How can I separate the two halves of my cocktail shaker?
Barrakuda’s answer will work if you hit it at the right pressure point. Try turning the shaker in your hand after each hit, to make sure you dislodge it in more than one area. Once it’s dislodged, try using a plain beer glass (like a thick pint glass) instead of the top to the shaker next time you make drinks. The difference in materials will prevent this scenario from occurring again. You’ll have to kind of ram the glass into the shaker to get a good seal before you shake it (lest you end up with more martini on your shirt than in your glass) and then tap it as described above to unseal it, but you’ll be much better off in the long run.
The caveat is, you might get them apart and then have a repeat of the problem, so this may all be for naught. But anyway: The blowtorch probably would harm the outside finish, but, combining that idea with the oven thought: heat it oven, say 350 degrees for 20 minutes or so. Prepare a deep enough ice/water bath. Grasp top with tongs, and plunge bottom quickly into ice bath, not quite up to the juncture. Use tongs that allow you to keep a good strong grip on the top. Now quickly grab the bottom, under water, and twist. All this assumes the top part fits over the rim of the bottom part. If it’s the other way around, do the opposite — when hot plunge top into ice. If that doesn’t work, make a trip to Target for another one. Mine has a plastic gasket between the two halves and never has this problem.
