Black & Decker sold their housewares division years ago, and the company that bought it sold it more recently. The company that now has the rights to the B&D brand name for small appliances is unrelated to the company that built the old ones.

Cool idea and remember liking the one we had when I was growing up. My problem with them is how dirty they get. I use hand crank openers now and they get washed after each use. My sister had an electric opener that sat on the counter and it grossed me out now dirty it got. Yuck. Maybe it's just me, but I keep several that go in the dishwasher after each use. Maybe that's why you don't see them anymore? Although I bet a lot of grew up with them and we all survived. lol

Maybe you're right, but I think the blades could be removed for cleaning sometimes.

Anyway, judging by eBay and Amazon prices, there's still plenty of demand for this product.

I use a hand 'crank' one - even with my 4 trigger fingers. It's the kind that cuts along the side edge of the top. no gunk gets on it. by Kuhn ricon? something like that - look it up on amazon or qvc
it has a little part they call the 'beak' and you use that to lift the top off of the can, so don't even need to touch it. no shavings to fall into the food either.

they do also make some that use batteries. I had one but don't remember the brand name.

I have a hand crank one from pampered chef that is easy to use and easy to clean.

Electric mounted ones went away because they are ugly. They are one of the casualties of the popularity of the open plan home. Kitchens are more than just workrooms for food production anymore. They are part of the living space and have to be considered aesthetically in light of everything being on display. So, your useful but not pretty stuff has to be hidden now.

i had the undermount cab one and thought i wanted another one in the new kitchen....
but did i really want that hanging from my new cabs ???? No way !!

i wanted a clean and clutter free space as much as possible, so i bought a hand one, "zyliss" brand and its great...bought at tjmaxx for about $8....
we don't eat canned veggies, so really just use it for canned tomatoes for gravy/sauce....

i do agree that the undercab one did get dirty and was hard to clean after awhile and the free standing ones just get gross.
i didn't want that on my counters and surely did not want to store it in cab, so the hand one works great, stores easliy and easy to clean....

HTH

i think one of the big reasons the mounted can openers went away is because we just don't use them much anymore. maybe you have noticed how the canned goods section of the grocery store has shrunk over the years.

so, with the trend to using a lot more fresh and frozen products and a lot of the canned goods have pull to open pop tops, there just isn't much work around if you're a can opener. this, along with grunge factor and moving house with the new house having no good spot for installing it, are the reasons i retired mine.

i use vintage swing away hand held openers purchased from garage and estate sales.

I have a black and decker gizmo can opener. I will give it to you if that is what you are looking for. I think the mounting bracket is missing though. Oh and it might take me forever to get to the post office with it so patience would be required also...lol.

My mother had an electric can opener with a short. You never knew when you used it whether you would get a shock. To this day, I can't use one without flinching.

I'm with Poohpup 100%. Not washing a can opener after every use is like using a spoon over and over, and only washing it once a week. Blecch!

The thought of using it to open cat food one minute, then sweetened condensed milk the next makes me want to gag!

I agree that the inability to wash mounted can openers grosses me out, and a good ($10, not fancy, just OXO) can opener takes nearly no effort to use, so I can't see why I'd need an electric one. That said, if you really want one, but don't like the look in your pretty kitchen, you could mount one in your walk-in pantry if you have one (I have a counter top plus outlets over the counter in mine, so it'd be easy to mount one, or place another small appliance, there.) Put a little garbage can in there for the lids, and you'd be all good to go.

Lol, Tre!!!!! SO true!!!!!

I am in the minority. When cooking, I like the convenience my standing can opener offers - mount can, walk away. Come back, reverse and repeat. I have a West Bend model (perhaps the second of these I've had?) which I like very much.

No cats.

I had not been around an electric can opener until I was grown. I was helping my husbands grandmother in her kitchen one day and used her mounted one. After using it I tried to figure out how to remove the blade part for cleaning. She told me she had never even considered cleaning it and it had been hanging under her cabinet for about 15 years. I am by no means a germaphobe but that did me in. That being said, Cuisinart has an on top of the counter electric type that seems to get very good reviews. Not what you were wanting exactly, but perhaps it would serve your need.

Good luck!

Funny--I was just using my countertop electric can opener today--I store it in a cabinet, and it is a small irritation to drag it out--it just barely fits in the space. But tuna cans, or making chili with beans and tomato sauce and all those cans--still wish I had had one under my cabinets.

Funny, my mother and I were just having this conversation on Christmas. Both of my parents are left handed, so growing up, the only kind of can opener that worked for them was an electric one. Over the years, they've had one that sat on the counter and one that was mounted. When I first got married, I had a mounted one, but I couldn't stand how the blade would get all funky. My mother-in-law ended up giving me something that she called a Japanese can opener. I don't know where she found it, but she said she original used them while living in Japan. I can't even find one online that looks like the one i have - it's just metal, very small, and you just rock it back and forth as you move it around the can. I see something on Amazon called a Japanese can opener and it looks like the same idea as the one I have, but it's not the same (mine is smaller and shaped differently). Works like a charm - I've never had a problem with it and it fits right in the utensil basket in my dishwasher. I do have those other manual kind that have handles but I've always found them to be a pain as sometimes the blade won't sink into the can.

The only issue I have with mine now is that when my parents sometimes take care of my kids, they can't work my can opener. Of my four kids, the two younger ones are left handed (my husband and I are not) - so far, I've always opened the cans for them, so I don't know if it will be an issue for them too. My sister gave my mom a manual left handed can opener, but we can't figure out how to make the darned thing work!

Only time I miss that electric can opener is when I'm making something that requires opening a lot of cans.

fourkids4us, thanks for the recommendation. Searched on Amazon for the Japanese can opener and I'm going to try one. Looks like a breeze to clean.

If you've never seen one, the old Army-issue P-38 can opener is the coolest thing.
I remember the hand-operated wall-mounted ice crusher. If you turned the handle one way, a coarse crush, the other direction for fine.
Electric can openers in general were gunky and when they started making them abroad and selling them for ten dollars, they never lasted out the year.
I remember a swing-away (was that a brand-name?) wall-mounted hand-crank can opener, It could be taken down and washed. Very useful if you had a commercial kitchen and opened gallon-sized cans of tomato paste and baked beans.

Casey

Here is a link that might be useful: Still make the swing-away wall can opener!

Casey, I saw the Army issue opener when I was searching Amazon for the Japanese one that I have. The Army one is similar to mine, about the same size, but mine is slightly different. It works like a charm though so I'll try the Army one if I ever lose mine.

The Japanese one looks interesting.
I grew up with an electric and had one forever. One day, I looked at that grungy blade and decided something must be better.
I have been using one of the de-crimped style can openers for close to 20 years but might check out the Japanese version.
I did buy a new de-crimper when I redid my kitchen but still have the old one for travel.
In the 20 years, I only had one failure that I could not open with the de-crimper version. I used a standard can opener that I had around the kitchen.
I was even able to use it with carpal tunnel syndrome.

I went green long before it was fashionable. I just couldn't justify using electricity when a little muscle with a hand opener worked just fine. Granted I am not opening many cans at one time.

a2gemini, what is a de-crimped can opener?

Lynn, I agree with you. I've never owned an electric can opener, and, barring something like severe arthritis in the hands, never will.

I think the electric ones were just one of those catchy appliances which seemed right at the time, but not so much any more. We had one growing up, but I've never used one. Too much counter real estate, and too easy to use a manual one.

I got rid of my countertop electric and got this one. It fits in drawer, and can open large cans of beans and small tomato paste cans. Just set it on the top and let it run. It cuts off the top lip. I've replaced the batteries once, not sure how long i've had it. Quite a while. Havent seen any gook like on the countertop model I once had (and cleaned regularly).

Other side and in the drawer.

When I was around eight years old we had a wall mounted electric can opener that, if I can recall correctly, looked a lot like an eye removal device for eight year olds.

My mom had one still going strong, I am now looking for one, and can't believe how sparse they are.

Just try opening a can with painful arthritic thumbs. You will wish you could find a mounted electric can opener to avoid the painful struggle.

An electric an opener vs a manual, I'll take the electric all day. I have a Hamilton Beach countertop model and can literally remove and clean the parts that get messy 5 times before you can wash your one manual opener. Takes 2 seconds to remove blades, and can quickly wash, rinse, dry and reinstall. Total time, maybe 20 seconds if I'm washing slow. Using a manual is caveman stuff. As far as why no undermount, my guess is people prefer the clean lines, but I'd much rather have an each to clean undermount than an easy to clean counter top, just for the space saving.

They were great for calling your cat, depress cutter and cat comes running.

Now many canned items have ring top lids, and I agree cleaning cutter and wheel was often less than adequate.