I came across the Metrokane corkscrew on a recent trip to Napa Valley. This is the best kitchen tool I have ever owned. And so it got me thinking… And before I knew it I was finding out more than one ever needs to know about corkscrews. And since I’m a self-avowed geek and like to investigate things… You’ll have the thrill of reading about the results of my research! I hope you find it engaging and useful. So let’s chat about corkscrews then… And see what we can find out .
So what’s all the hubbub? Wine manufacturing dates back so far as history. Its study gets tons of pages in the history books, but a lot less attention is devoted to wine openers. This is a bit funny because you may have all the wine you would like, but if you can not get the nice bottle open, well then, all is LOST!
The Basic Corkscrew: The first recorded corkscrew dates back one or two centuries when corks were originally introduced to close wine bottles (among other things- like bottles for olive oil and such like ). The basic corkscrew came in a spiral shape ( also known as a worm- but that sounds a little nauseating to me- so let’s just keep calling it a spiral ). At any rate, you would twist the spiral into the cork and then yank it out with brute force to get the cork out of the bottle. This can be a smooth and faultless process in the best of conditions, but it can also be a total mess.
For example, the spiral won’t go in properly, you can’t pull it out, it pushes the cork all of the way in, it breaks or damages the cork in such a manner that the pieces go into the bottle, you cannot get all of it out and you are forced to push cork in to the bottle. So that the basic corkscrew CAN work, but I wouldn’t count on it. There are still some extraordinarily fundamental pitfalls with a basic corkscrew.
So next comes the Wing Corkscrew : This corkscrew actually looks like it has wings because it has two levers opposite one another on the gadget to provide leverage to pull the cork out. This is what mom and pop used and when I was small, I couldn’t quite figure it out- I suppose that was on purpose.
This one works very well and I might venture to assert that many folks have this one in the back of their kitchen cabinet. The downside to this one is that the spiral on this one is sort of thick and can occasionally crack, break or crumble the cork. So not only have you now introduced cork into your wine, but also, you can’t put the cork back in the bottle if you do not finish the whole bottle.
So turn back the clock one hundred years and envision the self-pulling corkscrew. It is in fact, the basic corkscrew with a guide. After the spiral goes in, you just keep turning in the same direction and the ’stop action’ ( or so they called it in my research ) will force the cork to tug itself out. Thus, the notion of self-pulling. This is wonderful, unless the cork is in there tight, then you can forget all about it. It will not come out.
It wasn’t till 1978 that this problem was solved by Herbert Allen, a Texan oil pro who applied his drilling know-how to the self-pulling corkscrew. By employing a Teflon coating on the spiral, Allen reduced the friction between cork and spiral so seriously that the self-pulling action became just about effortless. His new corkscrew design was soon considered to be the most efficient device to date for pulling out a cork.
This concept has been perfected with the Metrokane corkscrew. It has the a levered corkscrew with a non-stick coating on the spiral. Metrokane cork screws, actually come in many models, colors and finishes and make the perfect addition to your kitchen gadget arsenal. Please visit my blog for more information and bargains on Metrokane corkscrews.
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