Boston-based Grillo’s makes a delicious pickle. However, for years, that tasty product has come in a package that could best be described as “really very bad”. The plastic containers feature a lid that’s overly difficult to open, and once it’s finally removed, brine invariably spills all over. A couple years back, I went so far as to email them about the issues.1 I received a very nice reply, which included the following:
Because we don’t boil or pasteurize our pickles, we do need to fill our jars to the very top to avoid any air bubbles. I know that doesn’t help solve the problem of brine splashing out when opening, but we’ve found it helps if you can grip the edge of the cover when lifting instead of putting pressure in the middle.
These are a few additional tips that I have found helpful when opening and closing the jars. To open the jar, break the small plastic tab along the edge of the lid with your finger – I personally use the end of a spoon for a little more force. Once it’s off, you can lift (or peel) off the lid from that gap. To seal the jar, I apply pressure at 4 points along the edge of the lid until I hear the “click.” I almost think of it like a can of paint – you need to hit it at a few spots around the rim to get the whole top even!
That’s a whole lot of advice for something that should not be this difficult. I also received a link to a video showing how to open the jar, which is simply not a thing that should be necessary.
Now, after literal years of customer dissatisfaction2, a solution has arrived:
Screw tops! I say again, what a time to be alive.
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