Several weeks before Thanksgiving, my mother in law's trusty Proctor Silex Can Opener finally opened it's last can. She had owned this can opener for at least 5 years, and it had not been operating properly in the past few months, so when it finally "died" we all breathed a slight sigh of relief. Since it was my duty to cook most of the Thanksgiving Day meal (somehow I was nominated), I decided that I would be the one to purchase a new can opener.

I was looking for a can opener, that wouldn't be overly expensive, but yet would be of decent quality. Black & Decker is one of the first brands I look at when I'm thinking of purchasing a small appliance for my kitchen. I have purchased many different Black & Decker products in the past from kitchen appliances to tools for my husband, and I have been very pleased with the quality and durability of each one of these products.

Black & Decker manufactures 9 or 10 different can openers, including cordless hand-held can openers, under the counter "space-maker" can openers, and your run of the mill counter top can openers. I was looking for something a bit more than a cordless hand held unit, but my mother does not have enough cabinet space to house an under the counter "space-maker" unit, so my choices were narrowed down to 4 or 5 counter top can openers. The Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener attracted me for several reasons - the first being that in addition to it opening cans, it also had a built in bottle opener. My mother-in-law has always had lots of problems opening bottles and I knew that this feature would be very much appreciated by her.

I also liked the fact that this can opener was on the tall side. At Thanksgiving time, and other big holidays, some of the cans that need to be opened are very large, tall cans. In the past, we had to use a manual can opener on these cans as my mother's Proctor Silex counter top can opener just could not do the trick. The Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener also comes with a built in knife sharpener in the back of the can opener. It contains 2 slots - one smaller slot for shorter knives, and a larger slot for longer knives. I knew that my father-in-law would really appreciate this feature, as he is always complaining that the kitchen knives are never quite sharp enough.

That was it - I was sold! The Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener seemed like the smartest choice in can openers to me, and I knew that my mother-in-law would be very pleased with my choice. Priced at just under $20, slightly higher than some of the other brand names including Proctor Silex, I knew that the Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener would last her for at least a few years.

I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever operated a can opener that worked as well as this one. Our first test, was when I was preparing Thanksgiving Day Dinner and had to open a huge can of Fruit Cocktail for my mother-in-law's favorite fruit salad. In the past I would have resorted to using her hand can opener as her electric one would just not be able to handle the size of the can, but since the Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener was made to handle both large & small cans I decided to give it a try. This can opener did a wonderful job at opening the can! I was amazed! Not only did it open the can perfectly, but it did it very quietly! That's definitely an added bonus!

Like most other electric can openers the Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener has an auto-off feature. When the can opener is done opening the can, it stops & the can stays in place until you remove it. But, unlike some other electric can openers on the market, this can opener has a removable cutter for easy cleaning! This makes cleaning the entire can opener a very easy process. Simply remove the cutter handle & wash it with soap and hot water, and wipe down the remainder of the can opener unit.

I especially like the fact that the Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener has a little compartment in the back of the unit where you can either tuck away excess power cord, or store the entire power cord when not in use. No more electric cord hanging all over my mother-in-law's counter top!

My father-in-law, just as I thought, really likes the fact that this can opener comes with a built in knife sharpener. He made it a point to sharpen each and every one of my mother-in-law's knives and I have to admit, they were very sharp to the touch! My mother-in-law, on the other hand, was completely amazed by the bottle opener, it took several tries by both her and my father-in-law to get it to work, but once they had it figured out - it opened up the bottles very easily with just a little bit of force.

After using my mother's new Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener on Thanksgiving Day, I decided to purchase one for my house for Christmas. Though my can opener is working just fine, I decided that it was time to replace it. I can't wait until Christmas morning to open the shiny red oblong package under the Christmas tree. You can bet that this Christmas Gift will get more use than my daughter's Meow-Chi!

I highly recommend the Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener to anyone thinking about purchasing an electric can opener. This can opener does a wonderful job at opening cans of all sizes, including the larger sized cans! The Black & Decker Grand Openings Can Opener would make a wonderful house warming gift, wedding gift, or Christmas Present. Affordable in price and attractive in design, this can opener is sure to hold up to the true test of time.