How to use a Waiters Corkscrew

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By ljbinkop
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use a Waiters Corkscrew

Opening a wine bottle with a corkscrew can be very intimidating! I hope that by the time you are done reading this article, you will feel confident enough to try to do this at home. There are several different pieces of equipment that can be used to open wine, but I have found many of them to be cumbersome and inefficient. The traditional waiter's corkscrew is very easy to use, and once you get the hang of it, you will never go back to that clunky wine opener again!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

a bottle of wine
a waiter's corkscrew

Step 1

Start by using the knife to remove the foil from the top of the wine bottle. Your corkscrew has a knife on it! Score around the foil below the lip of the bottle, going in a circular motion, and slicing up with the knife at the end to remove the foil. It is important to score the foil below the lip of the bottle especially if you are opening an older bottle of wine. There can be residue and mold under the foil, and you don’t want it all over the lip of the bottle.
Step 2

Now close up the knife! You will not need it for the rest of the opening procedure, and it is dangerous to leave the knife open.
Step 3

Open the screw on the corkscrew. Hold the bottle in your non-dominant hand by the neck of the bottle. With your other hand, place the tip of the corkscrew in the middle of the cork, but at a 45 degree angle to the bottle.
Step 4

Press the screw into the cork and turn it clockwise, applying gentle pressure. Once the tip of the corkscrew is in, bring the corkscrew back straight, so that you are turning it directly into the cork, and NOT at an angle. Continue to turn the screw until it is into the cork, but not all the way! You need to leave room to have leverage to pull the cork out of the bottle.
Step 5

Now the tricky part! Place the hinge of the corkscrew on the lip of the bottle. Place your hand on the handle of the corkscrew and lift it STRAIGHT UP. It may look like the handle is at an angle, but if you pull straight up the cork will slide right out of the bottle.
Step 6

The cork often does not slip out easily. You often have to gently wiggle the cork back and forth with the corkscrew while gently pulling up at the same time. If you yank it, it may break off!
Step 7

If you are unfortunate and the cork breaks in the bottle, do not panic! Remove the broken piece of cork from the screw, and do the same procedure for putting the screw into the cork, just don’t press down too hard on the cork as you are screwing, or you will push the cork into the bottle. This is not the end of the world if it happens; the cork will not kill the wine if it falls into the bottle.

Comments

ramblin62 said

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on 10/17/2009 I have never been able to open a bottle of wine correctly! I'm favoriting this one so I can give it a try again, and hopefully teach that cork who's boss. Very well-written step by step. tx.

shenandoah said

on 10/1/2009 Good read. Thanks for clear steps on how to use a waiters corkscrew.

femwriter said

on 9/14/2009 Excellent information on how to use a waitress' corkscrew. I like reading your article and thanks for sharing it. 5* plus recommendation!