7 Kitchen Hacks & Packaging Solutions

Next time you’re fighting with a difficult jar lid, give your hands a rest and try one of these tips.
A. Invert the jar so that it rests lid-down in about ½ inch of hot tap water in a shallow bowl or pie plate. After 30 seconds or so, the heat will break the vacuum seal and the lid will unscrew easily.
B. Try a thin metal spoon. Use the spoon as a lever and slide its tip between the lid and the jar—avoiding the lid’s notches. Gently press down on the handle until the seal releases. This will also work with a church key.
C. Grab an old computer mouse pad. Its rubber bottom—engineered to anchor it to a desk—creates a good grip that helps budge stubborn lids.
D. Rubber wristbands and bracelets can do more than promote a favorite team, charity, or cause. Wrapping the wristband around the lid helps you gain traction as you twist.

When the small lid to a bottle of syrup, ketchup, or soy sauce, vinegar, salad dressing, or the like sticks and won’t unscrew easily, try enlisting the services of a nutcracker to help the lid release.

The lids of jars with sticky contents such as jelly, honey, or molasses often stick as if they were cemented in place. Instead of struggling with sticky lids, try one of these two tips.
A. Cover the tops of these jars with plastic wrap before screwing on the lids. The plastic prevents any serious sticking, so the lids always unscrew easily.
B. Dip a small piece of paper towel (or your impeccably clean fingertip) into a bit of vegetable oil and wipe the threads of the jar. The bare film of oil prevents the lid from sticking to the jar the next time you open it.

When you’re using a manual can opener, the lid sometimes drops into the can. Don’t dirty a butter knife to fish it out. Instead, reach for a handy tool hanging right on the refrigerator—a decorative magnet. Place a magnet over the can and the lid will come right out, with no mess.

When a rubber spatula is too big to use to scrape clingy bits of tomato sauce or paste from emptied jars and cans, try this trick: add a tablespoon or two of liquid to the container, swirl it around to wash the bottom and sides, and then empty it into the pot. A bonus: rinsing with a splash of wine or broth adds extra flavor.

It’s easy to puncture thin-skinned produce like plums and tomatoes when peeling away the produce sticker. To keep them blemish-free, use one of these tricks.
A. Gently pry the sticker away with a vegetable peeler—the blade catches the paper’s edge and lifts it off without damaging the skin.
B. Dip the corner of a paper towel in vegetable oil. Rub the oiled towel over the sticker and let sit for about 5 minutes. You should now be able to peel off the offending sticker without marring the fruit’s skin.

Here’s a clever way to find the beginning of a roll of plastic wrap that has torn and stuck to itself: hold a clean vegetable brush or toothbrush parallel to the roll of plastic wrap, rotating the roll and rubbing the bristles along the surface of the plastic until the hidden edge loosens and the plastic can be unwrapped.