King Kooker5500 Stainless Steel Oyster Opener, with Oyster Knife

We've been buying bushels of Tangier Sound oysters lately and I've been the one tasked with opening the lion's share of them. I'm well used to the process with a knife, either using a small tack hammer to break off a wee bit of the "feather edge" to provide an entry point or using a screwdriver or some such to "pop" the hinge, but both methods are sometimes problematic and neither is particularly quick.This King Kooker opener is quite a game-changer. We saw one very similar in action on a Dameriscotta River cruise a few years back but I think that one had something like a small knife-blade sorta like the picture shows in the listing for this one. The one that we just got has a pointed business end instead and I'm here to tell you, it is brilliant.As others pointed out, it came packaged simply in a lightweight cardboard box. This did not bother me in the least, as the device is incredibly simple and robustly constructed. I had my doubts about it at first, wasn't entirely sure of the process but really, nothing could be simpler. Stand the oyster up vertically with the apex of the hinged end directly underneath the pointed piece, resting the other end of the shell on the wooden board. Pull down the handle, a little extra "oomph" doesn't hurt and makes short work of it.All it does is "pop" the hinge, it does not entirely open the oyster. No, you do not lose all of the "liquor"/ juice from the oyster, hardly any at all actually. Once the hinge has been popped it is a simple matter to sever the muscle attachment to the shells using the supplied oyster knife, which is very nice quality as well.Not that it makes any difference to me but yes, the device is American made. One easy way to tell is that instead of some highly-engineered fulcrum pin a simple 1/4 x 20 stainless steel bolt with stainless nuts spot-welded on does the job quite nicely. (Another made in America giveaway, to me at least, is the fact that the bolt-holes drilled through the wooden base are, at least on mine, slightly askew. This makes the handle angle off to the side by about 3/8" at the far end, which has ZERO effect on the usefulness of the device. If it were made in China, I doubt that disparity would exist).The wooden board will be very easy to replace when it eventually wears out, but I am more than satisfied with the overall design, construction, ease of use and utility of this machine.

This is a great tool, reduces time & fatigue shucking oysters, and is safe.

My overall impression of the oyster opener is generally favorable. I think the metal components of the opener are of good quality and do the job nicely. Oysters are opened with a minimal amount of leverage, and there are not many shell fragments forced into the oyster itself. Once you develop a rhythm of opening, several dozen can be done in a few short minutes. Opening with the King Kooker can be safer, faster and much less stressful than by hand.The downside (and my only real complaint) is the lack of quality of the board the opener is mounted on. It is a thick pine plank, but no effort at all had been made to smooth or sand the board. There was a gouge in the plank that forced a huge splinter into my hand. So...be very careful and check it out carefully for safety reasons!Conclusion: Functions fine, but needs attention to mounting board.

Got one of these from a friend as a gift. We bought another one for the beach house. Best/easiest way to shuck oysters!

AAA+++SELLER GREAT ITEM WORK WELL THANKS

The item that I received was quite different from the pictures. I bought this unit because the tip that contacts the oyster was blade-shaped, similar to an oyster knife. The unit that I received had a round, blunt tip, similar to the many cheaper options shown on Amazon. i thought that the knife-shaped tip would work better since it better matches the shape of the oyster.The unit does open most oysters, but it often shatters the shell, leaving fragments in the oyster. Don't buy this unit if you want a knife-like opening tip. There are better choices.

I picked up a few dozen fresh oysters at Wegmans upon which to try out my King Kooker oyster opener. It worked great! It makes it super easy to open even the most stubborn oyster. This tool is fairly long, and gives you a lot of leverage. I'd say it gives 4-5 times leverage, so 10 or 20 pounds applied to the end of the handle on your part can result in 40 to 100 pounds placed right at the weak spot of an oyster's shell. I felt much safer using this tool than trying to use a knife. Plus it makes you grin from ear to ear when you get a really stubborn oyster and you just keep cranking up the pressure until the shell opens.The base is made of a piece of 2x6 dimensional lumber. I thought that odd at first, but actually it works very well, because it keeps the oyster shell from slipping. The wood is coated with something like lacquer so it is still cleanable after using it with oysters.The only problem I had with the tool is that sometimes the point pushes into the oyster shell without opening the oyster. But this is more a problem with the oyster's shell than the tool itself. It doesn't really matter though, since you can easily slip the included oyster knife into the cracked shell and open it up.

This product was so awesome, I just had to review it here. I got it on Friday and immediately went out to buy a dozen oysters. It's so simple, yet so effective. Just crack open oyster a little bit at hinge so you don't get a lot of shell into your oyster but enough to get a knife in. Then, using knife and glove, insert blade and gently wiggle blade out from hinge to cut that little muscle holding the shell together. Keep rounded side of oyster facing downwards to keep juice in. You need minimal amount of force to do this so it takes out almost all risk of cutting yourself. $15 for a dozen that would have cost me $42. By the 8th oyster, I was opening these as fast as my husband could lemonize and eat them.