Are you strong enough to unscrew the lid of your bottle of Bovril…
…when you take it out of the fridge, cold?
In my younger days, the lid was made of metal and when it could not be opened, my dad would heat it over the gas cooker fire. Metals expand and after a while, it would open quite easily. Now, it is made of plastic so doing something like that is definitely out of the question.
When I was in Auckland, New Zealand, my friend there was grumbling at how she simply could not open her jar of Bovril and everytime, she would have to enlist the help of her strong and handsome hunk, her knight in shining armour – her hubby, that is, to do it for her. I told her I knew of a way to do that and showed her how to go about it.
You will have to put the bottle under running tap water…
…for a while, say around 30 seconds. It does not matter if the whole bottle gets submerged as it is airtight so the water will not get in. However, when you take it out of the water, make sure that you wipe it completely dry before you open it so the water will not get into the bottle and dilute the Bovril inside.
You should be able to unscrew the lid and open the bottle with ease but if there is a problem with that, just repeat the above process and you will be able to get it done…
…eventually.
Once open, you will be able to use the Bovril for whatever you have planned. In my case, more often than not, it will be to toss the noodles for my Bovril mee…
…for our breakfast.
That morning, there was just a little bowl left so I had that reheated for my lunch. There was some leftover rice in the fridge so the ladies were able to cook kim chi fried rice with the latest batch that my missus made and they enjoyed that to the max!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
For me, i just don’t screw the lid too tight so it will easy to open next time. The reason is usually some Bovril will stick at the lid or at the top of the bottle and the cold weather (winter) will make the Bovril become very sticky. That will make even harder to unscrew it.
Yes, that is the reason. Perhaps if we rinse the lid and wipe the brim of the bottle before screwing back, the lid will not stick.
Yeah, Bovril mee for me too. I give a pass for the kimchi fried rice. Thanks for sharing the useful info. I might need it one day when I have difficulty in unscrewing my bottle.
You have Bovril and you do not have a problem unscrewing lid of the bottle? Wowww!!! You must be very neat and clean. I need to do this with my bottle everytime I need to open it.
I have never eaten Bovril but I do have problems with opening bottles from the fridge! They get quite tight and I usually put a towel over the cover and try to twist open. It usually works. Perhaps I should try your method.
So far, I only encounter this problem with Bovril bottles but I have problems with sauces like oyster sauce, chili or tomato sauce, salad cream, chicken stock…all stuck to the bottom, refusing to flow out. Have to take out earlier and let the bottles stand at room temperature before use. I suppose standing them in hot water would help.
I would just knock the lid on something hard and voila…it could be loosen for me to open.
It works? Not too hard, I hope. You may crack the plastic.
We have a tool for tricky tops. It’s similar to a giant crab shell cracker but circular. Works a dream.
Oh? Is that what they use to loosen the oil filter in the engine of a car? Somebody suggests using that, says it works!