Corkscrews - Recommendations

as cheap as it may appear - i still swear by "waiters friend" style corkscrews. i've got a great cheap looking one i got from some wine shop here in the uk and it has a cutter built into it which is pretty useful.

sorry, by cutter i didn't mean just a little knife - its a circular one that pulls out from the main plastic body of the corkscrew.

I've got to agree with you. I've tried a lot of gadgets and there's a reason why the corkscrew you see used by hundreds of thousands of waiters is the traditional "waiter's friend." It works!

Look for one that's got at least a four turn screw and has at least a four inch handle. You'll find cheap ones that are smaller in size and then don't offer the proper leverage to get a cork out in one nice pull.

I tried an "ah-so" years ago, but had trouble with chipping of the bottle lip. The double-handled lever types aren't bad, but seem to come apart after some hard use. And, I simply can't see the advantage of a $100 Rabbit or similar that takes up so much space in the drawer.

The waiter's friend can, of course be "gold plated" or aged claro walnut handled and encrusted with precious gems to make it suitably extravagant for the regular Petrus and cola drinker.

"JB" skrev i en meddelelse news:DE3xb.18188$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...

Note, that teflon-coated corkscrews and synthetic corks doesn't go well together. The cork reacts with the teflon somehow, and sticks. I have a cheap steel waiters corkscrew for the plastic ones.

Anders

In article , Michael Bartlett writes

Sounds exactly like the one I bought for about UKP3 from Oddbins.

My favorite is a waiter's type. If cutting the capsule isn't an issue (the capsule can be pulled off easily) a screwpull type works well. You might add an "ah so?" to your collection for the occasional nasty cork. And if the going gets rough, use the corkscrew on your Swiss army knife!

Dick

Ed Rasimus wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

But try to make sure you get one with the 'double-jointed' bit that folds out (rather than the solid bar, if you get what I mean). They work much more elegantly, and although I have a screwpull elegance lever model (£100

- £150 US$150 - US$200) I use the waiter's friend MUCH more frequently.

Basic Screwpull table model for natural cork, and a heavy duty winged double-lever action or Double-Decker drill for those bastard synthetic corks (once I've weened my wife off flavourless Italian whites I can throw those away)

The Rolls Royce of the waiter's friend type: Chateau Laguiole in stainless steel (Rwef. 3004), as to be seen here

or here

M.

Agree, and I love the disclaimer on the all-stainless steel unit on the Yahoo site you mentioned above: "Due to natural variations in the wood, the hand-crafted handle on this corkscrew may differ from the one shown in the picture."

pavane

;-)

M.

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:28:35 GMT, JB quoth:

Since I learned how to (properly!) use the two-pronged "ah-so", I'll never go back to cork-chewing-screws...

bkr

Any recommendations on where I could order an "ah so"? I've not found one listed on the web.

Thanks.

John

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 00:42:23 GMT, JB quoth:

I found all of mine near the checkout at liquor stores...

bkr

the great corkscrew website

try this, and they have less expensive models:

pavane

"pavane" wrote in news:8swzb.5433$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.tampabay.rr.com:

As an aside, the back page of this week's New Yorker magazine is pretty funny, and on topic! Sorry, couldn't find it on-line... d.

Yes, it just came in the mail. Excellent applications of high technology and engineering brilliance. Everyone should buy a copy of the December 8 New Yorker and enjoy them.

pavane

Great recommendation and web site. Thanks!

I ordered an Ah So and a Deluxe Rabbit.

John

I got a really nice one in stainless steel at a 99 cent store. Whatever you do don't buy one that looks like a drill bit!