it that before I arrived in her life or not, but I suspect the latter. She was rarely an openly hostile person, and it was with such tiny slings and arrows that our relationship battles were waged.

her DNAMD: Don't Need A Man Device.

There are so many things this term could apply to.

All you need is a rubberband! The thicker the better, like a veggie rubberband. Wrap it around the lid, and turn. Easy smeasy. Usually free, and no man needed.