Some pieces of restaurant kitchen equipment have remained unchanged for decades… but they just don’t work as well as they should.
A prime example is the old-school commercial can opener. It’s heavy and clunky. The blade gets rusty and dirty. Food can be contaminated when the can lid is punctured. And it leaves sharp edges that can slice a finger.
Hamilton Beach Commercial knew there had to be a better way. That’s why we introduced the HCO500 commercial side-cut can opener.
Why every commercial kitchen needs the HCO500 side-cut can opener
Hamilton Beach knows how to open a can like nobody else. Our retail division is the #1 brand in can openers in the United States*. We drew on that expertise to design and manufacture a superior heavy-duty can opener for commercial kitchens.
Place a can on the base of the counter mounted HCO500, turn the handle, and the blade smoothly cuts around the side seam of the can lid. The lid lifts off effortlessly, with no sharp edges. This heavy-duty can opener can easily be raised and lowered to accommodate different sized cans for fast opening. The HCO500 can opener can open cans up to #10 and securely locks in place to prevent spills.
The HCO500’s durable construction makes it ideal for high-volume commercial kitchens, including healthcare, schools, and institutional kitchens. When it was time to field-test this innovative can opener, we turned to our partner Feed More. Feed More, a centralized hunger-relief nonprofit organization in Richmond, Virginia, operates a community kitchen that prepares more than 724,000 meals and snacks each year — almost 2,000 per day, on average. The kitchen opens around 100 cans per day. It also relies on a revolving group of volunteers, many of whom have little or no foodservice experience.
This was the perfect environment to put the HCO500 through its paces. Compared to their old can opener (a top-puncture electric model), the Hamilton Beach Commercial side-open can opener was lighter, more efficient, and easier to use.
Commercial can opener comparison
| Concern | Solution | |
| Safety | Conventional top-cut can openers require the user to slam a blade down to puncture the lid. The cutting knife is exposed, and a sharp edge is left on the can. | The HCO500 Commercial Side-Cut Can Opener opens the seam of the can, leaving no sharp edges. The cutting edge is securely recessed, so employees won’t accidentally come into contact with it. |
| Maintenance | Changing the can-opener knife requires someone to unscrew the old blade, locate a new one, and install it. As a result, blades often get dull, rusty, and dirty. | The HCO500’s cutting edge is designed to open 5,000+ cans before it needs to be replaced. Replacing it is as simple as sliding out the cartridge and popping in a new one. |
| Sanitation | When a can-opener knife punches down into a can lid, any dirt, dust, grime, or ingredients can contaminate the food. |
With a commercial side-cut can opener, there’s no blade to make contact with the food, unlike conventional can openers — so there is no cross-contamination possibility. The HCO500 is NSF-certified, meaning it meets the high health and safety standards set by the National Sanitation Foundation. |
| Durability | A common complaint about cheap commercial can openers is that the gears strip out after a few months of use. | The HCO500 has no gears to break, preventing the possibility of downtime. It’s constructed with Hamilton Beach Commercial’s legendary commitment to durability, with stainless steel and nickel-plated aluminum for durable performance. |
Ready to upgrade? The HCO500 is easy to install and it uses the same mounting pattern as leading competition. Operator can permanently mount the HCO500 to countertop using the included stainless-steel screws. Learn more and order yours.
*Source: Circana, 12 months ending January 2024
