287851 Thu Nov 08 17:08:22 -0800 2001 26 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1550873 My "corkscrew" has gone beserk. It thinks its mission is to chew the cork and spit it into my wine. So..... I've been using the kind with wings. It used to work. Any feed back on the Rabbit. I'm not into showing off my finesse at the cork, just getting it out as easily as possible. Thu Nov 08 17:08:22 -0800 2001 0 saucyknave 1 1550878 A $6 waiter's corkscrew is really all you need. Make sure the worm (the coily bit that goes into the cork) is an actual wire coil rather than resembling a wood screw. Thu Nov 08 18:30:20 -0800 2001 1550873 0 MU 2 1550898 Ekco makes them now. They're available at Wallmart for less than $5, so you can afford to buy several, and always have one handy. They look pretty sturdy, too. When you're ready to upgrade to something really impressive, you won't need to feel guilty, either. Thu Nov 08 22:15:48 -0800 2001 1550878 0 ironmom 3 1550909 Agreed. The waiter's corkscrew is cheap, it works, and never breaks. Plus, if your wine merchant (or corner liquor store owner) likes you, you can usually get a freebie. Fri Nov 09 01:38:16 -0800 2001 1550898 0 sylvesterrussell 1 1550879 I use a screwpull,easy to use, works every time,costs around $20. Comes in red or black, regular and portable sizes. Get the regular. The trouble with the winged one is the center spiral (worm) isn't long enough. Don't trust a store if they have no screwpulls. Thu Nov 08 18:36:33 -0800 2001 1550873 0 howard 2 1550881 Vote #2 for the screwpull. A great device. Thu Nov 08 18:52:40 -0800 2001 1550879 0 jen kalb 3 1550884 I also vote for the screwpull for about $20. I love mine and wouldn't use anything else now. It's so easy and quick. I first heard about the screwpull on Oprah's favorite thing's show a few years back. Of course hers was the screwpull style that costs about $120, but the sales clerk showed me the $20 model screwpull she said works just as well.... and who can afford to spend $120 for a corkscrew for home use (except Oprah of course). Thu Nov 08 19:05:44 -0800 2001 1550881 0 Leslie T. 4 1550887 The picnic model screwpull is my glove box cork screw. If there's a Creuset outlet near you, you can buy reconditioned Leverpulls for about $80. Well worth it when you have many bottles to open. Thu Nov 08 19:36:09 -0800 2001 1550884 0 Melanie Wong 4 1550890 I'd like to amend my post to say that I was on a budget when I bought my screwpull, and I am only envious of the more expensive models (maybe some day). My model works well for me, though, and I'm happy with it. I was curious and checked ebay and they also sell screwpulls/leverpulls, but it's more of a buyer beware there. Fortunately, I've always had good experiences with ebay. The closed auctions for the leverpulls seem to be around $80 plus shipping. Thu Nov 08 20:02:01 -0800 2001 1550884 0 Leslie T. 5 1550891 The leverpulls are notorious for breaking after a couple years of hard use. Thu Nov 08 20:12:07 -0800 2001 1550890 0 Melanie Wong 1 1550882 Both my SO and I have the beginnings of carpal tunnel so I bought him a Rabbit for Christmas last year. Best $127 I ever spent, IMHO. Yeah, its pricey. But it is a fabulous piece of engineering and is so amazingly smooth and easy, it blows your mind. I still have all the other models lying around, including the Ah-So which is nice because I can throw it in my back pocket for picnics, but I LOVE my Rabbit. Thu Nov 08 18:59:20 -0800 2001 1550873 0 Carolyn Tillie 2 1550892 Hmmm. Our local best kitchenwares shop has a rabbit for about $70. Have the rabbits multiplied or has the price just come down, Carolyn? Or are there rabbit knockoffs, too. In a NYT item from May 2000 Tony Cenicola reviewed the Rabbit, saying, “a foolproof device that could almost be the Screwpull crossed with an OXO Good Grips gadget. And it's much less expensive than a comparable Screwpull.” He notes that it works just as well with the plastic or rubber corks. An interesting bit is that he quotes Riki Kane, the mfg of the Rabbit as saying that they’’d had to wait 17 years for the patent to Screwpull’’s lever mechanism to expire. I guess the inexpensive screwpulls are also the result of the patent expiration. Thu Nov 08 21:04:32 -0800 2001 1550882 0 saucyknave 3 1550942 There are now Rabbit knock-offs. The one I bought for $127 was from Williams Sonoma (always more expensive) because it came with a foil cutter and pretty stainless steel stopper (which I have yet to use). Even though I already owned a foil cutter, last Christmas Williams Sonoma was the only place I could buy one without mail-ordering it. Now, I see them all over the place in different designs and styles. Still a great purchase! Fri Nov 09 10:50:51 -0800 2001 1550892 0 Carolyn Tillie 4 1550969 It's worth the extra money to avoid pain. Lo tech, less dollars was the motto of my youth. Fri Nov 09 13:57:07 -0800 2001 1550942 0 saucyknave 4 1551134 Costco's selling the Rabbit for around $40 now! Oh, the pain!! (Granted, I got mine for $70, which is a pretty good deal anyway, but still....) Mon Nov 12 17:47:47 -0800 2001 1550942 0 Mark Lee 1 1550948 I have a little gadget that's basically two prongs on a handle, one longer than the other. You work it down into the sides of the cork and twist and pull. Works great and they threw it in free when I went to the winery a few years back. Fri Nov 09 11:17:50 -0800 2001 1550873 0 PRSMDave 2 1550975 These pronged ones are not foolproof if you are a wine klutz like I am. I always struggled getting the cork out with this type, but when I spilled red wine on my outfit one time twisting the cork out (at a dinner party I was hosting, no less), I finally gave up, until I found the screwpull. It was kind of funny though when it happened...my dad saying "are you ok"? The screwpull is what I would call 'klutz safe'. Fri Nov 09 15:07:59 -0800 2001 1550948 0 Leslie T. 3 1550984 Exactly. I've pushed many a cork into the bottle with the pronged extractor. Also was a total klutz with a waiter's style. Screwpull was the first fail-safe corkscrew for me. Now I carry the sommelier model lagiuole in my purse, but will reach for the screwpull or leverpull if one is available. Fri Nov 09 15:47:58 -0800 2001 1550975 0 Melanie Wong 4 1550987 Purchase of a waiter's corkscrew entitles the proud owner to many hours of happy practice. Fri Nov 09 16:03:14 -0800 2001 1550984 0 ironmom 5 1550989 You are the greater paragon in this area. I punctured too many corks and got bits of stuff all over the place. The waiters models with the teflon coated worm help a bit. Also, unfortunately, I'm not big enough to get the right leverage point on the waiters style to pull the cork from a sitting position and always need to stand in order to not "pop" the cork. Fri Nov 09 16:16:38 -0800 2001 1550987 0 Melanie Wong 6 1551015 Having spent most of the past 25 years uncorking wine by the brute force method, I can say that the waiter's corkscrew is a huge improvement. (Another case or two to be sure I have the technique down) Fri Nov 09 22:09:38 -0800 2001 1550989 0 ironmom 2 1551000 Amongst "cork-dorks" (or winos, like myself). This is known as the Ah-So. It is generally reserved for very old bottles where the cork is dry. A screw going through a dry cork can often eat it up or rip it apart. Like many of the other posts, it is often reserved for those that are REALLY good with it to be effective. Fri Nov 09 18:41:47 -0800 2001 1550948 0 Carolyn Tillie 1 1550953 We just bought a Rabbit last week at Costco in San Francisco for $38.00! It works very well. Fri Nov 09 11:27:02 -0800 2001 1550873 0 Nancy Berry 1 1551025 The Screwpull is the way to go. I have both the basic "twist" model and the Leverpull. Both are foolproof. Haven't had any problems with the Leverpull as mentioned below, but have only had it a couple of years. Sat Nov 10 01:36:43 -0800 2001 1550873 0 Jim Wilkerson 1 1551028 Screwpull (table model) works really well for natural cork, and lasts a long time. The "travel model" can fall apart after a couple of years. (I expect things to last forever.) However, the Screwpull does NOT work well on the new synthetic corks. For that, a good old waiter's wineknife/corkscrew is dandy. The main thing is, practice, practice, practice! Sat Nov 10 02:26:31 -0800 2001 1550873 0 Suzanne Fass 1 1551034 I own both a regular Screwpull type (Zyliss) as well as a Laguiole waiter's corkscrew. The screwpull works fine except sometimes, as mentioned, on plastic corks. The Laguiole adds elegance and a great feel to the waiters style. My previous objections to waiter's styles had to do with the amount of painful pressure against the palm when dealing with a tough cork. Never happens with the Laguiole - even and smooth. Andrew Sat Nov 10 09:08:25 -0800 2001 1550873 0 weinhen 1 1551141 I got a waiter's corkscrew for free a few years ago at a wine tasting. It's great. The best feature is the part which you rest on the top of the bottle to leverage out the cork is 2x as long as most and hinged. So you can use the first notch for the first pull and then switch to the second notch. Works like a dream. Mon Nov 12 20:48:59 -0800 2001 1550873 0 Meg