MasterChef Just Showed Us How to Open a Tightly Sealed Jar In Seconds

MasterChef Australia is back on our screens for a sixteenth season, and it’s already serving up the cooking advice. Case in point, the premiere episode featured a contestant showing us what has to be the easiest method on earth for opening a tightly fixed jar lid.

How to open a jar in just seconds

We’ve all known the struggle of a jar lid that simply will not twist. These things are sealed airtight so that there is no possibility of spillage in transit, but that makes it pretty difficult for the consumer on the other end.

That is exactly the struggle MasterChef contestant Jonathan was facing in Episode 1 of Season 16 (which premiered last night). Luckily, Jonathan’s neighbour at the bench, Nat, was nearby and saw him struggling with the stubborn jar. Quickly taking over, Nat showed Jonathan (and all of us) what has to be the easiest way to open a jar.

Forget putting a jar in warm water, forget using a tea towel or piece of cloth for extra grip (although both those methods are known to work as well). Instead all you need to do is firmly tap the lid a few times with the back of a knife, another cooking implement, or even on something solid like your benchtop, and voila! The jar is open in under 5 seconds.

There’s a reason that this hack works so well. By tapping the side of the lid and denting it, you are breaking the pressurised seal holding the lid tightly closed. This allows the pressure inside to equalise slightly, and then open when twisted.

Some of you are probably smiling smugly to yourself, thinking, ‘I already knew that,’ but for those of us who are like Jonathan and were today years old when we learned of this hack, hopefully this information makes your life in the kitchen a bit easier going forward.

It’s only Episode 1 of the new MasterChef season, and we’re already learning things! Be sure to stay tuned to Lifehacker AU (and our TikTok page) for any other hacks from the show, as well as the return of our recipe series MasterChef at Home!

Lead Image Credit: NBC/Network 10